CULT OF BEAUTY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20477, 1 December 1934, Page 29 (Supplement)

CULT OF BEAUTY.

Personality Lies at Its Core. MORE THAN SKIN DEEP. (By A BEAUTY SPECIALIST.) Beauty—not the complexion only, or the hair, but something as indefinable as the soul itself. There is no accounting for tastes. That is a truism, so ancient that journalists have voted to pension the expression. Nevertheless, we see its ■ adaptability all about us. We cannot ; understand what Mr. B. saw in Mrs. B. that induced hini to propose. We feel i sorry for Mrs. Jones when we see her in . public with Mr. Jones. It may be, how- , ever, an all-wise provision that our ■ tastes are not all alike. Another r expression that once ran current was ; that beauty was only skin deep. Either

our tastes or our judgments have 60 materially changed in the twentieth century that one can hardly agree with the statement —surely cannot call it a truism; the depth of the skin no longer determines beauty. The unsoiled hand, the undeveloped muscle, the laughless and expressionless face of a “lady” of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries might be beautiful by the criterion of that time, blit not now. Beauty is more than skin deep—at least, it is more than a matter of the skin. If it were that only, beauty competitions would be more difficult to conproving the skin than there are of the hair. There are more chances of improving the hair than there are of the figure. One may have a beautiful skin, beautiful hair, a beautiful figure, and lack personality and. according to some judges, not be beautiful. Some judges of beauty consider personality the essentime. It 'is god-given for women'to want to be beautiful. Legend even bears this out. The fairy story about the medieval maiden, imprisoned in an isolated castle, is an example. Don’t you remember, that this maiden saved a dove from a pursuing hawk, and, after eating a lump of sugar dipped in rose-dew, the dovechanged into a beautiful white fairy. As a reward for the girl’s kindness, the fairy granted her her wish, and set. her free from the castle. Besides freedom, the maiden was given her choice of great wealth, abundance of wit, or beauty. Without hesitation the girl said, “Give me beauty.” “You have chosen well,” said the good fairy. The attraction of wealth is but temporary—wealth is not universally admired—but beautybeauty wins and holds r’l hearts. That beauty is more than skin deep is evident when we read about and see pictures of the famous beauties. There is a universal appeal about beauty. There is something of a standard for it.

Do Not Bank on One Asset. A woman must be more than “skin pretty,” something more than “hair beautiful.” To prefer a blonde to a brunette is but a matter of taste. Auburn hair has its charms, likewise raven locks, likewise brown hair. But in the finer test of beauty the criterion used must not be the complexion only, or the hair only; it must go deej>er. . There is something we cannot explain in ordinary speech. Something as indelin--1 able as the soul itself, that makes the r woman truly beautiful. : Every advertiser of a product knows , that be must play up the good features , and try to improve the bad ones. So 5 it is in beauty. One should not bank : on any one asset, however. There will . be beauty assets, there are beauty handi- . caps. These may be evenly divided. The girl with beautiful hair should keep it 1 well groomed in whatever style that is ' most, becoming to her; parted in the middle or at the side, bobbed, shingled ' or even—let us whisper it—left to its * own sweet will, as Nature intended it r to be. The nicest lines of a good figure

should bo brought out by tasteful dressing. On the other hand, if the figure is not symmetrical, set about correcting it. If the hair needs toning up, give it attention-—it is quite possible to improve one’s hair. Wo have advanced unbelievably far in analysing character, but as yet we have no “test” for personality. Standards for personality are as vague aa standards for literary merit. The popular cry of the six best sellers often determine#* a writer’s popularity, but it takes time to decide on the merits of h»s or her productions. This is true of beauty. Beauty contests have become an institution in France. The criterion for beauty should not be based on surface judgments. It should be founded on rock—cool and calm —and then it will, like the house of the ancient parable, withstand the ill-winds of time. A Word About the Eyes. Eyebrow* don't exist any more in very fashionable circles. To be eyebrowed in the good old-fashioned way* is to he “not in our class.” Naturellement! So then, if you would belong to that inner circle of the liaut monde, have yours ruthlessly plucked and then pencil the thinnest oblong almond-shaped line possible in their place. You must look like Ah Pong and Mali Jong rolled into one 'if you would be a la. mode. The fact is that with our Oriential eyebrows, our olive skins, our boyish figures—we all seem to be qualifying for a reserved scat in an express for* Loonieland. But for those who are not very partial about being in the haut monde, or looking like Ah Pong and Mali Jong, and like to have fine arched evebrows, that look as if they had been* painted with a brush, or rather thick eyebrows tlmt, are becoming to many eyes—there are many ways of beautifying them. oatmi/of Castor oil will impart "a preatrr depth of colour and increase growth. To lie beautiful and protect the eyes well, pyelaslies should he long and thick. They ought, also to bo dark. Under these conditions, they give beauty and softness to the eyes. If the eyelashes are thin or falling bo rubbed over the edges of lids. It is better to use a brush under the lashes, always brushing upwards, so it. will help the lashes to curl. This, treatment, if continued, will do wonders in making the lashes grow longer and thicker. The hairs of the brows and eyelashes should bo kept, orderly by brushing them with a fine soft bristle brush made for that special purpose.