The northwestern bulletin., 1922-08-19
(Associated Negro Press)

My friends: Ill return to the in
terrupted tenor of my thoughts, on
the skin and it's treatment, if you'll
permit me. And. just to see now
many yells of protest it will arouse
from our oid-fashioned aunt, "Fn
say. Lets everybody have a facial
massage today"
Vow! listen at them. It's the old,
old fallacious statement. "Massaging
ruins the face. Look at me, I've
never had my face massaged and
there is nothing wrong with it eX-
cept the natural effects of age, is
there" That's just it, the natural
effects of age. And there wouldn't
be any such effects, if she had started
massaging when she was along with
the girls.
n number of people cherish the
erroneous idea that massaging is of
comparatively recent origin, but it
is as old as the hills, as the etymOlogy
of the world indicates. We have de-
rived massage" for the French mas
ser" which in turn came from the
Greek "massein" meaning to knead,
Not only in Greece and Rome. but
III the Siilultu pl, ti sid, E0N ia,
Indian. and China the art fiourshed
and | have often suspected that the
about in those countries in the sacred
marvellous cures of invalids we hear
annals, supposedly effected by the
gentle laying on of hands" was
simply the result of a vigorous body
massage by the strong-armed devo-
tees, which gave new life TO the afro
phied muscles.
Certainly we are born with a ten
dency to enjoy this science tfor it
has been developed into suCh) for
when baby brother falls down, tie
real alieyiator and comfort giver is
to have us rub his "hurt spot" vigor-
.Ously. When one has a headache
how good it feels to have soft firm
fingers pressing the pain away, rub
bing and smoothing out the painful
wrinkles. The brisk run with the
towel following the bath is two thirds
of the pleasure connected Herewith.
Oh it's a grand and glorious feeling.
The professional massuese is a real
doctor, for she knows the muscle
and their position and the direction
III " hlNH lHIll OAICHu, al huO"-
treatment beneficial. She knows
which direction the movement must
take to create or to reduce flesh. But
we can learn the simplest part of
the trade and help ourselves at home
Severe rubbing and rolling is a good
way to reduce and dissolve fatty It's
sues. But to plumpen the face and
to remove wrinkles, be gentle, rub
bing the skin with a gentle rotary
motion, which is real kneading. And
don't massage oftener than every "a
hours, if so often, and then only for
Is or 20 minutes. Always be sure
that your face is perfectly clean, hav-
ing been cleansed with warm water,
and a pure CASTLE soap. Use towels
wrung out of hot water to soften the
skin before beginning. To avoid
bruising or irritating the skin, use
good skin food, but avoid prepara-
tions with lard, talIOw, or suet, as
their foundation. You know what
animal fat does to the skin to make
the hairs sprout, just like weeds af-
ter a rain.
Glycerin dries the skin rapidly and
the result will be a harsh dry sur
face, bit darker and yellow, and
these folks who are in the habit of
mixing vaseline with these greasy
bleach preparations on the market,
can have but one result-a general
unhappiness-after the mixture has
been applied often enough and rubbed
in thorough often enough Oh my
uears, DON'T!
After the massage, a cloth wet in
iced water will close the pores and
chill the face nicely bringing the color
We so ardently desire. Some folks
even rub gently with bits of ice.
And we all feel so invigorated and
so fresh and our skin looks so good,
freed from the impurities it had
vainly tried to throw off, and the
muscles are so "snappy" and full of
pep that you can throw back your
head and laugh wholeheartedly and
abandonely just to know that you are
on the road to Beauty, and to being
a real