NOURISHMENT FOR SKIN

Taranaki Daily News, 27 July 1934, Page 14

NOURISHMENT FOR SKIN

USE OF MODERN CREAMS. Modern creams for the skin aim at something deeper than, mere appearance, for, by the incorporation of some “nourishing” substance, an attempt is made to feed the tissues below the surface. As a woman grows older, her skin becomes slack, less elastic, and inclined to fall into wrinkles. This condition is due, largely, to the degeneration of the tissues and to the partial disappearance of the “cushions” of fat below the skin. The skin, of course, should be viewed as in two layers, the outer portion which we see and know as the topmost of the four sections, and the lower layer called the

dermis, or true skin, which contains the blood vessels, nerves, glands, lymphatic vessels, and, in the deepest parts, the fat cells. Lanoline is a substance which has been proved to be absorbed by the skin in appreciable quantities. Very little of it is required in a cream, and if equal parts of toilet lanoline and the usual cold cream be mixed, this mixture may be called a true nourishing cream, in that much of it is absorbed by the skin through warmth and massage. Because it is of a greasy nature, it can be used only at night. After the skin has been well washed, and steamed with hot towels, the cream should be massaged in and left until morning. The cleansing of the skin is a surface action, best performed by pure vaseline. Vaseline cold cream is, therefore, a good cleanser. Medicinal liquid paraffin may also be used, apd this should be rubbed over the skin with a piece of cotton wool, or else warmed and massaged in with the finger tips. Remove surplus with paper tissues. This treatment has a definite cleansing action. Cod-liver oil has been recommended on the Continent as a food for the skin, and, being rich in vitamins A and D, it is likely to be widely used in nourishing the skin. The disadvantage about it is that many may object to the’ smell. Yolks of eggs contain a large proportion of a substance which is good for nourishing the skin, and has lately been incorporated into some of the best skin foods. The yolk of one egg could be mixed with a teaspoonful of cod-liver oil and the mixture massaged into the skin at night. It is better not to make more than can be used up in three nights.