Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-20
How the Dainty French
Woman Rejuvenates.
QUEER BATHS USED
BEAUTY PRESERVED LONG PAST
YOUTH.
Takes Time and Patience, But the
Results Are Generally
Satisfactory.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
To catch F'renchwoman in a confidential
mood, when she viii give the key to the
mysteries OF her toilet, is as desirable as it
is rare. Well must the hook be baited. for
why should rival, under which head all
other women are c.assed, be assisted to in
crease her charm?
In the present instance II was luck pure
and simple. that tempted the marquse TO
chat freely on The subject OF baths and
other means Of making a woman forget
that she has turned thirty.
Thirty the marquise exclaimed with
disgust The time when one looks askance
In every mirror to assure oneself that 1t is
really high light on the hair one sees and
not thread of gray.
Turkish and Russian baths" she went
on medtativeIy. belong to the domain OF
medicine. Their action upon the system is
too powerful and their results too grave to
be tempered with by the host of beauty
seekers. And. OH she sighed HE per-
nicious, wide spread idea of the cold tub
To American and English nerves it is
garded as bracing, but surely Ii Is most
detrimental to the beauty of the skin and
the delicate hues of fine complexion. The
vigorous rubbing alone, which is necessary
after cod tub, coarsens the skin beyond
redemption and leaves it grainy, wi n en-
larged capillaries. Still, there are those
welded to the cold tub that they are con-
tent to go through the day overspread with
blueish tint
water, after which only gentle friction is
necessary to produce a general sense of
comfort BY it her overtired nerves are
soothed, while her skin takes on a rosy hue
and becomes elastic and firm.
But then" she added, there are many
valuable little secrets in connection with
the tepid bath. When | have INDUCED 100
freely in late suppers and other good things
OF life. and find. in consequence, that diy
skin has become feverish, dry and harsh,
seldom neglect to massage every part of
my body with some reliable cereate, using
1t sparingly, of course, but working it we'll
into the skim and later removing every
trace of 1t with a fine linen clio, h. | then
am ready for my beloved bath of tepid
water, made aromatic such occasions
with bountiful addition of a decoction
made of 600 grammes of finely pulyerized
carbonate of soda, II grampes of essence
of lavender 10 grammes of rosmarin and >
grammes of eucalyptus.
This mixture always finds place among
my facial toilet preparations. y teaspoon
full of it in a basin of tepid water is daily
used to battle the face. Few things stimu-
late more quickly the many small nerves
which become so weary by the time a wo.
man has passed thirty"
More Secret Aids.
The marquise sighed deeply.
"Of course" she continued. more gayly,
this is but one of my many secret aids to
beauty. Once week | have brought to me
a basin of tepid milk, to which has been
added a tablespoonful of rectified tincture
of benzoin and a like quantity of extract of
orange flowers. With a sponge | cover my
whole body with this lotion, allowing as
much of it as possible to be absorbed b. the
skin. AS it has thoroughly dried |
plunge into tepid bath to rinse off it's
sickness. l emerge with my skin soft
as satin. Indeed, this weekly treatment
and the less frequent aromatic bath, which
I how al DIV daSrrih.h ar haS
means, L think. OF keeping the flesh firm
and wei stretched over the muscles. Wo-
men who allow themselves to grow loose
and fiabby-iooking have largely themselves
to blame.
Again, there are times when 1 take a
quick refresher,' | call a bath made of
pine needles. 1t is most invigorating TO the
whole system. From the chemist my maid
obtains the needles and twigs of the pine,
which she cuts into small pieces and boi,s
for half an hour Then this substance is
strained and left to cool. and held in readi-
ness to add to bath of tepid water. After
an exhausting afternoon and the ordeal of
making ready to go out to some evening
function this bath seems to me of most
benefit.
when return late and wide-eyed from
ball l obtain sleep and relaxation rom
bath of orange blossoms, also procurable at
the chemists and prepared in the same way
the pine needles.
Glycerine and Rose Water.
For purely softening and cleansing the
skin and preventing it chapping, L advise
a simple and delightful rub with GO
grammes of giycerne and 100 grammes OF
rose water diluted in two quarts of water.
From what l have already admitted you
will see that l poorly prove the foreign
saying that we French women take full
length baths in pint of hot water and a
rot of cod cream. | doubt whether any
women spend as much time and money on
their additions women of Paris.
"In the summer season, you know, she
confessed after a pause, 81 go even to the
extravaganza of a semi-weekly bath made
up of such luscious fruits as strawberries
and raspberries. Indeed, my maid declares
that it is to tn s and nothing else that | owe
my famous skin and complexion. Twenty
pounds of Strawberries to two OF raspber-
ries is the proportion for the bath They
are crushed and put into bags made or the
thinnest cheesecloth. Very not water is
poured over them, and in this mixture. as
soon as it is sufficiently cooled, l remain
for half an hour The results | get from
this bath are sufficiently lasting 10 bridge
me over the winter season, to keep me
rosy-hued velvety grained. stain free and
fragrant When | have fever my bath Is
prepared in the same way, but Of an enor-
NOUS quantity of spinach. 1t is very cool
ing and becoming.
'Ahv' the marquise sighed, with little
graceful shrug, 1.-The reputation of beauty
IS expensive"