WOMEN'S WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1926, Page 26

WOMEN'S WORLD.

BACK TO CURVES. CAN IT BE TRUE? (By G. EDITH BURTON.) Is it possible that after having done away with all our curves (and it was no light task for some of usi, after shingling our heads to the very last degree of mannishness, and acquiring a fairly deep regard for tobacco, cruel fashion is "wishing waists on us again ? We knew it would ccme in time, but thought of it as some remote contingency, so remote that it was no worry at ali. Yet here it is, stealing in cautiously, because it knows we are not nearly ready: because a sudden entrance would mean rieht about face—a decided rout. So now waist '-lines." notice not "waists" but "waist lines are getting lusher." In plain English that means "prepare," "make ready" waists are to be waists, and in their proper sphere. "Monty," the meanderer of records gave discourses most entertainingly on waists, curves, and other items of fashion. He says something like this: "When women wore dresses that went in and out. well—cr—rounded people: then they Went and altered it. and were thin straight up and down. I mean—ef —what did they do with—er—that is to say if the 'in ami out' fashion comes hack, where will they get their —er —material. co to speak?" And there it is. The very curved woman could hide her curves fairly well beneath the "thin" straight up and down "garment." but it is going to be a great nuisance to the "straight up and down" person to go "in and out" and become, as "Monty" says, rounded: "Women." he says, "arc extraordinary; they wear silk stockings at 25/ per pair, and are consequently often 'up to the

knees' in debt". You never know what they are' going to do next till they have done it,'arid then you arc riot quite'positive." (Tquote liiih from'memory.) But it is hot woman v who decrees these changes; : it is thait autocrat "Fashion," who never lets things rest. But take courage, sisters, "waists" will never/come to stay. (I almost made a pun, but firmly resisted the impulse.) There are too many sensible athletic girls about; too many sensible mothers. Outdoor gamps have too great a hold now, to allow women to go back to that will6w-ie period of constricted bodies, -heart attacks, hysteria, and vapours.'. * : '"...'.."

Just imagine a girl coming iii frorii six sets of fierce tennis, or a two-mile -prae-. tice in an outrigger, or a big day at golf, and after a bath strangling herself into an "in and out" frock, to-dahce till the small hours. How she would long for the "up and do\vn""kind; to relax her weary muscles. •

Think of the painful "fittings" and "tryings on" of the home-made girl in contrast with the fashion of to-day, or is the change so near that one shall say yesterday? What a wonderful thing "the "Magyar" cut has been for the amateur dressmaker. Even the most hopeless could make a Magyar frock, nnd professionals must have lost a great many customers. If waists return, these dressmakers will ccine into their own* once more. A'boaico fitted and boned is well beyond the talents of the average amateur, and those who will insist on makinn them are usually to be seen complacently flitting around with a crooked back seam, that looks like a bad attack of curvature of the spine.

Years ago it required a brave mother to undertake .(without training) to make especially best frocks, for her little daughter. They:- were, in those days, made little replicas of mother's". They were shirred and frilled and honeycombed: tucked, "-leafed and killed; till the little w.'aVari*- looked like anything but children. To-day, girls of 12 and M can si* down nnd run tip their own cotton fr.<kfl without even troubling their motiierH to* do the cutting <.>i|t. So on every hand will sound the 1 slogan, "Waist cot, wanted not." (Aluk! that fttble joke would slip iv.)

BEAUTY NOTES. (Cl* A PARIS BEAUTY SPECIALIST.) There are a great many reasons why madame of to-day may be" giad that she did not live In ancient Egypt, although the splendours that have been recently unearthed in the tomb of Tut-ankk-anien may make her think that it would indeed have been a romantic age to live in. The Egyptians of the old empire, which was from 2980 to 2475 8.C., over one thousand years before Tut was born, decorated their faces and bodies with oil and paint and perfumes and tattoo designs which we would consider very heavy and tiresome to-day. They painted a band ol green malachite under their eyes and covered the eyebrows and the eyelids with black kohl, to make the eyes look large and brilliant, and decorated their cheeks a brilliant red. They oiled their bodies instead of bathing them, or at least the rich did. The oils were so expensive and rare and difficult to procure that only the wealthy could afford them. A very agreeable Odour was given to the body by the application of a lotion known as Kyphi, which was compounded myrrh, broom, frankincense buckshorn and other ingredients. The usual procedure at a feast, or on any occasion on which joy was especially in order, was to anoint the head of the master of the house with oil. A large ball of some substance which would absorb oil was set in a bowl' of oil. When the oil was all absorbed, the bail was placed on the gentleman's head, and. as the feast proceeded, the ball melted and tho oil trickled down his hair. Can you imagine the annoyance his wife must have felt as she saw the oil running down over her best table linen—if she had any table linen?

When the.hair, of an Egyptian beauty fell out she could renew it by the application of six kinds of fat worked into a pommade—the fat of crocodile, cat, snake, lion, hippopotamus and ibex. A good tonic or strengthener was composed of the tooth of a donkey crushed in honey, Queen Shesh took the hoof instead of the tooth of the donkey and boiled it in oil with dog's foot and date kernels, and had it mixed into a ponimadc. •._ The .black-haired lady who resented .the\ whitening of her locks, could restore ."their natural colour with the blood of a black calf'boiled iv oil. It was difficult jtp' be a specialist in those days, because'tiie doctor was supposed not only to make beautiful the hair of the client, but to bring about utter devastation,to the fair . ahd'jjeautiful locks of a hated rival. „."To cause the hair of the hated one to, fall, out," so ran ah ancient remedy quoted in an old book on.earlyEgypt. "Take the worm'an'art, or : the flower sepet, boil the worm or flower .in oil and put on the head of the rival." A tortoiseshell,. boiled, pounded and mixed in the fat of a hippopotamus, was supposed to be an antidote against the cruel artifices of a scheming rival, but if one would have this, remedy do its work it must be applied very often. - : The "Hair. Tf you wish your hair to be elusively fragrant for several days after-a shampoo, put ten drops of oil of .lavender in the last rinsing water, then squeeze as much water as you. can with, your hands aud avoid drying the hair witty a towel, so that none of the fragrance will be rubbed away. . To give the hair a dry shampoo, first part the hair and rub some alcohol.or bay-rum, or a good hair tonic, well into the scalp. Then take equal parts of cornmeal and orris-root and brush this well into tbe hair. Brush it all orit again, and you will find that your hair is soft and your scalp clean. If you are forced' to wash your hair ill hard water' you will fihd that every bib of the soap will be removed if you Hqiieezo the juice of half a lemon into the lust rinsing water. This also tends to give golden hair a lovely glint. How-

ever, if your hair is very dark and you wish to avoid the least chance of bleaching it, add the lemon juice to the next-to-the-last rinsing water, and then rinse immediately afterwards in clear, cold water. A Boudoir Sesame. It is generally close to the dressing table, lavishly decorated with filmy clouds of chiffon, rose, blue or lavender, while dainty tendrils of gold lace consolidate the azure billows: or it may be demurely draped in simple flounces of sheer Swiss muslin, quaintly beribboned. It is as high as your knee, and sometimes proudly bears a lovely bowl or vase filled with flowers. It is absolutely necessary to the elegant toilet. Now, confess—would you ever guess it to be an ice box ? Yes, the ice box was promoted from the kitchen to the boudoir when facial creams usurped the domain of soap. Raise the lacy camouflage— there is a little white enamel door — open Sesame! Behold you will find an array of cosmetics, fresh, fragrant, free from the slightest rancid taint, though it may have been many torrid months since they left the laboratory. But not only does this beauty safe preserve the cream and lotion, but it-enhances their beneficial effects. Tonics, astringents, and stimulants are made especially potentThen too, when ready for your daily facial, you nave ice quite handy. While applying the creams, it is wonderfully refreshing repeatedly to draw the hands' over bits of ice placed in a bowl. After the hands are cool, press or pat in the creams. The coldness will invigorate the circulation and the blood will receive the nourishment and disspense it through the tissues.

A favourite practise with beauty lovers is to finish every facial work by covering the face with a linen mask or one of thin cotton pads pressed well „into the skin. Then a piece of ice is quickly smoothed over the wrappings. Another favourite device after removing these pads is to .close the eyes and spray the face with tonic which has been put into an atomiser. Sea spray was never more delightful or invigorating.