Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/227

 absurd stories are afloat. One we noticed asserted that the late actress, Madame Vestris, was obliged to sit "hours" by the fire to allow her "enamel" to dry. Another stated that certain New York belles visit Paris annually to have their complexions "made up" for the year. An enterprising rascal, taking advantage of popular credulity, advertises in various papers to enamel faces "to last a day or a year."

Such paragraphs arise from ignorance. The so-called method of "enamelling" is simply painting the face, and for this purpose the artists always prefer the poisonous salts of lead, as they yield much more striking effects. Practice often gives these persons a decided skill in their specialty, but their customers pay for it doubly, first in money and then in health.

The skin is usually prepared by an alkaline wash, wrinkles and depressions are filled with a yielding paste, and the colors are laid on to the requisite extent, first the white and then the red.

No such procedure can give a durable covering to the face, and no one should submit herself to the hands of the ignorant and unscrupulous parties who choose this for a business. The simple and harmless means which we have explained will suffice, if skilfully used, to conceal the ravages of years to any proper extent.