both of which are very injurious.  Magnesia is drying.  Rice powder is most harmless, but does not adhere.  The most innocent powder is probably a preparation of French chalk.  Weigh a box of powder in your hand before purchasing.  If heavy, it doubtless contains lead, and should be refused.  Find some powder that agrees with your skin and then buy that brand.  Suit the color of the powder to your complexion.  Don’t use flesh tint if you are sallow, the “outlying regions” of neck and ears betray you.

To use powder.—­Wash the face; rub a little cold cream over it, rubbing it in well, wipe with a dry towel, gently, then apply the powder with a chamois—­a clean one.  Do not keep it on unnecessarily.  Remove by rubbing with the cleansing cream, then wash the face.  Never go to bed with powder on your face.

Liquid whiteners.—­Avoid these.  They are “whitewashes” that wither and wrinkle the skin and make it prematurely old.  Almost without exception they contain lead in some form.  Constant use may produce a facial paralysis due to lead poisoning.  Moreover they deceive no one, and give an unpleasing impression as regards one’s good sense.

Rouge.—­Well, don’t do it.  There may be a few who can have a rouge especially prepared that is the exact tint that harmonizes with the skin, the hair, the eyes, and can apply it so carefully as to look “natural.”  But ordinarily the deception is evident, and rouge in conjunction with liquid washes and penciled eyes and brows, suggest the aids employed by women of the demi-monde.

If any rouge is used, let it be the “Spanish lady’s rouge” or crepons—­bits of white woolen crepe dyed with an ammoniacal solution of carmine.  These are gently rubbed on the skin to produce the required glow.

The hair.—­Beautiful hair is woman’s crown of glory.  Thousands of the sex wear it unbecomingly.  They follow the latest fashion in arrangement without reference to whether it suits the lines of the face and head or otherwise.  One should never be satisfied with a front view alone.  Study the back, the sides, the lines produced, just as you study the becomingness of a hat from all angles.  If a new fashion is unbecoming, either avoid it, or modify it into becomingness if you can.  So many women make guys of themselves by a slavish devotion to the freaks of fashion.

[794 Mothers’ remedies]

Care of the hair.—­The hair is kept in order by frequent brushings, which excite the natural oil by which it is fed, and by washing it.  Dr. Leonard, an authority on the hair, says once a month is as often as the hair needs washing.  As a shampoo, he advises yolk of egg, well rubbed into the scalp and roots of the hair, then washed out with tepid water and castile soap.  A brisk rubbing with dry towels excites the blood-vessels of the scalp.  There is no doubt that this simple shampoo is more beneficial than many new-fangled ones.