SLUMBER PILLOWS.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1933, Page 11

SLUMBER PILLOWS.

Beauty pillows are a novelty American women are enthusing about. These are used to combat facial wrinkles. They are small in size, made of fine linen, and are filled with seaweed cut into very small pieces. The seaweed is prepared by soaking it in water, to which common salt has been added, and when dried and cut up is sprinkled with fine cedar sawdust. The pillow is stuffed just hard enough to give in the centre, where the head lies. They are said to prevent, the appearance of wrinkles even if one lies continuously on one side of the face. French women fill their beauty pillows with something more fragrant—rose leaves. In securing the rose petals for filling the pillow, they should be gathered just as they begin to fall, put into a wide-mouthed jar and placed in the sun to dry lightly, then covered so that the perfume cannot escape. Crushed cloves and small sprigs of thyme should be added and the petals left for a week before putting into the pillows. A pillow is said to last for two months without the contents losing their beneficial effect. In Canada anti-wrinkle pillows are filled with sponges. An old pillow ticking can be used for this purpose, and two dozen small sponges are required, cut up into small pieces, which are then soaked in cold water for three days and occasionally squeezed to remove any trace of dirt or sand before drying them, s The packing of a sponge pillow is very important. The stuffing inust not be compressed too tightly, particularly at the edges, as a light springy effect is what is required on both sides, with a slightly harder compress in the middle of the pillow to take the head and provide a> smooth surface for the cheek. This pillow is supposed to prevent the skin of the face from wrinkling—just the opposite to the feather or kapok pillow.

Marriages in France.

The French Senate is shortly to be asked to pass a Bill, already adopted by the Chamber, making it possible for French citizens who have reached the age of 21 to marry without the consent of their parents (states a correspondent). Curiously enough) although a Frenchman may Vote when he is 21, and a Frenchwoman may assume at that age the responsibility of any financial transaction, they may not wed until they are 25 without the consent of at least one of the parents unless they gd through a complicated procedure. In the past fifty years the law on this matter has been constantly altered in the direction of destroying the Roman tradition that the child is subject to the father’s authority for life.