"MAKING UP"

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 152, 24 December 1926, Page 14

"MAKING UP"

THIS iUtAUTU'K .DKl''K\l.)Kl>.

yuHe ii spirited defence of the powder puff and rouge -pot comes from no kvn a person Ihan the editor of the "Snwby ICxpi-ws1' (London), .Mr. James JJou;,dn:<, who expresses his opinion as follows:--

Is the picture of the modern woman in The World of William Cli.Kold" vcra-

cioiiH? Mr. Wells represents her as a creature "pitifully painted, neon tec*, and adorned for worship.'' Her hair, lier skin, her figure, her behaviour, her emotions, are tortured to distinction.

The manufacture of individuality for women is a, vast industry; in .fan's, in New York, in .London it is dominant; it is the most skilful and wonderful industry in the world. lint when you lake the manufactured goddess home, and wash off what you can of its incase and paint and pov/der, you Jim! a pool1 lillle human body of no remarkable ijuality, and a mind and a character of no quality at all.

This is a conventional caricature of Ihe average woman. JVIr. Wells milfern from the obsolete delusion tluifc eosauotics are associated with depravity. He cvcrlooks the tact Hint they aro now as popular as soap.' and that they liave no sinister significance. Tho fact that Mr.

Bernard Shaw has not used soap for thirty years docs not qualify him as a rival to the grimy gentleman in the famous Harry Furniss drawing who wrote: "Two years ago I used your soap, since when I have used no other." On the contrary, Mr. Shaw is celebrated for ilis spotless cleanliness. Similarly, the fact that a woman paints her lips and cheeks does not imply any laxity in her manners or her morals.

Paint is no longer n symbol oil _ sin, its universal rogno. has robbed it of its former meretriciouauess. The feminine lip-stick is now as conventional as the masculine shaving stick. Wom.cn paint as men tihavo, because it is the custom .and convention.

I put forward the proposition that it is as natural for women to paint their faces aa it is for men to sli.ivo their faces. The greatness of ivlr. Shaw does not lie in the fact that he does dot shave. He is fihavian not because he is uushaveu, but because lie 'has brains as well as a beard. His bear! is a decoration, just as tho paint oa a woman's; face is a decoration. The only difference is that his beard is attached (o liis

face by Nature, whorean the paint on a woman's luce is placed there by art. The smooth surface; of 'i shaven chin is also a. work of art. Is is only male prejudice which draws an invicliouH distinction between, say, .Mr. Clinrrhill'ri razored chunk nwl Luily .I!ljiii!,k' painted mouth. .ISolh are revolts a|?iiinst Nature.

If, is only fail1 U> admit 1.1 ml; paint, skilfully and discreetly cniiilyycd, mitigates thu mistakes of Kat.inc. Take, for example, Urn iiiiturnl month. It is absurd I." pretend Unit every girl in Imni with a, bountiful mouth. In nine j-'irls diifc eif ten tlio curves of tin: mouth are uupleasiuii;. But a dofl, touch of Iho lipstick remedies I lie ncKlitfcnco of Nature. Tin; lips, are peiKimded to conform to the other contours of the I'uee. Tin: plain jjirl becomes pretty, or- at any rule. Mill! COIISOS to look like, it fllll!l|l. Mill! can hold her own with olhor liirls who rely on the lip-stick's artful uid. 'i'hi! ease for the painted lady has never been stilted, but it in a very ulrnitK case. 'J'hnre is no foundation for (.Ins delusion that irvcfy nirl pdshixw.m :i perfect okin, like Austin i)'jJ>on's J-'liyl-lida. The Indies of St. .inmes's They're painted to the eyes; Thoir white it stays for ever, * 'I'licir red it never dicH; But I'hyllidii, my rhyllida! Her colour comes ami booh; It trembles to a lily, It reddens to a rose. In point of tact, Phyllida, is a poetic faille. Tn real life Pity I lida is often v red-nosed, Hallow, and mottled horror. That sclioolt'irl complexion in it mytli. Nature sometimes provides n s;irl with a skin like a ' :ieli, hut in nine caws out of ten it provides her with one like parchment. She might gather May dew every morn-' intr for ii month without aecpiiriuK' the ])obso!iion bloom. -Ami in our towns the May clew is not easily applied to the maiden cheek of the business girl before breakfast. It is therefore necessary to take a little May clow out of. a Jittlo pot. I know a charming young mother of forty, who has a ehurminn yoini;; daughter of twenty. They look like sisters. "You should see Alary," she said to me, "without her make-up. She looks a fright!" Mary is a delightful girl. JJut she would be hideous if she allowed Nature to have its merciless way with her face. She would be an exceedingly, plain young woman. As for her mother, in her natural state she would lie a glfastly gargoyle. Women hate old age, and their hatred of it is natural. To look old is to feel old, and to look younn- is to feel young. I do not see why it should bo wrong to preserve the illusion of youth, seeing that it increases our capacity for enjoyment. The woman who lets her face, and her figure go in a desperate honesty of despair confers )io benefit on herself or on her friends. Her husband does not whoop over her abdication. Her children do not rejoice over her capitulation. She is no asset at a dance or a dinner party. I confess that I admire the mothers and the grandmothers who keep the flag of youth, flying. They set us all a glorious example of courage.