FOR SUMMER BEAUTY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20891, 22 November 1937, Page 12

FOR SUMMER BEAUTY

CARE OF THE SKIN Most of us have learned, from bitter experience, to be specially considerate to our skins in summer, states a South African writer. Even those fortunate ones who tan a golden brown find that they can’t expose their faces to sun and air with absolute impunity if they want to avoid roughness, coarseness, and blemishes that come from over-exposure. And those who have fair skins know that it is fatal to beauty and good grooming to leave their skins to look after themselves when hot sun, strong winds, and dust prevail. So when summer comes we dutifully lay in a larger stock of creams and oils and lotions to nourish and protect and soften our skins lest they should be harmed by over exposure.

Brittle, Lustreless Hair But while our skins get all this attention and coddling, many of us entirely forget in summer that our hair is apt to suffer from exposure too. After one has lain bare-headed in the sun for an hour or so one’s hair does not follow the skin’s example and turn a lobster colour. Therefore, because the evidences of damage are neither startling nor painful, we ignore the fact that injury may have been done. Undue exposure, nevertheless, can do great harm to the hair, and results gradually in dry, brittle, and lustreless locks that refuse to look sleek and well-groomed. So, if you want to look your best this summer, and next winter, too, give your hair the same care that you give your skin.

To begin with, don’t, if you can possibly help it, expose your hair unprotected to the blazing sun for hours at a stretch. The baking will take the natural oils from the scalp as well as from the skin, and your hair will be come dried-out and bleached. A shady beach hat will help to avoid this baking, but, as one can’t always have one’s head covered in the sun, it is wise to give your scalp an oil bath every now and then to counteract the drying processes of sun and wind.

You can do this at home by rubbing warm olive oil well into the scalp the night before you are due to have a shampoo. Better still, you can get your hairdresser to give you one of those special oil treatments that are specially designed to remedy unhealthy conditions of the scalp. Salt Water Harmful Another source of hair trouble is the dust that gets into every corner of the scalp and clogs the pores. Faithful brushing and more frequent shampoos can counteract this, and a little massage every night will help to stimulate the scalp into throwing off impurities.

Salt water has an immediately injurious effect on the hair if it is allowed to dry on it, and only a thorough shampoo will remove the dull, matted effect that follows if the hair is allowed to get wet during a bathe. A bathing cap that really fits will prevent sea-water damage, but if your hair does get wet it should be rinsed after the bathe in fresh water. If you spend a great deal of time on the beach in summer, and if your hauls not naturally wavy, you will be wise to have a new permanent wave just at the begininng of the bathing season. This will enable you to keep your hair in much better trim, for a strong wave that is disarranged does not look wispy and straggly. Added to that, a fairly new “perm” can be patted into place when it is damp far more easily than an old one.