CULT OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 179, 30 July 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

CULT OF BEAUTY.

VALUE OF CHARM. THE PERFECT WOMAN. (By A BEAUTY SPECIALIST.) Certain characteristics of beauty may be accepted as its sign manual the world over, a cosmopolitan thing. They are: A well-developed, graceful figure; a skin of fine texture, be it brunette or blonde; regular features, with slender, straight nose, and well-formed upper lip above a round chin; large eyes, under narrow, arched eyebrows, and shaded by long, curling lashes; email ears set close to the head; abundant, glossy, wellkept hair, and delicate, well-porportioned hands and feet. Try to add to this description some notes about the complexion and the tint of the cheeks and lips, the waist, the legs, the ankles, then a few more notes about the expression, the sparkle to the eye, the intellect, the disposition and so on, and you will see how difficult a matter it is to define a perfect woman, and to measure all these attributes with a tape measure. In any humble opinion a perfect woman should not be over-athletic, nor over-intellectual, and not at all masculine. She must be feminine, she may be short or tall, slender or plump, dark or fair, but she must be feminine. She must have, a warm, sympathetic heart and much of the milk of human kindness. She must have spirit, yet she must have charm, and all this must be reflected in her eyes and in her expression. To be a perfect woman she must, of course, have perfect features and a perfect form. But I would rather she fell short in tape measurements, than in tho spiritual attributes which go to make what we call personality and charm. And would it not be a good idea to judge the contestants without make-up? If a beautiful completion is a necessary attribute of the perfect woman, why should she be allowed to camouflage herself with cosmetics? If her complexion be muddy, her cheeks sallow and her lips purple, how can she be declared a

perfect woman? I suggest the soap and water test. The real object of cosmetics is to improve and preserve beauty, as well as to conceal blemishes, and the practice of substituting cosmetics for right living and for painstaking care of the complexion, should be discouraged. Surely the perfect woman is not she who neglects the laws of health and relies upon cosmetics to give a sparkle to eyes, transparency to her skin, pink to her cheeks and red to her lips. Award a prize to the most artistic make-up, if you please, or for the woman who makes the most attractive appearance on promenade, but if we are to find the great beauty, the perfect woman, let her not be judged for her art, artifice or artificiality. Face Steaming. Face steaming is beneficial at times, but should not be indulged in every day nor for a long period at.a time. For pimples and eruptions due to impurities in the blood, rub the skin full of sulphur ointment, then ring a towel in hot water and hold it over the face. Repeat this two or three times. The heat will open the pores and the healing sulphur ointment will do its work. For blackheads try tho same kind of steaming, using a cleansing cream instead of the sulphur. As the pores open under the action of tho heat, the cream works its way in, softens the hardened matter, which forms tho blackheads and cleanses each pore. After the steaming wash the face with warm water and soap, then rinse in warm find very cold water. This method of steaming does not dry the skin.