MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 November 1933, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

HOME MANICURE.

HANDS MUST BE WELL KEPT. It is not given to every v.onian to be possessed of beautiful hands, but it m within the reach of almost every woman to have, beautifully-kept. hand.,. And from a woman’s hand:-, and the manner in which they are kept, it is p0.,-‘-•ible to road her character. Ba.dl.ykc.pt hands, ill-shaped nails o\ergiown cuticles, torn quicks, these aie not so much the outward and tisil.m evidences of toil as they are the evidences of neglect, (writes U.K. m th ' Sydney Morning Herald). Lots of women work very hard, and lots of them use their hands a great deal in their work. Moreover, the very nature of housework itself, m which the average woman must indulge- at least to some extent, tends to spoil and roughen the hands. But it docs not tend to make for their neglect. Rather should it add impetus to the determination to keep them beautiful so that they may be worthy of the work they do. Not all of us can indulge in the luxury of a weekly or bi-weekly manicure, which is so essential in the curriculum of the well-groomed woman. We who have found more urgent calls upon our two-shilling pieces, must manage as best we can with orange stick and nail file at home. Actually it takes only a very little time out of the day’s routine to give the nails and hands the attention necessary to their good appearance. Surely it is worth every woman’s while to devote at least a. few minutes of each day to a feature which can mar her appearance and her feeling of well-being as'surely as a hole in her stocking.

The problem of hands and nails presents the greatest difficulty to the woman whose daily round includes household tasks. She must forever he i epairing the damage done to her hands by hot water, vegetable stains, etc., if she is to preserve them in any appearance of respectability. Hers is a disheartening task, more often abandoned, with disastrous results, for stained and swollen hands, neglected, can become an almost chronic disfigurement.

Quite a. number of fastidious women protect their hands from household chores with rubber gloves; but, apart from the fact that they are cumbersome to work in, they prove a luxury more expensive for the average housewife than the attentions of a professional manicurist. An excellent, substitute can be made, however, with old fabric gloves. These, while they will not keep the hands dry, will at least keep them free from stains and grease. This protection, with a daily few minutes’ attention to the nails, will work wonders.

Tho home manicurist should first of all learn the proper uses of her tools, principally the nail file and the scissors. Nails should never be cut, but lightly filed, as cutting tends to coarsen the texture. The scissors may be used to trim off any dried pieces of skin surrounding the nail, but never to cut round the cuticle itself. This practice, although a common one even among manicurists, encourages the cuticle to break and sometimes to fester, and, once performed, will always be necessary. The nail file has but one legitimate use, and that is to file the nails. The sharp, "pointed end, so convenient for scraping away particles of dirt from beneath the nail, should never be used for this purpose, unless first carefully covered with a. little cotton wool. The bare file tends to scratch the inner surface of the nail making tiny crevices, in which dirt will easily'harbour. The best tool for cleaning the under nail is an orange stick, and soft nails are better shaped with an emery board than a file.

TO BEGIN THE MANICURE. Begin the manicure by first soaking the nails in warm water and soap, to cleanse and soften the surrounding cuticle. Then rub a little cold cream or oil round the cuticle and under the nail and leave for a. few minutes before wiping off. The next step is to cover the broad end of the file or orange stick with a little cotton wool and gently push back the cuticle to reveal as much as possible of the “white moons,” then shape the nails with file and emery board. An excellent way to whiten under the nail is to dip the tip of an orange stick coated with cotton wool in a little peroxide, and run round nndei each nail. Whether you use any one of the numerous liquid polishes in vogue is a matter of taste. It is well to remember, however, that (lie more vivid variety should only be used on faultlessly manicured nails, below well-cared-for hands. Those who are constantly dipping their hands in water will find a liquid polish a boon, and when used in a natural tint it has quite the appearance and good form of a well-buffered nail. The polish should be applied with downward strokes of the brush from the edge of the half-moon right to the finger-tip, to define the white ledges, then run the thumb sideways | round the edge of the nail. This will wipe off sufficient of the polish evenly. Your hands will doubly repay you in appearance if massaged daily for few minutes with cither a good c. id cream or a little almond oil. Ih.rtieularly after the hands have beta in water for any time should this be done. Massage with the same movement used when putting on a. glove. The lemon and the oatmeal bag arc; old beauty remedies, but good ones. Keep a. small bag of oatmeal in the bathroom and soak it. in the water before rinsing the hands.

LACE AND RIBBON.

GOWNS WITH 1,000 YARDS EACH. (By a Fashion Expert). As many as 1,000 yards of baby lace, ribbon, and tulle may go to the adornment of a single evening gown of the present season. This is the estimate of Mr W. W. Revillo-Tcriy, the fashion expert, responsible for the creation of the 500yard “great-grandmother tulle frock described by “Marianne Mayfayro in “The Daily Telegraph” recently. ’These hundreds of yards of narrow laces and ribbons are being used not only as ruchings and frills, but are worked into most intricate decorations in the form of tiny wheels and rosettes which, in their turn, are made up into elaborate patterns. A comparatively simple ribbontrimmed afternoon gown may absorb 100 yards of ribbon so worked into little wheels and medallions on its skirts, and the accompanying capelet accounts for another seventy-five yards in fact, tljc season’s outfit of a fashionable woman attracted by the present revival of laces and ribbons for her afternoon and evening gowns will easily run away with a few thousand yards of trimming. This is encouraging news for our manufacturers, for both laces and ribbons are British-made. A long* dead fashion leader, the Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria, may be said to be responsible in no small measure- for the vogue of baby ribbons and laces. One hundred year's ago, the Duchess was wearing wonderful gowns lavishly decorated with elaborate ribbon hand-work—gowns which the Faris of those far-off times hailed as the last word in fashion, and copied in full detail.

Ribbon is also being pleated into frills after the manner of the sheer lawn frillings worn towaids the end of the nineteenth century. This decoration is a .favourite one in dull Petersham ribbon on the new lustrous satins.

A rainbow dress made entirely from ribbons in the characteristic and charming colourings of the 1883-1840 period is one of the creations to which Mr Rcville-Terry is now giving his attention.

Two fashion figures will in fact dominate the social assemblies of the little season, the smart modern mother trailing the narrow train of her sleek Serpentine gown, moulded to the form from shoulders to hips, and the bewitching be-frilled, rushed and gauged debutante daughter, whose dance frock has devoured yards of ribbon lace numbered in hundreds.

CHOCOLATE RECIPES. Sago Mould: 2oz cup chocolate. 3oz. sago, 1 teaspoonful vanilla essence, 5 gills milk, 2 dessertspoons castor sugar. Bring milk and sugar to boil in a saucepan. Sprinkle in sago. Simmer very gently until transparent, stirring - occasionally. Add chocolate. Beil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vanilla. Mix well. Pour into a wet nioulu. Turn out when set on to a glass dish. Enough for 4 to 5 persons. Cocoa Bread: Quarter-cup Bournvillc cocoa, quarter-cup castor sugar, 1 yeast cake, 3oz. butter, 1 cup milk, 1-toaspcon salt, 31 cups flour, J-cup tepid watci. Sift cocoa, salt, and sugar into a basin. Add scalded milk and butler. Stand till lukewarm, then add yeast, crumbled and dissolved in the tepid water. Sift the flour, and stir in just enough of it to make a smooth dough. Knead until elastic. Cover basin. Stand in a warm place until dough is double the size. Cut with a. knife and knead again. Shape into a loaf with floured hands. Place in a buttered loaf tin. Cover and stand in.a warm place until double the size. Bako in a. moderate oven (350 deg. F.) for 1 hour. If liked, l-tea-poon crrimd cinnamon or cloves can be silted with ihe Hour.

Caratm If ; Goz. cup chocolate, 2 tablesperns honey, 6 Aon. sugar, t cup milk. 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Put all ingredients, except vanilla, together in a saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring all the time. Boil for .I hour, and add vanilla. Pour into a square greased tin. Leave till almost set. Cut into squares with a caramel cutter.

MACHINE OIL STAINS. Aller .•-••..•whig machine lias been fn-lily oiled it is not always possible te, avoid little of ths oil staining the :i tides which are first used on the machine (suites a correspondent). A.'cr oilmg the machine should always be i 1 ; m| mi an old piece of male rial in order io "work oft"’ any surplus oil. bit; if it happens that new material gets spotted the best way to i emove- it is to use cotton wool, th ess a. piece of the wool tightly’ over the oil stain am! leave it on for about 15 minute;-. After this time the oil r' iin will have been absorbed by the (••itton wool, leaving the material clean.