CULT OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 165, 14 July 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

CULT OF BEAUTY.

CARE WITH COSMETICS.

CHARACTER IN THE MOUTH.

(By A PABIS BEAOTY SPECIALIST.)

Montaigne's warning, "God gave you your other features, but you make your mouth yourself," has often been quoted, but just as often lost sight of by woman in her eternal, search.for the beautiful. The efforts of -most women ,in this direction, the- direction of self-beautification, are spasmodic, or-fit best periodic; they will faithfully devote themselves to care of the skin, or to culture of the hair for a little while; they will concern themselves over the contour of the neck and throat, and seek very means to correct it, if need be, but, the beauty of the mouth, to acquire which "is "a gradual and constant progress, will be ignored. Emerson says tJxat "of all the features, the mouth admits of the greatest beauty and the greatest deformity." It can be

made a thing of beauty, a joy, so long as that beauty lasts, or it may be hard and ugly, and indicative of all that is base in human character. Exquisitely curved and sensitive, or gross, sensual and selfish and hard. It may express purity of thought, contentment, peace and courage, or it m&j betray its owner as a constant yfelder to the lower impulses, self-seeking and impervious to the rights of others. To know the man or woman—watch not the eyes but the mouth. The expression of the eyes in duress may be controlled temporarily, but the expression of the mouth follows the inner thoughts, and is a faithful ally to but one thing only, the actual facts of the case. Sixe and Shape. The size and shape of the mouth do not greatly matter in judging the degree of beauty which it may possess, although obviously here, as elsewhere, moderation is best. A mouth neither too small nor too large, whose lips are neither too thick nor too thin, will more easily lend itself to the achievement of those expressions which will endow it with beauty. The lips are the centre of the nerves, surrounded by a network of muscles, whose action changes with every thought. They register every change of feeling, just as accurately and as immediately as a barometer registers every change in the weather, and the expression which the lips will most frequently display is the one which is brought to them the oftenest, the one which indicates the thoughts and feelings most frequently indulged in. As a man or woman thinketh, so is he or she so far as the lips are concerned. Bitter, stern thoughts, cruel, or deceitful ones will write their message in the lines of the mouth, the thoughts of love and hope will celestialise it, and keep the lines beautiful. Illustrating the Effect of Thought. To illustrate just what the effect of thought is upon the mouth thinly of the mouths of your friends as observed when they are engrossed in a task which interests them.; Have you seen a woman cutting out a gown, whose mouth is in conjunction with her scissors? Haven't you seen satisfaction at the completion of a task, expressed by the mouth's gesture of completion, or a hard task' of rubbing a spot o'" a gown, or ironing a bit of silk underwear, or the toe of -a shoe rubbed up, accompained by the absorption felt by the doer? Children so often imitate the facial expression of "their nurses and governesses that many careful.mothers choose pretty young women to be with their children in preference even to women whose experience possibly . has fitted them in a far better degree for the actual training and care.

JExpieasion and ■Colour. *jA mouth have its best expression, need not smile continually by any means. Indeed, a smile should be indulged in far less frequently than most people believe, for the absence of the smtle does not necessarily mean the of good .humour. The perpetual .smile, not only wears down the corners of the mouth, into the half-moon wrinkles which have the appearance of sharp eat curves about the aid of the lips, but it rapidly dwindles in meaning,; from a mechanical action,- with little or no mirth involved. The' smile ahonld he the '•flashing" of the soulj not- a regular muscular action.

The colour of the lips plays a larg« part in the beauty of the mouth. Here, the theory that beauty rests on health, is once more upheld, for the natural red of the lipd comes only with a perfect physical condition. But pale lips are more desirable than overdone, brilliant red lips, produced by the lip-stick Use colour for the lips if they are pale, but use the colour best suited to your own colouring, and let it follow the natural lines of the lips, rather than trace the "Cupid's" bow with such exaggerated definiteness. For the lip-stick's only possible excuse is its ability to go unchallenged. The Use of Cosmetics. The use of cosmetics is dangerous unless it is accompanied by fundamental knowledge. Certain colours react on flash, and instead of accentuating their beauty, women may inadvertently mar it and become disfigured. The object in rouging is always to give the face a "lifted look" for the reverse is ageing. Rouge, to be becoming, should be applied high up, extending to the temple and as far back as the lobe of the ear. To be avoided is a nose powdered white, standing out from the rest of the face which is rouged. So arc pink cheeks in a white face. This kind of make-up is quite out-of-date.