864 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



IDomestic ^Department. 



The Effects op Cosmetics on the Skin. — The 

 deep interest I take in the moral improvement of my 

 young countrywomen, more particularly those who 

 are so fortunate as to he the wives and daughters of 

 farmers, must be my a])ology for the following re- 

 marks upon the article in the January number of the 

 Agriculturist, on the " Effects of Cosmetics on the 

 Skin." I shall therefore ask no other excuse for 

 expressing my difference of opinion, nor for pointing 

 out what I conceive to be mistaken views on the 

 subject, feeling very sure that a little serious reflec- 

 tion will bring your correspondent over to my old- 

 fashioned way of thinking. Let rac say, however, 

 that I agree entirely with her observations on the 

 different kinds of soap, alcoholic preparations, &c. 



We know that all kinds of soap are more or less 

 injurious to a delicate skin, and in cold weather their 

 too frequent use should be dispensed with as much 

 as possible ; but when necessary, the skin should be 

 protected afterwards, for a little while, from the air. 

 Therefore, when cleanliness requires it for the face 

 and neck, they should be washed just before retir-uig 

 at night; and in the morning, nothing more will be 

 wanted than the usual sponge bath of pure, cold, soft 

 water, and a coarse rubber vigorously applied. Some 

 skins will chap under the most careful treatment that 

 can be bestowed upon them ; while others will con- 

 tinue soft and smooth, though exposed to every wind 

 that blows, and seem to be proof against all kinds of 

 domestic labor. For the first of these, the best puri- 

 fier would be corn -or b'ean meal, or palm-oil soap, 

 followed by a few drops of honey rubbed on while 

 the hands are wet. Fine dry salt acts very pleas- 

 antly on the skin, rendering it soft and smooth, and 

 has also the advantage of strengthening the system, 

 on which account it is highly recommended by phy- 

 sicians. The best way to apply it is, to draw on a 

 pair of very coarse cotton or linen knitted gloves, 

 that have been frequently dipped in strong salt and 

 water, and dried after each immersion, and ivith them 

 rub until the skin looks red, and the blood circulates 

 freely. 



But it is the second part of your correspondent's 

 remark that I intend particularly to notice. That 

 the writer does not speak from personal experience I 

 think is evident, or she w^ould not say that " rouge 

 can be employed, without injury, to brighten a lady's 

 complexion." 



Every school girl knows that even the common 

 carmine in her paint box, if put on the cheeks with 

 water, cannot be washed out without leaving a perma- 

 nent mark. I have been much in fashionable French 

 society, where the use of rouge was not only con- 

 sidered unblameworthy, but in certain cases openly 

 vindicated ; yet its deleterious effects upon the skin 

 were undoubted, and openly lamented, as producing 

 a sallow stain, which, as it cannot be removed by 

 ordinary means, makes a continuance of the bad 

 practice seem necessary. And a bad practice it is, in 

 sober sadness, for any woman ; but for women living 

 in this bright, beautiful country, for the wives and 

 daughters of American farmers, even to thhik of 

 using rouge and pearl powder, would be ridiculous, 

 could it be contemplated in any other light than as 

 a degradation — the}% too, who enjoy the glorious 

 pri^^^ege, not to be too highly prized, of living in the 

 pure, health-giving breath of heaven, — who are at 

 liberty to exercise daily on horseback, and roam at 

 will over hills and fields. I will not think so badly 

 of them as to suppose that they would condescend to 

 tolerate the use of such nriscalled beautifiers. It is 

 true, a pale cheek is not esteemed so lovely as the 

 one tinged with 



" Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue ; " 



nor is a dark or coarse skin thought so desirable as 

 one fairer and more delicate. But does not every one 

 know instances, among their friends, of faces by na- 

 ture ugly, to which intelligence, benevolence, and 

 good temper impart the characters of real, soul-like 

 beauty? Believe me, God's handiwork cannot be 

 improved. And the admiration of strangers is dearly 

 purchased by the loss of the respect of those in 

 whose eyes and hearts alone it should be their ambi- 

 tion to appear to advantage ; for the mistaken ones, 

 who resort to these paltry arts, do not deck their 

 faces with rouge and pearl powder, to make them- 

 selves more lovable to their husbands and brothers. 

 It is not put on when they alone are to see them. 

 No : any garb, any faded looks, will do for the be- 

 ings who ought to make their hearts happiest ; with 

 wiiom they are to pass their lives. For whom, then, 

 it may be asked, are they willing to take so much 

 trouble? They who know from experience may 

 answer. 



All substances, without a single exception, that 

 are, or can, be used to " impart a delicate white tint 

 to the complexion," are decidedly injurious ; mar- 

 ring what they are intended to mend. 



The "metallic compounds" are justly said to be 

 poisonous ; and the effect, even when sparingly used, 

 is to make the skin look parched and glazed. ^lag- 

 nesia, being a mineral substance, is not much less 

 hurtful; and powdered starch, though the least 

 objectionable of any, is seriously injurious by the 

 mechanical action of closing the pores of the skin, 

 preventing the escape of the insensible perspiration 

 which would keep it clear and moist, and finally 

 producing a sickly, unnatural thickness, that makes 

 a fair girl, who would otherwise be pretty, look like 

 Jersey veal, bled slowly to death by the butcher ! 

 and a brunette more like a piece of old parchment 

 than a lovely young daughter of Eve. Of such a 

 one, in a neighboring city, I heard a physician re- 

 mark, that this disagreeable appearance, "being only 

 skin deep, could be easily removed by the application 

 of a vegetable blister ! 



But I must close this already too long notice ; 

 though something might be said of the pangs of 

 v.'ounded vanity that these short-sighted fair ones 

 would suffer, if 



" Some power the gift would gie them 

 To see themselves as others see them ; " 



when a warm day, or a little over exertion, by pro- 

 ducing a free perspiration, throws off the beautifiers, 

 leaving the white in disclosed streaks, and the red 

 in unsightly blotches, to the mortification of their 

 friends, and the badly-disguised amazement of the 

 very persons they wished to charm. American 

 women should be ashamed to appear under " false 

 colors." 



It has been often asked why the women of Eng- 

 land have better complexions and more healthful 

 looks than those of the United States. The humid- 

 ity of the climate is doubtless one cause of the greater 

 and more lasting delicacy of the skin ; but the bright 

 bloom of their cheeks is the effect of regular, sys- 

 tematic exercise. English ladies, of even the highest 

 rank, wear thick leather shoes, and walk every day 

 six or eight miles, without regard to the weather, and 

 with no other object than the preservation of health. 



I will close with the assurance, affectionately 

 urged upon all who have had patience to read thus 

 far, that early rising, cold-water bathing, and daily 

 exercise in the open air, as they promote health and 

 cheerfulness, are the only cosmetics that an Amer- 

 ican woman should dare employ. — American Agri- 

 culturist. 



Shrinking of Flannel. — Enclose new flannel in 

 a bag : put it into a boiler with cold water ; heat 



