MODERN BEAUTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18642, 25 February 1924, Page 12

MODERN BEAUTY.

Princess Catherine Radziwill, whose hooks'on the court life of Europe are well known, declares emphatically that the present generation cannot be compared in beauty with the. past. In an article on "Fair women I have met,'' she says " Regularity of features, stately figures, and clear, transparent complexions have gone out of fashion, together .'with long trains and elaborate coiffures. There are no longer now any such transcendentally lovely creatures as the late Duchess of Leinster or the late Duchess *.of Devonshire." 'Simple clothes of the ready-made type, tHe popularity of athletics and consequent exposure to all kinds of weather, and 'resort* to cosmetics,, are, in her opinion, among the causes of the change. Mr. Alfred Praga, the portrait painter, does' not agree with Princess Radziwill's main criticism. " I think there are plenty of women to-day just as lovely as the famous society beauties of 50 years ago," he said to a Press representative. " We don't notice them —that's the —because there are so many beautiful girls and women about. I agree with the writer of the' article on two minor points," he added. " Women do dress too much alike. I think, also, with her,, that powder and rouge and face creams are used much more generally now than in the past. The modern girls' devotion to athletics often gives her complexion a weather-beaten appearance which is not attractive. To a certain extent, however, it is the cigarette and cocktail habits that are the causes of her bad complexionnot her fondness for outdoor sports." Beauty specialists in New York, by the way. have been asserting that the modern woman has surpassed the Greek ideal in beauty and symmetry. A new type of beauty has corne into vogue. The day of the vivacious brunette is over, it- seems. The ash blonde has come into her own. The pale lustre of her hair cannot be produced with peroxide. Her skin has the creamy perfection of a magnolia petal. Her eyes are grey. The sun-brown and wind-tanned girl is on the wane. The orange powder and rouge, which ' gave the " natural " girl her outdoor look, have given way to a white perfection of complexion.