BEAUTY IN PERSONALITY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 115, 18 May 1933, Page 2

BEAUTY IN PERSONALITY

WAYS AND MEANS. Personality is the breath of life to beauty. It gives it radiance and mag- . netism. In. fact it is not too much to say that real beauty is personality, for it can overcome disadvantages of fea- I tures and figure so that even the plainest of women are triumphantly attractive. All of us possess personality. Sometimes it lies dormant beneath a shell of self-consciousness, sometimes it is too blatant because poise and charm of manner have never been acquired. But it is definitely there to be developed and encouraged. Before you can cultivate your personality you must, as the Americans say, face up to things. So many women shrink from even admitting to themselves their shortcomings of speech, poise, and manner, but all the same they are conscious of their defects and long to remedy them. They make the mistake of thinking: “Oh, what’s the use; I can never be any different.” And what a silly mistake it is, for in everyone lies the power of self-improve-ment if only the will is there. In Hollywood, developing personalities has become a science. They find a girl or a man l who is malleable and receptive and simply pour personality into them. They train them to walk and talk differently, to dress distinctively, and so in a few months a complete transformation is effected. Self-consciousness is undoubtedly the greatest enemy of personality. It used to be considered merely a disadvantage of youth, but unhappily this is not the case, as very, very often people never learn to ho free of themselves all their lives. Ono of the best antidotes to self-consciousness, especially to women, is the knowledge that they look attractive. You simply cannot be self-confi-dent if you feel your hat is unbecoming and your hair or complexion not just all it, might be. So the very first thing to do if you are going to develop your personality is to make a pont of being well groomed and attractively and suitably dressed. A French woman knows the secret of developing her personality in this way bettor, perhaps, than any other in the world. She is not afraid of wearing her hat at a jaunty angle, she knows the value of splashes of colour against her neat little suits and she makes the very most of her complexion by studying her features end frankly admitting what can be emphasised and what should be minimised. We are so frightened of appearing too flamboyant that we actually take the trouble to hide our good points! Voices play an enormous part in a charming personality. Some of the loveliest girls positively ruin themselves by the inflexion of their voices, while their plainer sisters .never realise that there are possibilities in their voices which could not fail to claim admiration if only they were developed. It is so disheartening to have to listen to a dead-level, tired sort of voice, or one with a little querulous shriek to it. In nine cases out of ten, an unattractive voice is duo to wrong breathing and lack of nerve control. Why not try a few minutes singing scales each morning! It will work wonders in freeing your voice and making it pleasing and buoyant. A good carriage immediately gives the impression of an attractive personality. Some women have an unfortunate way of walking with such a busy little bustling movement, while others lope along so casually that they literally distort their figure. A smooth, graceful walk is a tremendous asset. It charms people right from the beginning and it gives them confidence in you, too.