WOMAN'S WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15390, 27 August 1913, Page 12

WOMAN'S WORLD.

° NOVELTIES IN ENTERTAINING-

FLOWER TEAS. ' I Hostesses who enjoy sending out invitations to their friends to tea and want a pretty and novel method of entertaining them should try the new form of flower tea " ~ The hostess may decide wnwii flowers she would like- represented a*d despatch with her invitations seductive little slips on which the names of two flowers have been written. At the time .tar the entertainment she makes her rooms very pretty with flowers, and arranges a real floral tea,. The result of this is very pretty and not at all difficult to manage, there can be buttercup, violet, cowslip- crocus daffodil plates. Those called a ter buttercups will naturally contain wafer bread and butter arranged in dainty piles with the flowers in the centre; cakes decorated with crystallised violets; Genoese pastry with icing of daffodil tint, and so on, until | the tea table, or buffet, is quite a work ot | The guests are prepared to, take their j share in- the entertainment; they bring ; with them, concealed in boxes, or covered , with tissue paper, miniature bouquets or j sprays of one kind of flower only. If the hostess has sent slips with the names of | two flowers, then a couple of posies must j be provided. Then each guest provides , herself with two quotations, one lor each j flower, which she learns or writes down. | Before or after the floral tea guests ar- | ange themselves cosily about the room j within easy reach of a charming floral j bowl or basket. The hostess now offers to j each guest this floral bowl, when a number j 13 drawn out and pinned on to dress or i coat and as soon as the bowl is empty, it j is replaced in its central position; pretty; j slips" of paper clipped together and email I pencils are also distributed. Busy Pencils. ' The guests, in turn, have something to , say. Let us imagine for purpose of description that someone has very naturally chosen, at this season of the year, the dainty snowdrop. Such a person would speak somewhat as follows :— ' " I am the: flower of hope, of consolation, and my robes are white touched with green- -L have been called the ' fairy lady,of_ February.' A poet has- said of me that 1 am— ■;:'-.': : /V. : ; "■■^/'■'' : ''''-] , '"^-r;y\ : K\z'siiU The herald of the flowers - , Sent with a small white flag of truce to For my beleaguered brethren; supplicantly I pray stern winter to withdraw his troop. Of winds and blustering storms, and having A smile of promise from* my pitying foe. Return to tell • the issuo of my errand i To the expectant host. Now please guess my name; and ; ; draw my face on paper. # As the guest representing the snowdrop ceases to speak pencils are busy. The name of the flower is written y down, anil, j five minutes 'is •'; allowed for a drawing of;! its graceful outline. On , the paper must; be written the number, not the name ;of, , the speaker.,: Then all the ;;papers axe folded and placed ■; in ; the : decorated howl. The judging of the papers may take place immediately or when all the flowers have spoken. A daffodil would state that she had been; called the shepherds' flower and < the' blossom of friendship or true regard. "My robes are of yellow," ■■) A ' poet said thai once— Beside the lake, beneath the trees, : :.' .' ' "/:.', ' ' - : ' ::: : ■'.';-/:°^; ; :' '■'''-. he saw us, :•,.'•" : Fluttering and dancing in the bre*ise. ~ Another said we hastened away too soon*, j and begged us to linger— y■••',..•.;•' ; ? Until the hastening day Has run But to the evensong! She, also, asks that her name may be fuessed, written down, and her , portrait rawn. The crocus can declare herself the flower: of youthful - gladness, ■ who ■ chooses to appear in robes of varying hue. She may then flay, " Poets have called;me brave,; and because of my courage said I was a masculine flower with the snowdrop for my bride. I" am a preacher ;' of patience,, a type, also, of bravery. A poet has said:— .. , Dainty young thing , . Of life! A venturous flower Who goes through the hard cold bower - Of wintry spring. Then tulips can be purchased now, and are very easy to draw. Anyone represent^; j ing this flower would be able -to declare, with pride, that enormous ; sums' .were once I paid for; her, arid she was brought from |- over the sea to England. About 200 years; i ago a real mania ': for \ : tulips prevailed in; Holland, so ; there is no exaggeration in; the statement. She would call herself-the; flower of enduring love, ? and claim a place in general interest because yof the brilliancy of her petals, adding: We are a race where beauty plays _ Her idle freaks, from family diffused To family, as flies the pollen dust, The varied colours run. Then she would be able to state that no flower was more popular with the fairy | folk, as the blossoms had long been-the i elfin cradles. Instead of poetical quota-' tion it is always possible for guests to tell j a dainty floral legend. In the case of the tulip the charming -can !^ be; toldf of the old woman who planted her garden j with tulips because she knew the fairies j loved them, and that at. sunset ; they sang ] their children to sleep. She was very j friendless and lonely. '/When she; died. there were no human hearts to mourn 1 her; but in gratitude the fairies themselves j planted tulips on the grave, which was not ] tended by mortals. There, at the hour of j sunset, they could be heard hushing their j babies to sleep. v y ;,■-'''■":;.'.•-..'; .;;;;:;:■;r"';^'-y;;y A Flower Song. At the conclusion of her descriptive ] speech, the tulip asks for » the guessing of | he; name and for a' drawing. ; .There, is no j difficulty in obtaining any number of quo- ' tatione and charming allusions to be used i by the flowers' living representatives. yj There are many delicate sentences in prose j which emphasise the charms of /special; j flowers, especially among the old writers. | Bacon, for instance, was loud in their | praise. An hour or two spent in this way i can be interesting arid charming, making no exacting demand on the ingenuity of 1 guests. Sometimes a living flower is "able i to add to the general pleasure by singing j some flower song, but this must be done without giving the name of the flower. The hostess has prizes for the (1) best told description, (2) for the largest number of correct guesses, and (3) for the best collection of drawings.

ABOUT BEATJTXFIERS. Without doubt the only permanent aid to beauty is, a sound mind in a sound body. As early as the days of Asprisia in Greece and Cleopatra in Egypt, artificial 'means for enhancing the beauty and improving the complexion were in use. The word "cosmetic" does not mean paints and washes for tho face, as is generally understood nowadays. ; It moans adorning, and applies to every part of the toilet, and even to the dress. It is the art of em bellishing everything we see, whether face, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, hair, feet, or breast. In medicine it goes even further, but its mission to the world of beauty suffices us at present. The ancient Jews, Greeks, and .Romans % were the masters of the art of cosmetics, and we read of Hebrew women passing the greater, part of the day in adorning themselves. "In: Rome the art of increasing tie beauty at one time became a popular frenzy. It is told of a patrician Roman lady that she had no less than 18 women to help her at toilet, and to each was entrusted only one part of the person. : -■■ When a Roman lady arose in the morn-, ing her first act was to plunge into a bath of perfumed oil, 'and afterwards into a bath of tepid water which had -been.: sprinkled with oil of roses. Perfumed

soaps that were worth their weight in S°-4M were* used in these baths. • Grey,hair - waa, j. always dyed black, but some/women pre-.i ferred golden yellow, or, even a blue. 1 Roman women preferred to look pale, and* consequently powdered their cheeks with, prepared chalk.: They were acquainted with rouge/which, was used to stain the lips and the nails, but never on the face. They stained their eyebrows and eyelashes by means of smoked pins, and a delicate; pink tint was given to the. insides of the nostrils with carmine. Manicures and pet- . ticures were well known, to the Romans,,? and rich ladies would keep several in their emplov.: -.•;.•.-.'■■- ■■-.■..'.';■: •'•■ -•■:! During the Reformation - cosmetics wen*> out of favour, but they were soon revived in France. At the present time balms and other, forms are so extensively adver- ;j tised that we must believe they -are very, generally used. In the daytime it is easy to detect the dyed hair" or the stained face, arid the electric.'light is a , keen detective of such superficial beauty. After all, sound health ana a contented mind are the two greatest beautifters in , ' the world— the" decided advantage in their favour, that the beauty they give improves in the sunlight, and does, not vanish When the gas is turned on.

FAULT-FINDERS.

Many peonle have a genius for seeing the faults of others, but there is one pecu- ■ liarity about this faculty which will be an - / interesting study-'-for the psychologist;' it is the' tendency to criticise most sharply , -,; those faults in others -which are most prominent in ourselves. In other words, "~A that which excites our greatest antagonism is the- duplication of our own .traits. -.' It would be amusing, if it were not disturbing and pathetic, . to * hear people criticise mercilessly traits in others which everybody recognises as being the special possession of the critics themselves. It is pathetic, because it shows how little weknow about ourselves; and it is disturbing, ; because it suggests the listener that M he may be (Joins? precisely the same,thing. ..ii-jjs In all probability he is. , * t-y " So little do' we know' ourselves, as a rule, that when we see parts of ourselves }' in others we detest them. If we recognised ; them as being, in a sense, our own : >l|lf possessions, we might not like them any ' ':'isU better, but we should surely sympathise with their possessors. -, If there is any common : experience which ought to draw ms together, it is identity of struggle and temptation. We ought to stand shoulder to shoulder with -. those who are fighting ',: the same fight which we are fighting, and - who find in themselves the same tendencies to evil or to weakness; and yet these are the very people from whom, as a rule,-, we withdraw ourselves most entirely, and upon whose shoulders? the lash of our criti- ' cism falls most mercilessly.