Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/208

 Pomades are chiefly used when the skin is harsh or chapped; the most popular is cold-cream. This ought to be made of white wax, pure spermaceti, oil of almonds, and rose-water, with various scents. Some have doubted whether it can be applied for a long time without injury, but the question seems idle. Why should any one apply it for a long time? If it does not correct the trouble soon, throw it aside before it has time to affect the skin, and try something more efficient. Neither it nor any other greasy preparation should be allowed to touch the skin after they have become in the least rancid or altered, as the acrid substances, then present, are certain to mar the softness of the complexion. This rule knows no exceptions.

OTHER MEANS OF IMPROVING THE COMPLEXION.

The noble dames of ancient Rome, who have never been surpassed in luxury, were wont to plaster their faces at night with a poultice of bread-crumbs and asses' milk, which on being removed in the morning left a freshness and whiteness very much prized in their day, and we presume identical with that teint mat for which the Italian women of the highest class are still renowned.

They also had recourse to more disagreeable means. Thin slices of fresh meat, veal preferred, were laid on the cheeks and kept there all night. It has been whispered to us that in Paris—we always lay such a scene