RETAINING HER BEAUTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21233, 13 July 1932, Page 3

RETAINING HER BEAUTY.

THE MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN.

AIDS OF MODERN LIFE

BY THE HON. FRANCES LASCELLES, Aunt of the Princess Royal and Earl of

Harewood. No. XVII.

A flower in full bloom is afc the height of its beauty, yet women dread loosing their good looks just when their lives reach their zenith. Every woman dreads her fortieth birthday, simply because she has been taught by convention to expect at that dread moment all her beauty will disappear. Although the fallacy of this belief is obvious, its mere existence is apt to produce the ends so much dreaded. The woman of forty is apt to forget that she possesses a beauty that youth has' not had time to acquire. Beauty of expression may bo hers, for she has by now developed a character that has imprinted itself on her face. As a rule middle-aged faces are more interesting than those of youth, because to discriminating eyes they tell a story—if the story be a pleasant one, then even a plain face may be beautiful.

But look at beauty from its merely physical aspect and there is no need to worry because the fatal forties are creeping near. The days are long past when a woman expected herself, and so encouraged herself to look wan, worn and worried at the mere approach of middle age. Enjoyable work is a postive aid to beauty, but there is no denying that painful drudgery spoils one's looks. The average married woman who makes herself a drudge in these times is more often a fool than a martyr. The old days of the woman with the dust pan are happily gone forever. Clouds of. dust were detrimental to any complexion, but with the labour-saving contrivances of to-day it is no longer necessary even for the woman who does her own housework to destroy the fine surface of her skin by constantly working in a dust-laden atmosphere. The vacuum cleaner and the carpet sweeper have relieved her from what was once a menace to beauty, and they are a better insurance against 'fading looks at forty than a dressing table loaded with cosmetics. Better Homes. Modern homes are now much mbre airy than were the heavily furnished homes of our fathers, and that, too, tends to keep the housewife who spends much of her time within the four walls of her own home in better health and so jn greater beauty. Education has also done much for tho good looks of the modern woman. She now undei'stands the science of dietery, and her knowledge has meant increased beauty of complexion, figure and teetl\. In the old days when women ate without any consideration of health their figures generally deteriorated in their thirties. This, though they did not realise it, was the result of an indiscriminating diet rather than the natural consequence of advancing years. To : day women are as slim and graceful at forty as they were at twenty, and their health has improved in consequence. Beauty' of figure as well as beauty of complexion is no doubt the result of a rational amount of exercise, and the golfplaying, tennis-playing woman of to-day is as active and agile at fifty as-?'her grandmother was at half that age. The hands of a woman are a great index to her age and those who take heed to their complexion and figure often are neglectful of their hands. If modern lavdbr-saving appliances are used the hands are saved much wear and tear. Rubber gloves, for instance, will keep the hands of a really busy domesticated woman soft and white. Again, electrical devices save a woman's hands from both excessive heat and damp. The electrical laundry and washer-up, for example, save not only soiling the hands, but what is still worse, excessive soaking in hot water. The electric iron saves one from scorching the hands at fire or stove. Science to the Rescue.

A woman can to-day have as lovely white even teeth at forty as she had as n girl, for this generation has learned the importance of visiting the dentist at regular intervals, and also of regulating diet with some thought to the welfare of teeth. No longer need a woman who develops some slight foot irregularity appear unsightly in unshapely shoes. The foot specialist has altered all that, and where his skill does not work miracles the shoo specialist ably backs him, and produces beautiful footwear even for unsightly feet. But the woman of forty has possibly the greatest advantage over her predecessors in the matter of hair. Once all women were condemned, their first youth, over, to dress their hair in conventional middle-aged style. Now a woman simply studies her face and the hair she has to dress and decides what style will best suit her. What is more—for the outlay of» a few shillings she may obtain the advice of an expert. At the present moment, almost any mode of hairdressing is fashionable, and there is no barrier of age in the matter. Long or short, curled, straight, fringed or waved, all that matters is to find some method of hairdressing that will bring out all your best points and hido your worst. Science has come to the help of the woman of forty. By making the routine of her life easier it has given her renewed youth. By teaching her the art of living, by laying down simple axioms on diet, air and exercise, it has given her health. By the invention of simple and natural cosmetics it has given her the opportunity of recuperation that onco she did not possess. ' The woman of forty who hopelessly settles down to loosing her good looks is rather to be blamed than pitied. Science and art combined are on her side, and there is no longer the gulf between youth and ago that once existed.