Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-07-22
THE COMPLEXION.
The Use of Cosmetics in Different



The Use OF Cosmetics in DIHEeren
| Ages
In late number of London period
cal entitled Land and Water, there wa:
an article of considerable interest II
those who value what is called 'gooC
complexion" The writer condemns
the employment of cosmetics, and
| asserts that the use of animal
grease stops up the pores of the
skin, and will, in time, produce blotches.
lie also says that the constant application
of cold cream TO the face is Injurious,
and lays the foundation of skin diseases
which scarcely anything can afterward
eradicate. Sleeping with slices of IN.
cooked bacon on the cheeks, which seems
to be practiced by some persons, is also
unwhOlesome. The bsst substance to
soften the skin, and at the same time
preserve it, is, according TO this author
ity, fresh olive oil. If this be rubbed
on the face gently every night, the skin
will soon become impervious TO the action
OF the weather. The ancient Greeks
knew the value of vegetable oil TO the
skin, and they used it freely, both to pre-
serve beauty and to render the muscles
pliable. But there are some persons who
have naturally oily skins, and they should
avoid ointment of all descriptions.
1t may surprise some ladies to be told
that exposure to the sun is beneficial to
the skin, but such Is said to be the case.
Most OF them object to the tanning it pro-
duces, and it was to obviate this that
masks were once worn on the street.
Some ladies, it ia said, carried the mask
mania 30 far as to sleep in them. 1t is
recorded of Marguerite of Navarro,
the wife of Henry ". of France,
that she was addicted to this folly. Henry
strongly demonstrated with her an the
subject, but in vain; she preferred offend.
ing her husband to giving up her mask,
and 1t played not unimportant part in
their subsequent divorce. The unheAlth-
fulness of such a practice is evident from
the fact of its checking perspiraliOn,
and from causing the wesrer to respire
impure air.
1t is said that the use OF cosmetics was
introduced by the English, IN the fifteenth
century. In that and the succeeding cen
tury the women of France were reckoned
them beautiful in the world. The names
of Agnes Sorel, Diana of Poitiers, Louise
of Savoy, Anne of Brittany,
Margaret of Navarro, Mary of Bur-
gundy, the Duchess of Ersmpes, Mad
anne de Chateaubriaud, Mary of Lor>
raine, Gabrielle d'E3trees Commonly
called "L1 Belle Gablielle'O AID Henri
cite d'Entragues, are familiar to all read
ers of history as those reputed to be the
most brilliant and beautiful women of
their times. They never used cosmetics
Of animal grease, though they made
beauty their study-s rather idle study,
it is true, yet still they pursued it sue
cessfully. They employed various oils
and essences composed entirely of
vegetable ingredients. Henry Ill. of
France is said to have expressed
his detestation of English cosmetics
and to have declared that if ''Cold
cream" should find It's way into his king
dom he would preach crusade against
It.. The celebrated Diana of P0iGers,
whose powers of fascination seem to have
been as marvellous az those of Cleopatrs,
or Mary, Queen of Scots, preserved her
beauty until the age of 70. She capt.
waited the hearts of two monarchs, aud
had complete power over them. The
second of them, Henry IL, fell in love
with her when he was twenty nine, she
being then the widow of the Count
de Breze, and forty-eighI years old,
nineteen years his senior. She had been
previously admired by his father, Francis
/ , and was equally admired by his son,
Henry Ill, who, however, was mere
youth and of feeble understanding, while
she was an old woman. Strange to say,
10 historian has given the details of those
wonderful charms which, so cap;iYsted
Francis and Henry. II is only recorded Of
her that she vas the loveliest woman
at a court full Of lovely women,
and that, too, at an age when most
women have found their beauty faded.
1t was said that she possessed q secret for
preserving her good looks from the raw
ages of time; some, indeed, binted that
she had bought it from the Evil One!
There was, however, one person who
was her coDfdant-her perfumer, Gu
dard. He left On record the means
which the peerless beauty used 10
preserve her complexion, in these words:
II, Oudard, spOthecary, surgeon and per-
fumer, do here declare on my faith and
honor that the only secret possessed by
Madame Diana, of Poitiers, Duchess OF
Valentinois, with which to be and re-
main in perfect health, youth and beauty
TO the age of seventy-two was rain aOd-
ter and, in truth, | assert that there is
nothing in the world like the same rain
water, a constant use of which is imper-
alive to render the skin soft and dOwny,
or to freshen the color, or to cleanse the
pores of the skin, or TO make beauty last as
long as life.n 1t was the business of
Mature Oudard to collect rain water for
his ilustrious patrOness, and to bottle and
seal it up to be in readiness for use in
case of failure of rain. And ii was the
constant sending of these mysterious
bottles which OccasiOned so much
talk. But it should be added that
the beautiful Diana always took an
hours exercise in the air before the
morning dew had left the ground, and,
perhaps this habit, like other exercise in
the open air, had quie as much to do
with the preservation of her complexion
as the rain water had. Early hours, tsm-
perate habits, and Close steatiOn to clean-
illness are among the best cosmetics aft-r
all.
THIRTY TWO years ago negro man BY