THE ARTS OF THE TOILET

Beauty and health constitute a royal inheritence. The child born with such a heritage, and brought up by a mother who has the good sense to dis- card soothing syrup, narcotics and cordials, and carefully trained up to cleanly habits, proper exercise, plenty of air and sunshine, and wholesome food, starts in life with a capital that will in the long run tip the balance against the largest fortune in dollars. To keep health and beauty, or to restore it when lost, it is necessary to observe the laws of health, discarding quackery and panaceas of all kinds as superstitions, and inventions of the devil. Pure air and plenty of it, free sunshine and plenty of it, are better restoratives than all the patent medicines under the sun. Too often the doctor brings the medicine only to have the medicine bring the doctor again. The sunlight will give a lady's cheek a fresher tings and a more delicate complexion than all the French powders and rouge in Paris.

For the Hair. — Wash in cold sage-tea.

Camphor— Y>\\i in drawers or trunks will keep away mice.

The Neck. — Too tight collars and neckerchiefs are apt to produce perma- nent swelling of the throat.

Cocoa Butter. — Apply at night, to face and hands, and wash off in the morning. This is excellent for the skin, and keeps it soft and clear.

To Clean Light Kids. — Put the glove on the hand, and rub thoroughly with white corn-meal, using a piece of cotton flannel.

To keep Pearls Brilliant. — Keep in comnior, dry magnesia, instead of the cotton wool used in jewel cases, and they will never lose their briliancy.

Tonic for the Hair. — Ounce best castor-oil, two ounces each of French brandy and bay rum ; scent rosemary and rose-geranium.

To Cure Chilblains. — Soak feet for fifteen minutes in warm water, put on a pair of rubbers, without stockings, and go to bed,

1188 THE ARTS OF THE TOILET.

Cement for Jet. — Use shellac to join, then smoke the joints to make them black.

Mother's Marks — should never be interfered with; except by the advice of a physician.

Tetter or Ringworm — of the face is caused by a disordered stomach, and must be cured by proper diet.

Pimples — are caused by improper diet, and can never be cured except by correcting the habits. Cosmetics (jnly injure.

To Restore Color to Kid Shoes. — Mix a small quantity of good polish black- ing with the white of an egg.

Hair Oil. — Two tea-spoons each of castor oil, ammonia and glycerine ; and alcohol enough to cut the oil, and put in a four-ounce bottle half full of rain-water. Shake before using.

Black Heads. — To remove "black heads" in the face, j)lace over the black spot the hollow end of a watch key, and press firmly. This forces the foreign substance out, so that it may be brushed off and is a cure.

To Keep off Mosquitoes. — Rub exposed parts with kerosene, or essence of peppermint. The odor is not noticed after a few minutes, and children es- l)ecially are much relieved by its use.

Tlie Breath. — Nothing makes one so disagreeable to others as a bad breath. It is caused by bad teeth, diseased stomach, or disease of the nostrils. Neat- ness and care' of the health will prevent and cure it.

The Skin and Complexion. — "Washing in cool, but not excessively cold, water, and general cleanliness, keeps skin healthy and complexion clear.

Ivory Blacking for Shoes. — Four ounces ivory black, three ounces coarsest sugar, one table-spoon sweet-oil, one pint small beer; mix well together.

Castor-oil for Shoes. — Take a teaspoon of it and rub in thoroughly by a fire. Do this when the shoes are new, and several times afterward'.-, and they will last twice as long.

Dandruff. — One ounce flour of sulphur to one quart of water. Shake well at intervals, for a few hours, and, when settled, saturate the head with the clear liquid every morning.

For Chapped Hands, Face and Lips. — Ten drops carbolic acid in one ounce glycerine ; apply freely at night. Pure mutton tallow is also excellent.

Cologne Wafer. — Thirty drops each oil of lavender, oil of bergamot, oil of lemon, and orange-flower water, half pint deoderized alcohol. Cork and shake well,

Corpulencii. — An excess of fat is a disease. To reduce the excess, eat lit- tle or no butter, fat meat, gravies, sugar, vegetables, or other articles con- taining large amounts of starch and sugar.

Dandruff in the Hair. — There is no simpler nor better remedy for this vexacious appearance (caused by a dryness of the skin) than a wash of eam- plior and borax — an ounce of each put into a pint and a half of cold water, and afterwards rub a little pure oil into the scalp.

Moth Patches — may be removed from the face by the fi)llowing remedy : Into a pint bottle of rum put a table-spoon of flour of sulphur. Apply thin to the patches once a day, and they will disappear in two or three week*.

THB ARTS OP THE TOILET. 1189

Boston Burnett Powder for the Face. — Five cents worth of bay rum, five cents worth of magnesia sn'-w-flake, five cents worth of bergamot, five cents worth of oil of lemon ; mix in a pint bottle and fill up with rain-water.

To Clean Jewelry. — Any gold jewelry that an immersion in water will not injure, can be beautifully cleaned by shaking it well in a bottle nearly full of warm soap-suds to which a little prepared chalk has been added, and after- wards rinsing it in clear, cold water, and wiping it on a towel.

Brush Stand. — A toilet convenience is a white wire stand for hand and tooth brushes. It is so contrived that the brushes are kept in place and

are always within easy and convenient reach. The stand is not expensive, and is ornamental as well as useful.

Freckl-e Cure. — Take 2 oz. lemon juice, or half a dram of powdered borax, and one dram of sugar : mix together, and let them stand in a glass bottle for a few days, then rub on the face occasionally.

Bloom of Youth. — Boil 1 ounce of Brazil wood in 3 pints of water for 15 minutes ; strain. Add % oz. isinglass, >^ oz. cochineal, 1 oz. alum, ^ oz. borax. Dissolve by heat, and strain.

Cologne Water. — Oils of rosemary and lemon,

Bru8h stand. of cach ^ OZ. ] olls of bergauiot and lavender,

eachfg oz. ; oil cinnamon, 8 drops, oils of cloves and rose, each 15 drops;

best deodorized alcohol, 2 qts. ; shake two or three times per day for a week.

Food for the Hair.— This, if regularly used, will prevent hair turning grey. One part of alcohol to two parts of castor oil. Rub in once a week Avell about the roots. *

Staijis on the Hands — from nitrate of silver, maybe removed by a solution of chloride of lime. Fruit stains are removed by washing the hands without soap, and holding them over the smoke of burning matches or sulphur.

To Remove Sunburn. — Scrape a cake of brown Windsor soap to a powder, add one ounce each of eau de Cologne and lemon-juice ; mix well and forui into cakes. This removes tan, prevents hands from chapping, and makes the skin soft and white.

Warts. — Wash with water saturated with common washing soda, and let dry without wiping ; repeat frequently until they disappear. Or pass a pin through the wart, and hold one end of it over the flame of a candle or lamp until the wart fires by the heat, aud it will disappear.

Moles. — To remove, moisten a stick of nitrate of silver, touch the moles, and they will turn black and sore, and soon they will dry up and fall off of themselves. If they do not entirely go, repeat. It is better, however, never to attempt their removal without consulting a physician.

Cold Cream for Chapped Lips. — One-half ounce spermaceti, twenty grains white wax, two ounces pure oil of sweet almonds, one ounce pure glycerine, six drops oil of rose ; melt first three ingredients together, and, when cooling, add the glycerine and oil of rose, stirring until cold.

Yankee Shaving Soap. — Take 3 lbs. white bar soap ; 1 lb, Castile soap ; i ^uart rain water; ^ qt. beef's gall ; 1 gill spirits of turpentine. Cut the soap

1190 THE ARTS OF THE TOILET.

into thin slices, and boil five minutes after the soap is dissolved, stir while Ixiilinjr; scent with oil of rose or almonds. If wished to color it, use '^ oz. vermilion.

Bad Breath. — Bad breath, from catarrh, foul stomach, or bad teeth, may be temporarily relieved by diluting a little bromo chlurulam with eiglit or teii parts water, and using as a gargle, and swallowing a few droi)s just before going out. A pint of bromo chloralum costs fifty cents, but a small vial full will last a long time.

Fnu't Stains. — may be removed from the fingers in the following manner : Mix together half an ounce cream tartar and half an ounce of jiowdered salt of sorrel ; apply a solution of this to the fingers, and the stains will disappear. Diluted sulphuric acid may be used, but care should be taken that none of it touches any fabric, as the acid will destroy it.

Flesh Worms. — Black specks on the nose disfigures the face. Remove by washing thoroughly in tepid water, rubbing with a towel, and applying with a soft IhuuiL'l a lotion made of three ounces of cologne and half an' ounce of liquor of potash. Or press out by putting the hollow end of a watch-key over each speck.

Lips or Hands CJiapped by cold weather or wind, should be rubbeil with glycerine generally when about to be exposed to the air, or rubbed with honey after washing. >«'ever kiss the lips of persons not in health, as disease is sometimes contracted in this way, as well as by the use of towels, cups or tumblers used by unhealthj' persons.

Bai/ Rum. — Ten cents worth of magnesia, two quarts each of soft water and alcohi'l, one ounce oil of buy. Dissolve magnesia in rain water, then add other ingredients. "Wrap filtered paper in form of a funnel, and filter carefully through into a bottle and cork tightly. When used, dilute with rain water to whatever strength desired.

Leanness — Is caused generally by lack of power in the digestive organs to digest and assimilate the fat-producing elements of food. First restore digestion, take plenty of sleep, drink all tli^ stomach will bear in the morn- ing on rising, take moderate exercise in the open air, eat oat-meal, cracked wheat, Graham mush, baked sweet apples, roasted and broiled beef, culti- vate jolly people, and bathe daily.

Superfluous Hairs. — Are best left alone. Shaving only increases the strength of the ha'r, and all dejjilatories are dangerous and sometimes dis- figure the face. The only sure plan is to spread on a piece of leather equal l)arts of gall^anum and pitch p'aster, lay it on the hair as smoothly as pos- sible, let it remain three or four minutes, then remove it with the hairs, root and branch. This is severe but effective. Kerosene will also remove them. If sore after using, rub on sweet oil.

The Fare. — To wash properly, fill basin two-thirds full with fresh, soft water, dip face in the water and then the han<ls ; soap the hands well and rub with a gentle friction over the face ; dip the face in water the second time and rinse off thoroughly, wiping with a thick but soft towel. Pure soaps do not irritate the skin. The best are castile, curd, glycerine and other neutral soaps. Medicated or higly colored or perfumed soaps should never be used.

Food. — A good complexion never goes with a bad diet. Strong coffee, hot bread and butter, heated grease, highly spiced soups, meats or game, hot drinks, alcoholic liquors, fat meats, are all damaging to its beauty. Strong tea, used daily, will after a time give the skin the color and appearance of leather. Coffee affects the skin less but the nerves more, and a healthy