Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/620

 BEAUTY BEAUTY CULTURE FOR WOMEN Continued from page 474, Part 4 No. 5. BEAUTY ©F MOUTH AND LIPS The Beautiful Mouth is Shapely^ ** like a Bow Unbent'* — Contortions and Grimaces Spoil the Mouth — ^Some Simple Breath Sweeteners — Charming Lip Salves Made at Home — The Fashionable Crimson Lips — Avoid Poisonous Cosmetics 'T'iME was wnen only the tiny little Liquorice has also a beneficial effect on the " rosebud " of a mouth was considered a digestion. A mouth- wash of warm water, feature of beauty, but nowadays one sees to which has been added a few drops of professed beauties with quite large mouths, Condy's Fluid, will sweeten the breath for the which they do not mind enlarging into the time being, and, where there is indigestion, " camera smile," so as to show perfect rows a charcoal biscuit is efficacious, of teeth. A nice home-made mouth-wash is as This change in opinion may be brought follows : Take a pint of sage-tea — made by about because of the pleasant things pouring boiling water, and leaving it to physiognomy has to say of the generous infuse for half an hour, on two tablespoonfuls nature which goes with a large mouth. The of sage leaves. To this add two ounces of owner is likely to be a lover of children and glycerine, one ounce of tincture of lavender, animals and in keen sympathy with all and half an ounce of tincture of myrrh, that is beautiful in life. She is " human " Shake well before using, and lovable, and therefore appears to all For home-made pastilles try the following, who know her to have some claim to beauty, if you do not like the usual spice ones sold for the purpose : The Mouth "like a Bow Unbent" ^^^ ^^^ ^^^.^^ ^f powdered coffee with one But, whatever the size, the shape of the part of vegetable charcoal and one part of beautiful mouth must be good — " hke a bow powdered sugar. Flavour with vanilla, and unbent " — and it must have lips fairly full make into pastilles with a sufficient quantity and of a good colour. The red lips must then of mucilage of gum arable, be set like strawberries in cream — i.e., the skin round the mouth must be smooth and ^'*''® *** ^^"^ *-'P* white. Expression must undoubtedly be The teeth attended to, there is now no good, if such a thing be possible, since a bad feeling of necessity to contort the mouth, expression ultimately spoils the shape — a Massage the lines already formed, and learn well-formed mouth governed by an unplea- to keep the mouth in repose, so as to give sant expression would not be beautiful. No the muscles a chance of becoming firm again, lines, not even good ones like the laughter The hygienic care of the lips is simple, lines, are pretty once they become too The delicate skin must be kept clean, marked, and hence the utility of massage especially at the corners ; it must be pro- at any and every age. tected from cold and wind, and it must not Most women make too much use of their be irritated and left moist, as, for instance, mouths — speaking strictly from a beauty- it is apt to be by the wearing of a veil. A culture point of view — and the muscles cheap veil causes more harm than a good become overworked and old 'prematurely. silk mesh, because the moisture releases The woman most conscious of any weakness the cheap and nasty gum with which it is about her mouth errs the most, for she stiffened. contracts the habit of pursing up the lips. Chapped lips are extremely uncomfortable or biting them, or drawing them together as well as unbecoming. A popular remedy continually in a vain effort to hide teeth is glycerine, and its use may be occasionally not beyond criticism. beneficial ; but the regular use of glycerine CI 1 o ^u o ^ coarsens the skin and dulls the colour of the Simple Breath Sweeteners i- tt , hps. Here is a simple The first thing to be done, then, is to see to the teeth. Decayed teeth are the imme- ^, ^°^^ ^'^ ^^^^^ diate cause of unpleasant breath, and being Sweet almond-oil. . . . 2 ounces the reason for much indigestion, they thus Spermaceti ounce bring about this undesirable state of affairs White wax „ in two ways. A simple remedy for un- Alkanet root | pleasant breath is Hquorice. a little piece Essence of almonds. . a few drops being used after the teeth are cleaned. Melt and mix the almond-oil, spermaceti,