CULT OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

CULT OF BEAUTY.

SPEECH MAKETH A WOMAN AN ATTRACTIVE VOICE. (By A SPECIALIST.) "Yes, she is very attractive, until she opens her mouth." How often have we heard this said of a girl or woman whose beauty in repose is a feast to the eyes. But let her open her lips to speak, and we have the impulse to clap our hands over our ears and run.

Not all women have vocal organs so constructed that they can sing beautifully, but every woman may have a speaking voice, so carefully modulated, and speech so pleasing, because of distinct enunciation, and she will be found charming, whether her face is beautiful or not. Disagreeable nasal tones and rasping, strident voices are dug in large measure to incorrect use of the nose in speaking. Everyone knows how a cold affects the voice. This is because the resonators, or sounding boards of the voice, are closely connected with the nasal cavities, and when they are inflamed and the breathing is obstructed, the timbre of the voice becomes flat and brassy or thick and harsh,

Frequent colds irritate the jjismbrane of the nose, and neglect often causes anatomical obstructions which affect the quality of the voice. It is a notable fact that the best singers, as a rule, have full, wide, open nostrils, either bestowed by Nature or acquired by practice. This formation of the nose undoubtedly explains —in part at least —the negro's naturally "beautiful voice, though good voices are more general among all people whose habitat is in a warm climate than they are among those who dwell in cold climates.

Keeping the upper cavities of the nose free from all dirt-germ accumulation is the first step towards acquiring a voice which will delight and attract. In addition, such care will minimise such danger of disease—and right here is the chief argument in favour of nosebreathing. The nose is so constructed that in a healthy state it prevents germs from becoming active, the mouth, never. Breathing through the mouth is largely responsible for chapped or cracked lips. Few women realise this, but it is readily understood, if one considers the combined effect of moisture and cold on any part of the skin.

No woman who values a fine soft textured skin would think of going out into the cold with wet face or hands. Yet many women suffer with chapped lips all through the cold or winter season largely because of mouth breathing. When going out in a high wind, everyone needs to give extra care to all those little details which make for skin comfort and skin beauty. If the face and neck are very sensitive use cheese-cloth bags filled with oatmeal and shavings of a pure soap. Pat, rather than rub the face and throat dry, then apply cold cream and .massage

gently. Gently massage the chapped lips with a healing oil, but even with this care the smooth pink lips of youth will never last through middle-age if mouth breathing is persisted in.

Make it a habit night and morning to clean out the nasal passages by forceful snortings and the use of clear warm water. Take a bit of soft linen and twist it round an orange-wood stick. Moisten in warm water and insert carefully up each nostril. Now, before the dressing-table, take some deep slow breaths through the nostrils. Hold the breath while counting 20 then expel slowly through the nose. Be sure to keep the mouth closed, and repeat the exercise six or eight times. This keeps the sounding boards of the voice clean and helps to produce clear pleasing tones.

Emotions, properly controlled, lend colour and richness to the voice, uncontrolled, they are, without doubt, beauty's most relentless enemy. If there is cause for anger or excitement, and you are impelled to vociferate your feelings, stop and take a few deep breaths. Marvellous is the almost instantaneous feeling of calm that this produces. Then speak as forcefully as you wish, but in a subdued tone, and you will impress your hearer quite as convincingly as though you had shouted at him. But the gain is for yourself in the saving of nervous energy, and in the maintenance of well-bred poise which is the very essence of womanly charm.

Learning to speak gently and quietly will go far towards producing an attractive voice, but it will not win the battle for a wholly delightful manner of speech. Many women all unconsciously are guilty of ugly mouth habits; they open the mouth too wide or not wide enough. Some women "mouth" their words, others mumble them. One famous voice speaker says: '"The quickest way to fine ton& is through fine pronunciation." This means that the mouth, as well as the tongue, must be used correctly in the formation of words. To obtain good results, the exercise given below should be practised before a mirror.

A simple test will prove the truth of this statement. Try smiling and talking at the same time, and note how flat and silly the words sound. Now, slightly "purse" the mouth and say a few words • —the effect is equally bad. To pronounce distinctly, the words should seem to be formed outside the mouth.

To develop nasal resonance, slightly hum the following,exercise, keeping the nostrils fully open to avoid the slightest suspicion of a nasal twang. Mum-mum-mum-mum, etc. Then vary the exercise for .practice in passing from a nasal tone to one produced at the extreme front of the mouth. Thus, mum-mum, too, mum-too, mum-mum-too, mum-too, mum-too, etc.

In connection with this exercise it would be helpful to have two or three phonographic records of recitations by great actresses. Try to imitate, not affect, the tone, the smooth cadence of the artiste. A borrowed manner of speech is no more pleasing than any other affectation. But a clever woman can always learn from the accomplishments of others and assimilate the best wherever she finds it for the enrichment of her own personality, the enhancement of her own charm.