325 BEAUTY BEAUTY CULTURE FOR WOMEN Continued from J>age 176, Part 2 No. 3. THE PREVENTION AND CURE OF WRINKLES Why a Face Wrinkles— How to Eliminate the Marks of Wear — The Use of Grease for the Face — The Use of Lotions and Massage It has been said by a famous French beauty doctor — speaking, of course, from his own especial point of view — that paralysis is a woman's best friend. This statement is based on the supposition that a wrinkle is a woman's worst enemy. The sensitive face, showing all the feelings which a sensitive person endures for good or evil, very quickly wrinkles, and the nervous temperament, making big demands upon the vitality of the system, shows age long before the phlegmatic temperament, which floats on the waters of life serenely, blow the winds ever so fiercely. But even the phleg- matic must expect wrinkles at some time of life. No creams, no massage, no skill will keep these at bay for ever, and no amount of cunning can hide them once they are marked. A Secret of our Grandmothers Yet the young in spirit can grow old gracefully, and a little tact will keep the lines gracious and serene, shadows rather than lines, suggestions of eventide and peaceful rest rather than harsh outlines of ruin and spent days. But, with all due deference to the needs of health and to the claims of open-air treatments, I am boldly going to ask why so many of us can recollect old ladies who never went in for any sort of " health- culture," and who yet possessed smooth, fresh skins far into old age ? They avoided extremes of weather and of heat and cold. Extremes of any sort, now considered to be merely marks of honesty of character, were then marks of ill-breeding. In no sense of the word are women as temperate now as were their grandmothers, and, consequently, though we boast of keeping younger, we do not preserve the same peacefulness in old age as formerly. Softening the Effects of Time We make too many demands upon our vitality, and have none of the reserve force women were meant to store. Temperateness is another name for a wise storing of reserve force, without which it is impossible to grow old gracefully. Without doubt it was a qrietly living woman who spent much lime indoors who inspired, *' The years, like birds, have stooped to drink the brightness of her eyes, and left their footprints in the margin." A face without wrinkles is a face without character, a fact proved by many professional photographs. You cannot efface wrinkles. You can hide them under make-up or soften and tone them down by treatment. A face properly treated can look beautiful, with a different beauty, suitable to the age of its owner from childhood to old age, and this without regularity of features or striking gifts. Massage, a restriction in the use of water for the complexion, simple living, good hours, and an elimination of undue excite- mei-t from the daily life are all means towards softening the wrinkles caused by time. But there are premature wrinkles. Premature Wrinkles No face ought to show a wrinkle under forty years of age, at least, and there is no need for a skin to lose its freshness before fifty. Ill-health, wrong diet, sleeplessness, habit, undue worry, grimaces and poor sight are all causes of premature wrinkles. The effort to reduce the size of the figure is a fruitful cause of wrinkles, because the skin, once filled out, now falls into folds as the fat is removed. The habit of frowning, whether in temper, thought, or because of near-sight, causes two of the ugliest wrinkles between the eyes, and a simple little plan is to smear them with a paste of thick starch whenever you are alone. This, drying into a cake, acts as a gentle reminder to the muscles of the face "not to do it." As an experiment, take the unlined face on a fashion-plate and mark on it (i) the two lines between the brows, (2) the two horizontal lines across the forehead caused by the habit of raising the eyebrows, and (3) the two ugly crescents running from the corners of the nose to the corners of the mouth. With six strokes of the pencil you change a young and pretty face into an old and ugly one, for these lines are uncom- promisingly ugly. Actresses and Wrinkles Ordinary people can cultivate a repose of countenance, but what of actors and actresses ? Yet they can keep a real hold on youth long after other folks have let go One reason is that it is necessary for them
