The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-03-11
TRACES SOURCE OF
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Geography of Cosmetics
Seen to Be Shifting.

- - III 4
headquarters Of the National GeOgraph.
&c sOciaty. Formerly the women of
the United States drew upon he more
sophisticated countries of EuroDe for
the boxed and bottled substances that
alter their appearance for better or
for worse. Now they are COMING more
and more to s what might be called
made in America cOmplexlons,' and
the country is even exporting aids to
beauty to the ends Of the earth.
"The big three in the world Of cos
metiCs are powder, rouge and cream:
and Of these ~stand-bys Of the feminine
toilet table. the United States expOrts
about $2,5OO,OOO worth annually. This
probably is close to the value of the
imports Of these specific substances, I.
for the greater part Of the S9OOO.OOO B.,
worth OF 'perfumery and cosmetics
brought into the country each year is
made up OF perfumes and perfume ma
terials. Many times the amount Of the
exports and imports Of powders.
creams and rOuges are consumed in
American bOudOirs-and on American
street cOrners-fOr the value of the
products turned out annually by the /
%perfumers and cosmetic manufacturers
Of the United States is between S75.-
100000 and $1O0,OOO,OOO.
"FOr the best rouge the consumers
Of the United States must still look
beyond the cOuntry's borders. The
original cOlOrIng material was dried
red cOrOllas of the thistlelike safiOwer
plant Of the Near East. The plant Is
cultivated in France and still is the
source OF the bloom on millions Of rosy
cheeks. Much Of the cOlOring matter
of commercial rOugeS is carmine, the
red obtained from the crushed, dried
bodies Of the cOchineal insect, also a
foreign substance.
Face Powders.
Face powders are made Of ground
and bOlted tale and chalk, rice powder
and corn powder. or the last named
ingredient America possesses vast
quantities, but unfortunately the
grains of cOrnstarch are about three
times the size of those of rice starch,
and therefore do not make as high
grade face powders. Much rice is
grown in the United States and home
produced as well as imported rice pow
der is metamOrphOsed into the POudre
de Riz Of the cosmetic counter.
Tremendous quantities of tale and
chalk are used annually in the form
Of talcum powder and in combination
with rice and corn powders. Low
grade powders are made from domestic
tale mined in several eastern states,
hut for highest grade powders the man
ufGctUrcrs import their materials. An
dual imports OF tale and chalk amount
to about 100000 pounds from Italy
and 100000 pounds from France.
Cold cream is the typical cream
: cosmetic and one of the oldest Of the
} beauty aids used today. Savages
started the cold cream habit millions
of years ago with rancid butter ant
0 salt.
Face powders and rOuges are large
ly for application to the cheeks, bur
40 other facial feature has been per
mitted to escape the cosmetic special
II tSLs 4llCIC are uClllAd anu JULIET HdSiEs
for the hair, eyebrow pencils, Iipsticks
lash pastes, and shadow coloring 70
eyelids. In addition the well a~ppOintet
cosmetic shop offers hand lotions, ant
" nail pOllsheS and enamelS, and sucI
L general cosmetics as skin foods, com
pleXiOn clays and sunburn remOvers.
IS "Henna Is extracted from the leave
'e OF an Egyptian plant. The cOlOrin
It matter Of eyebrow pencils and las
Is pastes may be India ink or cOal-ta
dyes. Most llpstickS are made q
greaseS stiffened with beeswax an
p, cOlOred with Carmlne or saffiOwer. Tn
III majority of the hand lotions and val
E. ishing creams contain glycerin, {
ly which the United States produce
l. ample quantities. Nail pOliShes usua
10 ly contain tin oxide and nail va
+ niShes and enamelS consist Of reslnOU
l. gums, mostly imported. The ingred
a ent par excellence for skin foods
cocoa butter, the fat produced as
IS b%y-pFOduct in chocolate and cocoa ma
ly ufacture. The cocoa butter ImpOrt'
US as such chiefly from the Net
erlandS and Germany.
as United States Helps World Keep cIes
ng "tSOap, the basic substance in t
toilets Of men and women alike,
made in vast quantities in the Unit
= States, and more than 100000 wOr
is exported annually. Various OF
treated with alkalis, are used in so
manufacture, including our own cote
seed oil. COcOnut, olive and palm 0
are the standard fatty substances e
plOyed, however. Annually the Pr
ippines contribute $16,OOO,OOO worth
cOconut oil, while $50,OOO,OOO worth
olive oil comes from Italy and Spa
and ~S55,OO0,OOO worth Of palm oil
imported directly from British w,
Africa and via England from OIL
tropical countries.
'The history Of soap is closely int
twined with the history Of modern
lIizatiOn. It Is believed that