Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-01
TIE LAUGHING
FHCE IS ALWAYS
YOUNG

noted for the perfection of their features,
but the women who have welded the great
est power over their contemporaries have
not always been faultlessly perfect in fea-
lures but they have been able to express in
their mobile features the thought with
which they were filed. When a woman's
face Is really feautiful, 1t should be as the
lamp. lighted by divine and beautiful fire.
The face which attracts us on the great
street IS the expressive face. 1t may not
always be perfect either in coloring or in
contour, but 1t IS alive. The greatest
actresses on our modern stage, IL We took
the trouble to disect their features, are not
really beautiful but their features are so
animated with the spirit and intelligence
behind them that one has no thought for
criticism, and the shape Of the mouth IS
matter of no Importance when Its lines are
constantly changing with enhancing vari-
ETY. OF expression. The Child's face is usual
ly expressive until il begins to form its own
conclusions and 10 hide these conclusions
from its elders. As soon as this stage of
development Is reached, the child learns to
assume an expression and keep it. From
that time on IL IS not the spirit or soul
which plays over the Child's face, but the
mind, and so il remains till the end of life.
In women OF forty, the race mas assumed
the habitual expression when. except In eX-
traOrdiuary cases, will continue through
life, merely getting more and more deeply
etched as time goes on. After this period
the face seems to lose It's youthful ANNA
ton and becomes set and rigid just as the
figure does. When once this happens the
bridge which divides youth from middle age
has been traversed and burned behind one
unless one is willing and has power enough
TO overcome this settled feeling. The
muscles Of the face stiffen very much more
quickly than the other muscles of the body.
They are used more and they are very
much misUsed.
You have a pet motion of the hand. for
instance. Say you make this motion once
every half hour. 1t is a trick of yours.
leo ,.;r
sion Instead Of doing this trick Of facial
expression once every half hour, IL you are
vivacious at ALL you are doing II once
every five minutes or so. The muscles are
all getting used 10 being drawn or pulled In
this particular direction. Say you are in
the habit ef scowliug You scOwl when you
are sad. YOU sCowl when you are in earnest.
you scowl when you are thinking you
scowl when you forget something. etc. ad
inhnitum. No wonder that presently those
little scowlng lines appear between the
eyebrows They become deeper and deeper
with use and finally q deep furrOw between
the eyes changes the expression entirely.
These lines are the despair of the woman
whose face Is expressive. Fortunately she
must remember that If she can express dis
approval or concentration by contracting
the hrOws. she can remedy this expression
by more cheerful thought and open and
free feeling between the eyebrows. II she
can contract the eyebrows. she can also
separate them This is the free feeling OF
which l speak.
A face TO he expressive should be able not
only 10 contract the muscles. but expand
them at will The face of the dancer Car
meuCita is one of the most expressive and
the most beautiful on the stage. With a
curl Of the lip and fash of the eye, this
lovely Spaniard can show an enormous
range OF motion. and every muscle
OF her face Is flexible and firm. and
under perfect control. Carmencita is by no
means very young woman, for she admits
to thirty-fve. and, being a woman. we all
know what that means; vet there is not a
single line in her face. and her clear, white
skin IS as free Of wrinkles as II she never
scowied In anger or wrinkled up her eyes
In mirth. This beautiful and expressive
face owes its perfection to the fact that
every muscle is perfectly relaxed, and that
when not contracted by effort of will her
natural expression Is as placid as 4 baby's
wish that all the American women could
appreciate the harm they are doing them
selves by continuing to express, through
muscular contraction. a thought or feeling
which has long since given place 10 some
entirely different sensation. I have seen
women worrying over a bargain counter
and retain n fretful expression all through
a party luncheon and half way through an
afternoon concert
The American woman IS altogether too
prone 10 nervous Transforming OF the facial
muscles. This nervous tension starts. of
course, with some mental worry and long
after the worry has passed from the mind
the face continues 20 retain the outward
expression. All this tension is due 10 the
contraction Of the facial muscles and when
the face is contracted II cannot be really
expressive. To be expressive the channels,
that Is to say. the muscles, tissues and
nerves. must be absolutely free and non
resisting To the contro! of the thought be-
hind them. Beauty IS so largely a ques-
ton OF mind that l can foresee the day
when the beauty doctor Will give way TO
the mind doctor. In the meantime how
ever every woman whose expression does
not suit her must first look into her own