The record-union., 1897-09-15
TO PREVENT WRINKLES.
The PeriIs OF "Watt1es" and How
They May be Avoided.

Tie C9 Is, l1tSl Ql1QCI lIlE Clllll 1lci> DN-
gun TO grow fabby and corrugated, in
what an irreverent man once charac-
terized as ''wattles,' referring to the
absurd resemblance to a hen? Why
wait until the mouth has lost its useful
fexibility and settled into hard, un-
lovely lines of care and endurance?
This last point. by the way, is one
Of the most important; perhaps it
would not be too much to say the most
important, in the entire subject, yet is
mentioned rarely, or not at all.
Some one objects, just here: But
that is impossible of prevention. The
mouth cannot help acquiring the ex-
pressicn of the character and life's ex-
perience''
Very we'll, then so control your in
ner life that sweetness, not sourness,
mobility, not rigidity, serenity, not stO-
ical endurance, may be expressed by
those unerring lines and curves about
that most telltale of all the features
the mouth. You can do tiff you be-
gin young. You cannot do it if you
wait until 80 or more years have left
their uncombated traces.
A woman of 42 met an old friend af-
ter a separation of fifteen years. The
y
latter said: But, Molly, what on earth
have you done TO keep so young? We
are exactly the same age, yet I know
that L look every day of my 42 years.
while you do not look a minute older
than when I saw you last
She was so evidently in earnest and
not merely utterfng polite compliments
that her friend answered with corre-
c0oD6ipnr ca1sio11cracc- e,,r1roco won
must be right, in a. degree, as strangers
usually assume me to be at least ten
years younger than [ really am.
think that the secret lies in the remark
made in my hearing when I was not
more than 1S. A man said to my father,
speaking of some woman they knew.
She makes up well, but her mouth
gives her away. You can always tell
a woEan's age by her mouth 1t gets
settled look.'' so to speak; the teeth
are apt to be closely set together in
repose, creating lines where dimples
used to be-
He was a man of the world, and
an acute observer, so that I remem-
bered his words and thought of them a
good deal. Finally 1 came to the con-
clusion that if a woman watched that
particular expression and refused to al
low rigidity about the muscles of the
mouth, she would escape that telltale
witness as she grew older. I observed
myself carefully, and was surprised to
notice the exact truth of the mans as
sertiOn. I could feel my mouth set
Ting into rigid lines on ordinary occa-
siOns, and compelled myself to relax
them at once"
Here the visitor interposed: 'That
is it exactly. I can see, now, that it
is in your mouth that the youthfulness
lies. 1T is just as soft and red and
curving as when you were a schoolgirl,
with a mouth we all envied! There are
little lines at the eyes, my dear, though
not nearly so deep as mine, but no
one could think of them with that
girlish mouth below"
Suppose that the girl Of 1S had been
the woman Of % when she began to
think of the subject her efforts to pre-
serve the fiexibility of muscle could not
have had such results, as lines must
have formed already, at that age, and
her attention must have been given
to cure, rather than the much easier
prevention. In like manner if the girl
of IS will say to herself: Il must ac-
quire wrinkles and burrows, and wat
ties just as other women do. if 1 wait
long enough. 1 will try the ounce of
prevention, and see if I cannot ward
them off entirely" and will conscien-
tfously devote only fifteen minutes ev-
cry day to the task, she can keep the
| enemy at bay for years. It is so much
| easier to keep them out than to drive
them away when once they have es-
tablished themselves in quiet possess
sion.
The ''wattles, for instance indicate
weakening of the muscles of the
throat and sometimes appear at as ear
ly an age as %. The cheek muscles
between cheekbone and lower jawbone
| begin about the same time to grow
weak, and the exquisite curve from ear
TO chin becomes a gradually straighten-
ing line. But if the girl of Is does her
duty to herself, and society, the finally
inevitable process of disintegra tion may
be deferred for many years. Let her
devote fifteen minutes a day to proper
| massage of these portions of the face
and throat, and at 81 and 40 she will
retain the roundness of youth.
Apply first TO the entire face and
throat any good skin food. lightly rub
bing it in with a circular notion Then
! place the hands under the chin. bending
the wrists SO that the palms are up
ward, let the tips Of the fingers touch,
then draw the hands with firm press
ure upward and outward in opposite
directions to the ear. Similarly but with
/ lighter touch, rub the cheeks from
| jaw TO ear and the forehead from nose
To hair. There is a new toilet article
a massage roller-which is a great aid
/ in this operation. but the unassisted
| fingers can accomplish much.
| The quality of cream used is of i'm
| portance. 1t should be procured only
from a reliable druggist. and preferably
| compounded from a known formula.
| One of the best masseuses in New York
uses the following: Almond oil. t
ounces; lanoline, , ounces; spermaceti.
| 1ia ounces; cocoa butter, 1 ounce. Melt
IN a graniteware basin over a slow fire.
until thoroughly dissolved, then remove
from fire and heat briskly with a silver
fork adding slowly so drops tincture
Of benzoin and five drops of rose at
| tar or 10 drops of oil of jasmine. The
| last item Of the formula is merely to
give an agreeable odor. and any per-
| fume may be used, provided always
that it be in the form of an essential
| oil, in order that it may blend properly
with the other ingredients. This cream
feeds the skin, and the tissues beneath
so that the daily wash is supplied be-
fore it has time TO affect the cuticle-
Katrina Van Strickland, in Portland
| Oregonian.