SAVING THE COMPLEXION.

Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 43, 5 June 1906, Page 8

SAVING THE COMPLEXION.

No sooner has lovely woman successfully routed the wintry army of red noses, chapped faces and blotchy skins than an overpowering army of freckles, sunburn and summer wrinkles make their appearance to be fought tooth and nail. There is no rest for the woman with a delicate complexion which she wishes to keep pure and perfect. As prevention is better than cure, however, it is as well for her to make ready to shield herself against the magnificent but destructive effects of the midsummer sun. The woman who goes to the seaside and intends to spend long hours on the beach gazing at the hot sands and dazzling reflections in £he waves will need a larger supply of lotions, and creams to counteract the disastrous effects of this complexion destroying glare than she who spends her summer vacation among the shadows of the mountain forests. The skin tans and toughens just as leather does with each successive exposure to the sun unless something is done at once to counteract it. The sun and wind will dry out every particle of oil from the surface of the skin, and a tanned skin is one that needs nourishment first of all. If the girl who spends her day on the beach would rub into her skin an extra supply of soothing cream in the morning the sun will have less effect on it. and she will suffer no burning sensation. Cold cream can be used for this purpose, or even better this one made of cucumbers : Almond oil, four ounces. Spermaceti, one ounce. Cucumber juice, two ounces. The cucumbers should be quite ripe, cut and pounded to a paste and then strained. A little of this is rubbed well into the skin and what is not absorbed is wiped off with soft linen. If the face is then lightly pow'dered it will not be noticeable to the eye and yet will keep the skin from burning. After the cream is washed off in the evening—the washing should always be done with warm water. If the face is sunburnt apply the following cooling lotion : Tincture of benzoin, one-half ounce. Tincture of vanilla, two drams. Rose water, triple, one and one-half pints. Mix the tinctures and add the rose water very slowly to prevent curdling. It should be milky white. Where one does not wish to use a lotion cucumber juice will be found to be very soothing. Dip a piece of linen in the juice and leave it on the face as long as possible. The natural arsenic in the cucumber gives it wonderful bleaching powers. The above is all for cases of slight sunburn. Where the summer girl has tanned herself to a beautiful but seldom becoming golden brown and wishes to change her colour she has to resort to much more heroic methods. The strong bleaches all contain a certain proportion of corrosive sublimate (bichloride of mercury). When the bleach is properly made and used as directed it is perfectly harmless and will keep the most senpitive skin fair and white if constantly used. It is always best to pour out a little of the fluid—just enough for use—into a china or glass dish and use it out of this. Never let it touch metal of any kind, and keep it away from the finger nails, as it is likely to discolour them if frequently used. A good lotion of this kind which will remove tan and yellow discolorations is composed of ten grains corrosive sublimate, two ounces distilled witchhazel, and two ounces of rose water. This should be kept out of the reach of ignorant persons and children. A little of this bleach mopped over the face whenever the summer girl is at her dressingtable will keep her complexion white and a compress wet with it, and put on the neck at night will do away with the wonderful tan decorations the sun burns on her skin through the laces of her lingerie waists. What the summer girl dreads most of all are freckles—for, do what she may, once she has allowed the dark little spots to form on her pretty nose and forehead, it is the most difficult thing in the world to get rid of them. I know several young women who have resorted to the faceskinning process merely to rid themselves of their too affectionate freckles. As every one knows these discolorations can be slightly bleached by external agencies and the light summer freckles made to fade away, but the cold-weather freckles—alas ! that is another story. The longer a freckle has been allowed to stay on the face the harder it is to get off. and a good way to show how very unwelcome they are is as follows : Go through some calisthenics or any exercise that will induce free perspiration ; then massage the spots briskly with an ointment composed of oleate of copper, ten grains ; ointment of oxide of zinc, half an ounce. Leave this on all night. The summer girl suffers aften from an irritation or chapping of the skin due often to the materials of her clothing. For this light rash nothing is more soothing than the application of the following preparation : Elder flower water, seven ounces ; glycerine, one ounce ; borax, one-half drahm. Apply when necessary.