THE CULT OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE CULT OF BEAUTY.

The Arts And Benefits Of Massage.

WRINKLES CAN BE RUBBED OUT.

(By A SPECIALIST.)

WRINKLES are the records of thousands of emotions to which we have given facial expression—and they are no easier to bear because we know we have brought them on ourselves. A perfectly healthy skin has great elasticity, and after having been strained or pulled in many directions, tends to resume its natural shape with no more difficulty than any other elastic surface offers to pressure. But few skins are healthy, and just as the first thing that happens to your general demeanour when you're not perfectly well is that your skin loses its spring and buoyancy, so when your skin is below par the elasticity goes out of it, and every wrinkling you give your face in worry or anger or any other emotion, leaves its trace. Try to prevent wrinkles by keeping the skin as firm and healthy as possible. Save your facial emotions for occasions when you need it, and when it will be appreciated. Don't sit and sew with wrinkled brows. Don't let the scow] between your eyes deepen because your eyes are suffering from a glaring or inadequate light. Don't get headache crows' feet, for lack of fresh air and exercise, and care of your digestion. If, however, the wrinkles are there, stop doing the things that put them there. And, by way of eradicating the mischief, massage the face regularly, using a nourishing cream that will feed the tired skin and help to restore to it its lost elasticity. Massage, Good and Bad. Massage is of two kinds, good and bad. It is good or bad according to the way it is done. Bad massage is worse than none, for it causes wrinkles, instead of removing them. One must know the geography, as it were, of the muscles, and learn to follow them, instead of countering them. The movements must be made in the direction of the muscle fibres, with the tips of the fingers, so as to promote the flow of lymph or fluid. The manipulation must be carried out Systematically, in definite order, with a" definite object. Massage, by promoting circulation, nourishes parts of the body in which circulation is generally defective.

The well-nourished parts of the body are the last to grow old. Massage stimulates sluggish circulation and nourishes the muscles that might otherwise grow flabby, and the skin would grow dry and wrinkled.

If possible, liave your face massaged several times by an expert masseuse, one that has had proper instruction and considera/ble experience. In doing this you can learn the movements yourself and massage your own face. Many beautiful women never trust their faces to a professional masseuse. A Good Iflea. It's a good idea to look every day for the shadowy new lines upon your face. If you find none, anticipate the lines by nourishing well the muscles in the region where the lines form when you frown, laugh, sulk or cry. The first wrinkle region of a woman's face is about the upper corners of the eyes.

The wrinkles there formed are known as crow's feet, and are supposed to be unmistakable signs of age. The truth is, they are the paths of laughter, and indicate a merry disposition. They are seen on the faces of a boy of 12, or on the countenance of a girl of 16. They are the least ugly of the wrinkles but at their best wrinkles are undesirable. To remove crow's feet, dip the fingers in a good massage cream, and with the second and third fingers, rub the area affected with a rotary motion, working from the corners of eyes, outward.

It is to be remembered, too, that care of your eyes will help to keep away wrinkles. If the sight is strained by any reason, the facial muscles are made tense, and the result is crow's feet and wrinkles about the eyes. Best the eyes whenever possible, and at night, the eyes should be thoroughly washed with camphor water, or a solution of boracie acid, to remove dust, and to relax, muscles.

A Difficult Problem. More difficult to erase, and more disfiguring than crows' feet, are the diagonal lines from the nostrils to the corneis of the lips. They are known as bad temper lines, emotional lines and the lines of discontent. The massage should begin at the corners of the mouth, using the middle finger and end where the lines end, at the nostrils. The movement should be a rotary one, and should be deeper and firmer than they are about the eyes. Puff the cheeks when you do this movement. Another wrinkle area, and one in which wrinkles first appear in most faces, is the forehead. In massaging the lines of the brow, the movement must be in contrary direction from the lines. The vertical lines between the eyes must be treated by the second finger of each hand, and must be rotary and upward to the right and left towards the temples. The oblique lines, forming as they do by a creasing of the skin, should be massaged by a rotary motion from the bottom, to tiie top of the forehead. To retard the deepening of vertical lines, and with deep, firm motion, push slowly upwards towards the top of the ear.

The lines on thf neck behind the ears should be massaged with the first, second and third fingers, deeply upwards, towards the hair. The nose - should be intelligently massaged. If it is too broad it should be massaged delicately towards the point. If it is too sharp it should be massaged away from the point to the flare of the nostrils, always with the merest points of the cushions of the fingers. The Benefits of a Good Cleansing Cream. Before treating the face it should be thoroughly cleansed with a good cleansing m>am. Some women use the same cream for cleansing and massage. Others prefer a heavy cream for massage, one containing lanoline, glycerine or almond oil. After the massage, remove cream with soft cloth. Next, pat into the skin an astringent lotion, and follow this, if you like, with an application of ice to every part of the face and- neck. And don't forget to iron out the wrinkles in your mind!