Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/225

 called tampons au rouge. The manner of using them is to moisten them with alcohol, and rub them gently on the cheeks or lips. The leaf rouge, rouge en feuilles, is a very elegant preparation. It is usually prepared by depositing a thin layer of the finest carmine on thick paper. The surface of the paper is to be moistened by a woollen rag or soft sponge, and gently rubbed on the skin. The effect is altogether satisfactory.

It is more prudent to use these preparations than those numberless ones sold under attractive names, about which nothing is known. One of these, which has a wide popularity, is a solution of carmine in rose-*water with the addition of strong caustic ammonia, which latter cannot fail but injure the skin in time. Above all things, beware of cheap rouges, and those called "theatre rouges," nearly all of which are coarse colors which give a tawdry and meretricious air to the user, and besides that are generally made of vermilion.

There has recently been introduced into the market, under the outlandish name of schnouda, and the more romantic one of "Sympathetic Blush," a very curious coloring for the skin, which is asserted to surpass all others in its absolute resemblance to the roseate hue of health. What is not the least singular about it is that it is perfectly colorless itself, and remains so until it has been some minutes on the surface. It is prepared by mixing with cold-cream a small proportion of