BRAINS AND BEAUTY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18631, 4 March 1926, Page 2

BRAINS AND BEAUTY.

THE DUTY OP WOMEN. LILY DRAYTON'S VIEWS. (l-KOH QUE ovra COEHBSPOKDEKI.) LONDON, January 15. Miss Lily Brayton has put. into print some new suggestions on "What I Think About Beauty"—a series that is contributed weekly to tho "Daily Chronicle" by leading actresses. The worst enetoies to beauty include a smoky city (like London), a skin that is not kept scrupulously clean, and a speaking voice to whoso cultivation little or no attention has been paid. Incidentally, she lets her readers into toilet secrets which should be beneficial to any who may like to try them. Miss Brayton regards smokiness of the air as beauty's worst enemy. The first essential to combat it is to get into the fresh air as much as possible —the really fresh air of the country. Most people have chances to do this quite often, but sometimes don't bother to take them, perhaps because "we feel tired, and think we would rather rent, at home. But a day in the open air now and then will, in the long run, make you feel ever so much fresher than the same amount of time spent resting indoors." Keep Clean. "The next thing is to keep yonr skin as clean as you possibly can. Some people will say, 'Oh, I just can't keep clean in London, it's hopeless,' but if you let yourself feel like that it's one first step towards looking like it! It's a bother to keep on tidying up, but we just have to do it or look neglected and depressing. "The most important time is bedtime; it' 3 absolutely necessary to go to bed with a perfectly clean face, and the best plan is to use a very pure cold cream and a soft towel. My cream is made at home from this well-known recipe, which many actresses use': Melt, in a small saucepan, an ounce of spermaceti and an ounce of white wax, and add eight ounces, of almond oil. When the oil is hot pour in very slowly eight ounces of roso water, stirring all the time. Add a few drops of your favourite perfume, beat tho cream well, so that the rosewater i 3 thoroughly mixed into it, and allow it to cool. If almond oil is found to be rather expensive, olive oil can be used instead."

Hard water is not good for the face, but failing a regular supply of soft rainwater, a cleansing lotion can be applied with cottonwool. "I use one made from camphor and distilled water, which has simply marvellous cleaning powera -—far more so than soap and water. Any chemist will make up a potion of this .kind, if you explain the purpose for which you need it."

Tho Voice. "There's another point—quite a. different one—which i 3 always associated in my mind with beauty in women, and it surprises me that so few of them give it any real attention. It is the voice. A really lovely voice is one of the greatest attractions any woman can possess, and yet only singers and actresses seem to give the matter a serious thought. I think people sometimes have the idea that the voice is a fixed, unalterable thing, like your height.or the colour of your eyes! As a matter of fact, nothing about you will respond more immediately to the thought you give it. We all know pretty women, beautifully dressed, who have only to speak to destroy all their charming effect and set all our nerves on edge. If only they would try to soften or modulate their voices a little, or if only they would go without one' frock or coat and pay those guineas to a singing teacher, who would bo able to tell them what makes their voices so harsh and unpleasant and what they can do about it! Everyone who can manage to do so should have a few good singing lessons, even if- there is no intention of singing in public. Right habits of breathing and placing the voice will very much improve the tone and quality of the speaking voice, and the sub- | ject is one of the most fascinating studies in the world."

Women and Commerce. There is reported to bo an agitation for tho formation of a special women's section of the London Chamber oi Commerce. At present the women members are listed to the trades to which they belong. The fair sex has bo indisputably proved its capacity professionally, that there are increasing numbers of aspirants to more important positions in commercial circles. "Certain of our bachelor members are complaining," said an official of the London Chamber of Commerce, "of the threatening tendency of women to force their way into the inner rings in commerce. They point out that the London Chamber of Commerce is the latest sphere to be attacked. At the beginning of 1925 there were not more than five members of the Chamber? there are now nearly 50. The Yiscountess Ehondda is a member, and on the list are many other of the leading business women of the country. In my opinion, I City bachelors will have a very hard case to fight if they try to bar the way to ambitious City women, when ambition is coupled with brains, efficiency, and character." A married member of the Council of the Chamber boldly declares: "I am glad to see the so-called 'threatening tendency.' I gee no reason why the right women should not come into leadership. There are, in my opinion, many fields open for them in the higher commerce. Already there are big firms in the City who acknowledge that at least one woman director is a source of strength to their boards. The day may yet come when the City of London will see a woman Lord Mayor at the Man- . sion House!"