Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/95

Rh if the head of their houses were to notice it, there is a class of artists whose avocation it is to conceal the trace of such untoward accidents. For minor discolorations such as we are now speaking of, they employ the following method: Take a little precipitated French chalk in impalpable powder, rub it on the part, and gently blow or dust off the loose particles. Then apply a little of the same powder very slightly tinted with carmine, dusting in the same manner. Clear the edges of the eyelashes with a pencil, and tone down the outer margin of the dusted portion, so that it insensibly merges into the surrounding skin. Yet such is the vagary of the mode, that les lionnes of the Parisian demi-monde actually cultivate these dark circles beneath the eyes, to give themselves a dissolute, effrenée appearance.

Puffed and swollen eyelids are very common in old age and with certain complaints. Stimulant applications locally, and tonic internal treatment, will often help them materially.

Eyes apparently too small sometimes owe this defect to a too close union of the lids at the outer angle. A simple and almost painless surgical operation will readily remove this difficulty, and it should always be resorted to.

The eyelashes next demand our attention. They add vastly to the expression of the eye. Especially should women with light-colored, weak, or watery