CARE OF THE SKIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21784, 25 October 1932, Page 13

CARE OF THE SKIN

If there is one thing more than freckles that troubles young folk in their early teens, and which, if not carefully treated will prove troublesome in the later teens, it is Acne—those horrid blackheads and pimples that disfigure the face and neck (says ail exchange). Now, Acne is really a skin disease—appearing in the early teens, as before stated; at this time the little grease glands of the skin become enlarged and more active, and are easily infected. There may be only two or three spots now and again on the face, but more often Acne shows itself in frequent crops of red, yellow-tipped pimples on the chin, forehead and round the nose, and even on the neck, in extreme cases.

The best thing to do when they appear is to make the determination that you will do all the right things to get rid of them. Don't spend time worrying. Cheerfulness will help greatly—when you use the right methods at the same time.

¥bu have to realise that Acne is not just a lot of skin spots on which you need only dab ointments _ from the chemists. It is actually a disease which must be cured from within. Taking a few doses of salts to purify the blood wll! not by any means settle the matter, and any unwise tampering with the irritating and unpleasant looking spots uiay leave you with Bears for life. I know of the case of a young girl who was worried about one blackhead that appeared on her cheek. She pricked it, then squeezed it —a short time afterwards an ugly spot came there; unknowingly she infected the pore, "which caused such trouble that she was in a specialist's hands for six months. Quite a healthy girl, too. First of all, get all the outdoor exercise and the frash air and sunshine that is possible. Then your food. Have a simple diet. Eat plenty of fruit at your meals and drink plenty of water between them; also drink water first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Add fresh lemon juice to the water if you like. Never eat white bread, suet puddings, pastry, buns or other such starchy things that are made with white flour or that are greasy. Iset your bread be wholemeal or good brown bread, and let your fat come from good butter. And you must, for a while, cut out of your diet sweets and chocolates. Instead of these, get your sugar from fruit, marmalade, and honey. Let one of your meals each day consist largely of raw green salad, tomato, celery, carrots, etc. Cut out tea altogether. The hot, and cold water you drink between- meals and in the morning and evening, will supply all the fluid needed.

Regular morning and evening exercises for your abdominal muscles will tone up your digestion. But probably this will not be enough, and it is wise to take a small regular dose once or twice a day of a herbal laxative, senna tea, liquid tascara or fruit salts. With the aid of the water you are drinking, this will purifv your blood, Stronger measures are sometimes necessary, and there are some special tablets for the treatment of acne which work wonders in quite a short time. Your chemist will advise you. Now we come to the skin itself. Alwayß with acne it is more or less greasy. Particles of dirt and quantities of minute germs cling to the grease, block the pores and grease glands and so cause blackheads and those nasty pimples. Wash your face at least three times a day with a really good toilet soap. The water should be fairly hot, and you should massage the face well with the hot lather. Rinse well afterwards with tepid or cold water and dab dry. Morning and night do the same to the neck, and use a stiff bath brush or loofah on your back. Try to get a complete bath at least once a day. Do not use a face cream while you are giving this treatment, but use witch-hazel as a lotion after washing to keep the greasiness down, and dust with a pure powder. A very important part of the treatment is dealing with the scalp. The scalp is a continuation of the skin qf the face and neck and in cases of acne it is either greasy or scurfy, or both. If the hair is short, it can be washed once a day; failing this and when starting the treatment, it should be washed two or three times a week at least. Later on, once a week will suffice. , Brush the hair well each day, counting 100 strokes of the brush. If you wash your brush and comb each day you are helping to get rid of the trouble. Eau de Cologne is excellent for removing grease from the 6calp and hair when you cannot wash it, and it is very useful for cleansing a greasy face. As for the blackheads and the pimples, never touch them when they are red round the base. At other times after hot bathing and steaming, the greasy matter may be steamed out. ' Fingers and skin should be absolutely clean when you do this or you will only be adding more eerms and # causing inflammation, and will have twice the difficulty in getting rid of the spots. On no account attempt to deal with any spot or pimple you can feel under the akin, but which has not yet come to a definite head. If you do so. scarring and disfigurement may follow. Never forget that the skin is the largest cleansing organ in the body. Whenwell cared for and scrupulously clean it is beautiful in itself. To produce such a result is well worth time and trouble in early life, and it lays one of the principal foundations for health and beauty afterwards. SOME BEAUTY HINTS. To prevent "shine" on the nose apply just the faintest smear of glycerine to the skin after applying vanishing cream. Then powder. This will last all day if necessary. A little glycerine applied to the lips will remove all traces of powder, and will keep them soft and free from cracking. If used daily it will help to keep them red. If you want to feel extra fresh and energetic for a " special occasion," try a "salt towel." Dissolve a teacupful of salt in about a gallon of hot water, and soak a large bath towel in the solution for 10 or 15 minutes. Hang it up to dry without squeezing or wringing. Before dressing to go out rub the body briskly with the dry salt towel. This can be used two or three times before all the salt is used up. This treatment gives a delightful fresh feeling. Very red lips can be easily acquired without the use of lipstick if, instead, a little cold cream is massaged into them and this is followed by rubbing briskly with eau-de-Cologne. This will bring up the colour in the lips, and you will find that it lasts a long time. When your feet are tired and swollen from walking or long standing rub the soles with a cut lemon after bathina them in hot salt water. If you use a greasy cream as a powder foundation, apply it while the skin is still damp after washing, instead of rubbing the skin dry first. The cream will cause neither shininess nor stickiness if applied in this way, and will hold the powder far longer. • , Here is a good method of removing frown lines: After massaging across them gently each night with skin food, apply a strip of transparent adhesive tape across the wrinkles, and leave it on till the morning.