Toilet Hints.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue VIII, 22 February 1902, Page 379

Toilet Hints.

HOW MUCH WE OUGHT TO DRINK. Doctors tell us nowadays that the average person does not drink nearly as much as he or she should do. For an adult the quantity is two and a half pints daily.. A glass of cold water habitually taken at night, and another half an hour before breakfast in the morning, is often most useful in curing bad constipation. FOR BLACKHEADS. Friction and nightly washing with good soap and lukewarm water is the best way to cure blackheads. After washing with the soap rinse your face thoroughly in clear lukewarm water till every vestige of soap is removed. Then dry with a towel, and dipping your fingers—which, of course, must be perfectly clean—in a very little cold cream, massage the affected parts thoroughly. Then gently wipe off any remaining grease. Remember it takes months, and sometimes years, to cure blackheads, so don’t expect marvellous results to follow immediately. It must be done regularly if it is to do good. A GOOD FACE CREAM. Ingredients: Quarter of an ounce of white wax, two and a half ounces spermaceti, two and a half ounces oil of sweet almonds, one and a half ounces rosewater, and, if liked, one drop attar of roses. The wax and spermaceti should be melted in a lined saucepan, the almond oil added as soon as they are melted, and the whole heated slowly. Remove from the stove, pour the rosewater in, and stir till cold. This is more a cleansing cream than a skin food. If you have blackheads rub some into your face two or tnree times a week before washing at night. Carefully wipe off before washing, and you will

be surprised at the amount of dirt it removes. CARE OF THE TEETH. To prevent the teeth decaying unduly, brush well every morning, using a good tooth-powder and having a little carbonate of soda in the water. After each meal rinse the mouth with tepid water in which a little carbonate of soda is dissolved, and before retiring at night brush the teeth again. If strong medicines have to be taken have them made up in the form of pills if possible as tinctures of iron, acids, and so on, have a very bad effect on the enamel of the teeth. o o o o o

Photographed Sitting on the Royal Bed.

An amusing story is related of the Royal visit to Victoria, when the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall travelled across the Gulf of Georgia on R.M.s. Empress of India, of the Canadian Pacific Railways Oriental fleet. Eor a few hours during their short stay the public were permitted to go over the vessel for a hasty glimpse at the suite of state rooms and cabins set apart for the Royal guests. Both the camera fiend and the souvenir hunter were ably represented. For, although nothing of any real value was removed, flowers and ferns were dragged piecemeal from vases and bowls to be hoarded up by loyal Victorians in remembrance of the visit. A thousand and one other methods were observed as a means to the same end. But the “lady” who must really have felt that her afternoon had not been spent in vain was the enterprising female who climbed on to the Duchess’ bed—boots and all—and lay there while a friend “kodaked” her.

Pictures for the Nursery

Among the many parents who are really anxious to make their nurseries the healthy, bright rooms they should be, and who carefully select suitable furniture for them, there is not always a large proportion of those who consider the adornment of the walls a question of primary importance. And yet surely it should be. for even the six-months’-old baby will manifest a certain amount of interest in a coloured picture, and many quite little tots weave for themselves odd stories about the nursery pictures. It always seems to me as if the importance of accustoming children's eyes, from the very first, to good drawing and good colouring cannot be over-estimated. Certain it is that cheap, badly-drawn, and crudely-col-oured picture-books so accustom little people to these atrocities that in after life they find it difficult to distinguish between good and bad art. The amount of pleasure which a sensitive, naturally artistic child der ves from a good picture is perhaps incredible to many grown-up people. 1 remember hearing an artist say that one of the strongest influences of his childhood* was a picture hung up and forgotten in a corridor, showing a lonely Scotch moor, surrounded by hills, behind which the sun was sinking to rest, and tha: the grandeur and solemnity of the scene, and the half-suggested possibilities of the great world behind the hills had made a never-to-be-forgot-ten impression. The question of ways and means alone, however, prevents many of us from acquiring pictures, we fain would have, but good photographs, or similar reproductions of wellknown pictures, are cheap—very cheap, when we consider the amount of pleasure they are able to give.

It is interesting to see how keen children get about their nursery pictures when encouraged to do so. It is an excellent plan for the parents to contribute half the cost of any particular picture they desire, if they contribute the other half themselves. By this means the nursery folk often come to acquire quite « picture gallery. o o «> o o A Shattered Ideal. AT SIXTEEN. “O. the man whom I w’ed must be handsome and tall,” Said a maiden just out of her frocks; “I can t love a man, who in stature Is small. And I won't marry* houses and stocks. Of course he must keep me as paua does now. Still I’ll start on an income quite smal ; But I never will marry,” and mark we»i her vow, “A man who is not six feet tall.” AT TWENTY-THR.EK. “I think that tall men are so nice,” said this girl, “But, of course, I’ll not marry for looks: Big, broad-shouldered fellows, with hair that will curl. The kind that you read of in books. I love to see men who walk head erect. Their chests expanded with pride; And deep in my heart I hope and expect To be such a man’s darling bride. AT TWENTY-EIGH I. She was nervous, of course, as she walked up the aisle. And she looked as she w’ished it were o’er; But she held by the. arm with a conquering smile, A man who was scarce five feet four.