MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 November 1934, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

BEAUTY—TO ARMS WHERE HOUSEWIFE SCORES With sleeves one of the high spots of fashion, arms (says a ■woman’s magazine) have once again come to light. A friend of mine who runs a beauty parlour tells me that more women are coming to her to-day to have their arms made beautiful than eve*: before; and that quite as many seem to need help for their arms as for their fapes. Tbo busy housewife scores over the business girl in the matter of arms, though each may be astonished to hear this. All housewife duties — dusting, scrubbing, polishing, stretching to reach high cupboards, rolling pastry, kneading bread, beating up cushions and pillows, rubbing clothes in the washtub —give excellent exercise for the arm muscles and help to keep arms and elbows rounded, smooth, and youthful. Those who work in offices or business houses, however, wear, perhaps, sleeves that fit snugly all the time and tend to sit for hours a day with elbows resting on hard wooden desks, and all this has a tendency to make elbows get rough, red, aud scraggy. unless specially cared for. The lack of general arm exercise, too, tends to encourage a loss of youthful contours. All business girls, therefore, should see to it that they have plenty of arm exercises; and they cannot do better than arm bending and stretching movements of 'all kinds, followed by a hearty pummelling of a fairly thick cushion.

It seems a pity for arms and elbows to be discoloured, sallow, or ■'red, when a cut lemon is such a simple yet such an excellent remedy. But many women seem to forget this. Cut a small juicy lemon in half and rub it all over both arms, leaving them covered with a film of juice. Then lean your arm ovei' a wash basin and work the lemon, like a cup, over each elbow in turn.- Dig the elbows right into the lemon and rub round and round for a few moments. When the juice has dried well into the skin, bathe your arms with the coldest water available. Use a loofah or large sponge and continue dabbing with the cold water for a minute or so; finish by dipping the whole . of each arm into clear, cold water. Use a clean, dry Turkish towel for drying and rub very briskly indeed. Now, you must be prepared to devote a few moments to massaging your arms. For this, I advise moistening the finger tips with any good skin food or cold cream. Massage all round each arm, and specially over the elbows, in an upward direction, finishing with brisk small circular rubs. Use plenty of cream and massage until it is worked into the skin. Twice a week almond oil can be used instead of cream. It has a specially smoothing effect on the skin and is useful in building up the underlying tissues and filling out the contours. Very thin arms should be massaged with almond oil, in addition to cream, every night. This treatment will help considerably to clear the arms of “gooseflesh.” In addition, when the upper arms are exceptionally “goosey,” a loofah or firm nailbrush must be used always when washing the arms. Lather plenty of soap on first —a good superfatted olive or almond oil one, or a good antiseptic soap, which-ever suits the skin best —and then scrub lightly but firmly. Thoroughly rinse, before giving your lemon rub and cream massage.

If you are oue of the lucky oues of this earth who sun-brown beautifully. you will prefer to get your arms as brown as your face and neck. Others, whose skin goes reddish instead, or gets badly freckled, will do wisely to protect their arms from strong sunshine. This is best done by a light foundation, creamiug, followed by plenty of talcum powder, or by means or any good liquid powder. Use a liquid powder, also, ou your arms for evenings. A good one will not rub off on your partner’s coat when dancing and it keeps your skin looking fresh and clear. You can get any shade, almost, in a good inexpensive liquid powder; in most cases the tint should match the face powder, or be one shade lighter. For very sallow arms, I have found a. milk paste simply marvellous. Mix dried milk to a smooth paste with a little rosewater or plain water, with a little lemon juice added. Smear the paste all over the arms and leave it like a face pack, until quite dry. It must then be lightly washed off in lukewarm water. If dried milk is not handy, use fuller’s earth and warm, fresh milk, adding a. few drops of lemon juice when the paste is smoothly mixed. After your morning bath, dry your arms very thoroughly. Then dab them all over with a piece of cotton wool saturated in a mixture of equal parts of witch-hazel, rosewater, and toilet eau-de-Cologne. This will keep the skin clear. Remember to dab some on your elbows. Freckles are very difficult to remove. The following freckle bleach is one I came across in my grandmother’s own pet book of household and beauty recipes:— Put one teaspoonful and a-half of fine almond meal or ground almonds into a small basin and cover with the same amount of witch-hazel. Allow to stand for two hours. Then stir well and strain through a fine sieve. Mix with an equal quantity of peroxide of hydrogen, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and four drops of tincture of benzoin. Keep in a covered jar. Dab nightly on freckled arms.

“DEAD” SHADES. ■ THAT LIVE AGAIN. There are designers who always ; prefer what are termed the “dead” shades, dark, deep tones peculiarly adapted to the richer fabrics of winter, such as velvet, lame, lame-moire, the thick reversible satins, old-fash- | ioned faille and taffetas. j How very attractive in its modern resurrection is that .familiar mulberry or prune, the ripe purple plum, mixed with dull metallic weaves or in its richness and stiffness. These shades will be moulded to the figure in velvet, lame satin or taffeta, flaring out at the feet. A dark prune can show a contrasting frill of soft salmon pink, the two colours being picked up by a wonderful posy of shaded poppies or orchids. The floral cluster, worn in many ways, is a factor in both afternoon and evening toilettes. The scarf or sash can also emphasise the brighter colour, as worn with the darker frock, but floral decorations will be there as well.

The flower fashion is distinctly of she 19th century trend, and will become more marked as the modern puise of elegance gains. The soft fur and velvet coat, lace blouse and satin wrap seem to be associated with the sweet-smelling cluster of violets, carnations, lilies and orchids. These posies were mostly real blooms thirty years ago, for the artificial flower had not attained the beauty of to-day. Both will have their fair share of popularity, and there are indications of the clever mixing of the real blossoms with the copies. These dark and dull-surfaced colours are the best background for the charm of floral decoration. The metal threads and woven sparkling patte'rns are best left with their own brilliance. A cluster of white camellias with a dark golden tissue is beautiful, as are the more delicate shades of colour with silver, but the new flashing fabrics, full of light and brightness, must be treated in simpler ways.

TRAINS AND SLITS. THE SKIRT HAS VARIETY. The dress collections of the last few days have made it clear that women are to be allowed a good range of choice in the matter of the skirts for their smart afternoon and evening gowns. There is the trained skirt that is so graceful, the slit skirt that proclaims the latest of trends, and there is also the trained skirt that is slit (writes a Dress Critic, in the London “Daily Telegraph”). Taffeta and satin afternoon and evening frocks favour plenty of slits.

I was attracted by an afternoon reception gown in prune velvet that had a short tunic of powder-blue satin, slashed and slit after the Tudor style. The skirt was opened back and front to reveal a hint of the blue, aud the tunic had slit tabs bouipl with velvet. The long modern mitten-sleeve bad insets of the prune shade. With this was worn a deep cape of macK seal and prune velvet beret and gloves. An evening gown in deep nasturtium velvet had no trimming beyond a square decolletage of roses made of gold and silver kid. This formed the shoulder straps and tiny top sleeve. The trained skirt in this case was slit in four places, piped with the kid aud revealed shoes of the kid.

GOLD AND SILVER KID.

There is much gold and silver kid used as dress trimming as well as for shoes, gloves and pochettes. Some collections have all the frocks trained: other designers prefer skirts with more fullness starting at the back and just touching the ground. Skirts that are tight and trained must have the slit; others get perilously near the tube-silhouette, which is, however, too tight to be graceful. Cocktail frocks are best not trained; women living in towns want to get about easily, and quickly. These sonamed “cocktail” garments are getting far more convenient, and really take the place of the old idea of a demi-toilette.

A favourite vogue this autumn is a velvet or satin tight skirt in black or a dark shade worn with a coloured velvet or tissue blouse and a coatee or capelet to match the skirt. It is important that women should choose their accessories in accordance with the type of skirt they adopt. Balance is essential, and handbag, scarf, flower or other detail must be in correct proportion to the full trained effect or the narrow slitup style. This is the art of good dressing.