Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-05-03
Beauty Culture of the Hands.


appearance, no matter what form it may
be. 1t is not always the psychic hand
which denotes the beautiful character,
but the psychic hand is the rarest and
most beautifully shaped of all. 1t is
small, the palm is medium-sized, the
fingers without knots, the third phalange
long and pointed, and the thumb small
and we'll shaped. This is a perfectly
shaped hand, according to the artistic
point of view; but even this hand must
be taken care of to preserve its beauty.
Then there is the philosophic hand,
which belongs to the lover of truth and
the reality of things. This hand has a
medium-sized palm, the fingers knotted
and the third phalange an obtuse cone,
verging on the square.
| The useful hand is similar in some
points to the philosophic. 1t is medium
sized, but inclined to be large; the points
of the fingers developed and the outer
phalange square. The thumb is large
and developed at the root.
There are four other classes or cate
gories of hands, which are called the
elementary, the necessary, the artistic
and the mixed hand, but the description
| have given of the psychic, philosophic
and useful hands will give good idea of
the general structure of these members.
Naturally, the description of the philO-
sophie and useful hands shows an alb
sence of the symmetrical beauty of the
psychic model, but every hand can be
made to look charming by proper atten-
ton and treatment.
1t is only in the years of childhood
that the structural form of the hand can
be improved. In later life the develop
ment of the hand is governed by the
quality of the character.
My purpose is to help those who have
to use their hands for their daily work to
possess the secret of knowing just how
to make their hands as attractive as
possible.
In the first place, immaculate cleanli-
ness is the imperative rule for the care
of the hands. When you wash your
hands, wash them thoroughly, and when
drying them rub the palm from the root
of the fingers toward the wrist, and the
fingers from the palm to the tips. 1t
will be no trouble to make this practice a
habit. Never pull the fingers; it has a
tendency to enlarge the knuckles and
Joints, which is not point of beauty.
Use tepid water for washing the hands,
and be particular to use good sOap-the
fine soap you use for your face is not too
lgoOd for the hands; the cheaper soaps
which abound in alkali, are an abomina
ton. Those having large percentage
of pure vegetable oil are best, but ex-
pertinent is the best guide for the soap
lyou use; what agrees with one skin
might not with another.
If the hands feel dry and uncomfort-
able from some unusual work, rub them
with a piece of fresh lemon, which is an
Invaluable requisite to your toilet stand;
the lemon juice softens and bleaches.
The juice of one lemon and one table
lspoonful of glycerine make an excellent
Iremedy for roughneSs of the hands. Rub
la little of this on the hands whenever
they feel rough. Another good remedy
is equal paris of rose water and glycerine.
If glycerine does not agree with your
skin land it does not with many, use the
lemon juice for all purposes; it removes
all stains and softens the hands. If the
hands are chapped or tender from un-
usual work, the following formula will
be found an invaluable remedy: ounce
lpure mutton-tallOw, ounce cocoa but
tier, 1-2 ounce lanolin, | teaspOOnful of
calendula flowers, l teaspoonful of
powdered boracic acid. Melt the tallow,
cocoa butter and lanolin and while hot
stir in the boracic acid and calendula
Itincture. Melt some of this and massage
it on the sore, chapped or tender hands,
and let it remain on over night, covering
the hands with pair of gloves much
larger than your usual size. In the
morning you will find all traces of the
ssOreness gone.
If your fingers are quite square at the
tips, you can improve them very much by
massaging them with good cream.
Always rub from the roots of the fingers
toward the tips; then put on silver
thimbles which fit each finger snugly,
cover the hands with the large soft
gloves and let them remain on all night.
Several of these treatments will greatly
Improve square fingers. They will
soften the cushions and make the spatu-
late Tor necessary and the useful hands
more pliable.
Special care should be taken of the
nails. When you can afford it 60 to
good manicure once in a while and have
your nails manicured. You need not 60
often, if you devote little time to them
yourself.
Only very simple implements are
needed. Use an orange stick for clean.
ing the nails and for pressing down the
scarf skin, with which you must deal
gently. For filing the nails, use slender,
inequality file. Never use your nail
scissors unless very necessary, for cut
ting the nails has tendency to harden
them, and their great beauty is their
tlexibility. You want pair of cuticle
scissors tR cut any loose cuticle or small
hang naiS; but never cut the scarf-skin;
it hardens it and promotes the growth OF
hang-nails. Never bite the hang-nailS,
cut them off carefully with your cuticle
scissors. After long neglect it is some
time before the scarf skin can be trained
to remain in place and show the pearly-
hued lunata Cor half moon) which is the
browning beauty to the finger-nail.
Before manicuring the nails, they
should be softened by holding the finger
tips in bowl of warm, sOapy water, in
which you have put few drops of ben
zoin; this prevents the nails from crack
ing when you use the file. Never clean
the nails with a sharp pointed imple-
ment, such as a penknife, hairpin or
common pin; always use the orange
stick. If there should be any stains
under and around the nails, use little
lemon juice with the orange stick, and
clean under and all around the nails. A
great many of the nail-bleaches which
you buy in the stores contain acids. All
acids do not agree with every skin;
lemon juice is always safe.
For polishing the nails, first put on
little cold cream, and rub gently with
the side of the hand until the cream all
disappears; then put on little polishing
powder, and polish gently but swiftly
with good buffer. Avoid too high
polish; it is detrimental and considered
bad taste.
| 1t is within the power of every woman
to become her own manicure, but if you
know nothing whatever of the art, you
will save time, trouble and mistakes by
trusting your nails for few times to
the trained manicure.
| If the nails are brittle, rub them at
night with vaseline, cold cream or al
mond cream. If they are delicate and
tender, wax and alum will strengthen
them and also arrest the growth of the
scarf-skin and hang-nails.