The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-14
SILLIEST OF FADS
AIDS TO BEAUTY HINTS HANDLED
WITHOUT GLOVES BY A
CORRESPONDENT
DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD
Advises Women to Think Less of
Themselves and Their Appear
ance and More of
Humanity.

The communication printed in fun be-
low has been received by the editor of
II h e G o b e Woman's page. A letter
accompanying the communica ton makes
this explanation: Believing your wom-
ans page to be the most tolerable and
least offensive, l send to it this brief critI-
clsm." Concerning the criticism nothing
further need be said, as it explains itself
1t is as follows:
Speaking of fads, the siIIiest fad Of all
is that which the newspapers have to de-
pleasing to women. Helps to beauty,
hints for improving ones complexion,
how to care for the hands. how to get
rid Of pimples and blackheads, how to
make red hair golden, light hair darker,
or dark hair lighter; how to make eye
lashes thicker and to curve upward, how
to make lean neck f1eshier, and lanky
arms to assume plumpness, and a hun
dred and one other trivial and utterly
foolish sops to wOmens vanity, cover the
ground of the journalistic page.
AS If womans vocation were to aim at
identifying herself! Ten to one she
makes of herself a fright, a spectacle to
gods and men if she follows the advice
Of these faddiStS. who seem not to know
what they talk about. The young woman
who wears a mask of mush and milk or
some similar device throughout the night
whose hands are incased in gloves sur
charged with glycerine or similar emOl-
lent; who drinks a pint of water before
breakfast and nearly breaks her neck
for half hour, stretching her head to
the left, then to the right, then forward
and backward till she is ready to drop,
then plunges into cold bath before par
taking freely of beef, mutton and other
things as prescribed-well, really, is there
any end to the things this seeker after
beauty is to do?
Many a young girl. many an old girl
has ruined her complexion forever more
by following one or a hundred of these
foolish recipes. Whereas, had she fol-
lowed the plain injunction to wash in
pure water twice or thrice a day and
think no more about it, her face might
have preserved it's Velvety SoftnesS, it's
childish softness.
havI a friend, an old lady Of more
than three score and ten who Is c0ntin-
ually D&sng asked, Pray tell me what
you do to preserve such wonderful
Bmoothness of skin, to avoid pimples and
foughness and blackheads?"
This IS her answer: Never from girl
hood have l given a thought to my COM
pleXion. My complexion has been least
of my concern. While I studied my les
Sons, wrote my essays, read everlasting
~, so to speak, attended to social and
family duties, what time was left for
pr1mplng and perking, and looking for
mshguratlons of face. My complexion
was left to care for itself, and behold the
resuIt!'
Life is too short to be spent in such
puerlllt1eS. Life is too earnest to be fritz
tered away in a constant study for beau
dfytng oneself. Nature rebels. She
hbhorS the interference of silly meddlers
instead of added beauty, loneliness is
wrecked and crop of weeds spreads
over the epidermis to the CONSERVATION
OF the vain searcher for better things.
The torture of masks, greasy gloves ex-
cruciating corsets and various etcetera