This is a severe method of treating them. It is paying dear for one's good looks. In fact, as one might suppose from the number of persons disfigured with them, it is by no means easy to suggest an effectual remedy for freckles. Nearly all the means which are proposed in the books are powerful caustics, which destroy the scarf-skin. They succeed for a time, but with the return of the epidermis the freckle returns also.
A simple, harmless, and occasionally quite successful wash is a saturated solution of borax in rose-water. It should be applied five or six times a day, and allowed to dry upon the skin.
The following formula enjoys some celebrity, and can readily be compounded at home:—
Take—
Best English mustard in powder a tablespoonful;
Lemon juice enough to make a thick paste;
Oil of almonds a teaspoonful.
Mix them well, and apply, spread in a thin plaster, night and morning until the skin smarts. After a few days, the scarf-skin should loosen and the freckles disappear. After they have gone, the surface should be washed several times daily with a solution of borax.
After the skin has been softened by some almond paste, or a light poultice, lemon-juice will sometimes be successful in removing freckles. A freshly-cut lemon may be rubbed on the spot.
