Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/195

 173 MANICURE BIAUTY The Implements Required — Cuticle Scissors— Emery Boards— Shaping TLimbles— Polishers^ Nail Bleach A SURPRISING number of the most ingenious tools are made for manicuring, and a brief description of the chief varieties, and of the many preparations employed in the practice of manicure, will materially assist the reader in making the most suitable selection. The instruments for cutting consist of : Nail scissors (straight and curved), nail nippers, cuticle scissors, cuticle knife. In addition there are many accessories, such as : Files, tweezers, emery boards, polishing stones, polishers, thimbles for shaping the nails, orange sticks, brushes. Moreover, many useful preparations are also sold, such as : Nail creams, cuticle creams, dry powders, liquid powders, nail bleaches, colouring materials, softening mixtures. Three or four instruments satisfy the requirements of ordinary people, but to use only a nail brush and scissors is to be ill-advised, since the frequent use of a Tweezers brush is harmful to the nails, and is often the immediate cause of small injuries to the cuticle. The following four implements may be regarded as essential : Curved nail scissors ; combination file, trimmer, and powder brush ; nail polisher ; as well as nail cream or powder. Anyone, however, who cannot manipulate the scissors successfully with the left hand should be provided with nippers. Nippers are very useful and quite satisfactory, but in England they are not so much in vogue as are the file and manicure knife. Manicure Sets Manicure sets are sold in various sizes and prices, and for a shilling one can obtain a celluloid box fitted with the requisite leather polisher, nail file, brush, trimmer, and nail powder ; whilst at prices ranging from four shillings to half a guinea one can buy, in neat Morocco cases, sets with bone and ebony fittings, or silver mounted, for about one guinea. Time and thought should be expended on the collection of a manicure outfit. The scissors should be well chosen. It is not good policy to choose an inferior quality, and two shiUings or half a crown expended in buying a pair is money well spent. Cuticle scissors are curved, and the blades have long, narrow points for trimming off the edges of the skin and nails. These scissors do the work of cutting, and the cuticle scissors are used for rounding the edges of the nails. Many people prefer to use for this purpose a cuticle knife (such as is illustrated), a very sharp instrument attached Cuticle scissors to a long handle, and which for trimming off ragged edges of skin is invaluable. Nail nippers are very sharp, and made in a beak pattern at the points. Tweezers are included in most manicure outfits, and this instrument is extremely useful for removing bits of loose skin, and in cases where an obstinate little sprig wedges itself in the quick of the nail or in the finger-tip. Of all mani- Nippers cure instruments the file, perhaps, is the most important. The most useful file to choose is one with a long handle, because it is less liable to slip or scratch the polished surface of the nail. Emery boards can be used in place of the file. Many people prefer them, and even if not used as substitutes they are usefilf and inex- pensive accessories. Nail trimmers are made with one end pointed and one Emery boards spatula te for pressing back the cuticle. Orange sticks are invariably included in one's manicure possessions. They are really invaluable, for not only do they remove grit and dirt from the outer rim of the nail, ai'i"'^^ ^^ Cuticle knife but also are most useful for applying creams and nail bleach. In England at the present day the most ——^r-— -^"X coveted and cor- ' /. j-ect shape for the il)IIWJff///'y nails is the true r/.^..  filbert, and to encourage this an ingenious c o n- Shaping thimble trivance shaped in the form of a thimble has been invented. Polishing There are many powders which are sold for the purpose of polishing the nails, and