Newspaper Page Text
*"Xjreat Beauty
15 A Disadvantage,
ASK any beautiful woman who thinks, what
advantage her beauty has been to her and
she will answer: “None. On the contrary,
it has been a decided disadvantage.” She will be
quite honest in so saying, for she will tell the truth.
For this I can give reasons, convincing to myself,
and, I hope, satisfying to you. At any rate I shall
try, and if I can convey to you one-half the earnest
protest that lies in the soul of any beauty against
her lot you will pity instead of envy the woman who
is beautiful.
Beauty has always seemed to me a beacon on the
high seas of life. A beacon suggests something flash
ing, brilliant and wonderful, does it not? And yet
what is a beacon on the high seas? A lighthouse
calling attention to the rocks about it. That is
precisely what beauty does. It calls attention to the
Imperfections which it lights, throwing them into
more cruel relief. How often have you heard some
one exclaim, “What a pretty girl! Isn’t it a pity
she is so fat?” or, “What a sweet face! Isn’t it
a shame that she is so awkw-ard?” And most often
you have heard: “She’s pretty, but hasn't an ounce
of brains.”
Really, physical beauty only accentuates the lacks
which might pass unnoticed were the owner plain
Os face or form. I am speaking honestly when I say
that beauty is a cruel light turned garishly upon
all the crudenesses of youth and flaws of mind and
character. Were it not for a certain outward loveliness,
these inward uglinesses would scarcely be manifest,
certainly would not be thrown so daringly upon the
screen of the public mind. Because a woman is
beautiful too much is expected of her. Every very
good looking woman I have known I have heard
moan at some time: "So much is expected of a
beauty!”
The World Is Cruel tc s Beauty.
’ If, as is the case with some of the most famous
beauties, they are on the stage, tholr debuts are a
torment. The audience notices when the unusual!)
handsome woman walks upon the stage an exceptional
endowment of good looks, and at once this punctuates
her lack of experience.
“Pretty, but gawky!” Handsome, but a horrible
actress!” These discouraging phrases float up to her
and nearly put an end tc her career through heait
failure or apoplexy. Year after year it is the same,
and when, after she has gained experience and skill,
she improves, the improvement is grudingly noted
by the critics. The world is as cruel to a beauty
as it is kind to a lover. It seems to deny her
everything but the beauty, and that it discounts and
decries. , . . .
Soon a beauty learns that she does not belong
to herself but to the public. She may be the daughter
of a multi-millionaire or the eighteen-dollar-a-week
girl at the end of the chorus line, but in a snort
time she will find that she is only herself—limited.
The public has part in her. It speaks of Our Maty,
or "New York’s lovely Miss Smith. Her beauty
is not her own. She is not her own. The public
owns shares in her which it claims by staring at
her and making rude personal remarks, as Shes
not up to the mark to-day. Wonder what- the
matter? She is the kind that ages fast. The public
feels it has the equal right to cntic.ze a beauty,
as freely as the mayor or the bead of the street clean
ing department.
The beauty cannot enjoy herself as other women
do. She is always on exhibition. She has the sense
of being always on parade. A beautiful woman longs
to get into a sweater and run about with her hair
mussed as other women do. but she must not! No.
some one may be looking over a hack fence or cut
of an attic window, training field glasses on her,
and saving, "She a beauty? Why, she's a frighL
This is especially unforgivable in thfs country. In
Europe one is permitted to perspire, and wear a
sweater and big loose boots, and that is the reason
1 like to stay over there.
Can’t Eat, Drink or Dress as You Wish.
* it is hard work to keep one’s reputation of being
a beauty. You cannot dress your hair hurriedly in
a new mode and go down town to shop. Not at all.
You must, if you are a beauty, work hours at the
mirror, studying yourself at every angle, to be sure
that your coiffure is adapted to yourself. You cannot,
if you are in high spirits, take a hop, skip and jump
anywhere. You must move slowly and gracefully
with a dignity befitting the reputation you didn't
want but which the public has forced upon you.
You oan't eat what you like because it may make
you fat. You can’t drink ice cream soda lest it
muddy your complexion. You have to take horrid
exercises before going to bed and go through even
worse contortions when you get up to keep your
figure If you go to Sherry’s to luncheon you cannot
eat and chat with perfect enjoyment. You cannot
forget that people’s eyes are focussed upon you.
Suddenly vou feel as though thrust into an icy pool.
Some woman is staring at you. and saying, "Why did
she eVer wear that hat?
It costs a great deal of time to be a beauty. You
must give twice as much time to shopping as a
plainer and so more fortunate woman does. You
cannot hurry through a month’s shopping in two
hours and dash off to a matinee. You must keep
at It steadily, as a galley slave at his oars. You
mult worry the lives out of the shop girls and give
the floor walkers nervous prostration. Your shopping
is as important as an election. Instead of spending
time with books or with your friends, you must rest
and take beauty treatments, because you are a beauty.
It costs a great deal of money. You cannot afford
to wear coarse cloth nor have ill-cut clothes. A fine
picture must have a good frame. Empty your purse
of all that you wanted to spend for a trip to Florida,
or to refurnish your apartment, for clothes you must
have, many of them, and expensive ones.
These are the lesser disadvantages. They are irri
tating, and bring frowns, and wrinkles, and rob you
of your beauty and your good disposition.
I come now' to the greater disadvantages affecting
the vital things in every woman's life—be she artist
or woman in the home.
It is a fact known by beauties, and suspected by
others, that beautiful women do not attract the best
men. Callow boys or silly old men flutter about
the flame of beauty. Intellectual men do not care
tor physical beauty. Men who are worth while are
attracted but briefly by it, if at all. Recall the sort
of men who have lost their heads over a beautiful
- -- -
i_f.._ • T . ’- • XMs>
‘ ~ • - * >vOJ..J
i
By Miss Edna Goodrich
race. What sort ol heads were they? Loose and
empty, were they not? The admiration of these men
had its root not in the beauty of the women but in
their own vanity. These men want to be seen with
what they call “a looker." They want, other men
to envy them. That which the poor beauty, yearning
as all women do for sincere affection, mistook for
love for herself was the seif love of the foolish youth
or the vain old man. So J was not surprised to hear
a woman who had been an enchantress of interna
tiona, renown say: "in all my life J have never been
loved! That which is the glory of every woman’s
life, desired by her above ail things else, the love of
a manly man, is generally denied the beauty.
Middle Age a Grief, Old Age a Tragedy.
Consider the marriages of great beauties. Which
of them has been happy? The genuinely happy mar
riage is generally unknown to them. Their fault,
you say ? In part, perhaps, for while a beauty may
not have been born selfish, she may have grown so
gradually, unconsciously. Every foolish person who
e.claims, What a lovely little girl!” helps foster self
ishness and conceit in her. She is "spoiled" when
she reaches the altar of marriage. The arm on
which she leans as she leaves the altar is neither
a strong nor trusty one. It cannot, or does not, guide
her into wise paths, nor toward the heights of
character attainment. For this reason the" saving
All beauties are spoiled” remains true, while under
kind, firm guidance they might become women of
rarest, finest characters.
Certain’ sayings about beauties pass Into proverbs
and beauties hear them so often that they accept
them as truth For instance, "Beauty and brains
de not go together.” This, heard so often, discourages
them, and hopeless of living down this untrue sayfug
they cease to try. ■* s
And this brings me to the greatest disadvantage
of all the disadvantages of being a beautv. Because
of poor training in youth a beautiful girl thinks thlt
being a beauty is enough. She asks nothing more
ol the gods Creatures gather about the candle flame
of her beauty. They are moths, but she mistakes
them tor men. She does not need to put forth anv
effort to attract; There is no need to cultivate her
brain or her character, she thinks. Everythine mas
youth Uat Uer beaUty is enou6h - She wastes her
She lays up no riches of the charm of a culture
mind and a harmonious character. When midrii
age comes it finds her empty-hearted and emn/v
handed, often, I grieve to say empty-handed That
de< r. richer charm which holds love to the end
never Imd. That is the reason middle age is a arir
and old age a tragedy, to a beauty. finer.
Two Portraits of Edna Goodrich Who
Is Generally Rated as a “Beauty.”
PHOTO ** fc OCML fT Z As •▼ . ■
■J I
IT" » 81 I
WMMII 1
wBBWI
■ - $* * mill
■
-■ jW* t
11
i ■ '
■/ I
.'4 J 1
iwWP® i
< wv- !
i
" is
SO
# s SSwawRhwQEKSR te®
ii Ho
IBWIWw
ll
•T •
~x^ s jhS~ »«q jnyyj<JCT > 3yv‘* >, *~~
O<- /aw f*/
f -'"V- :/jMIL ■ _<fe ~,’S
■ " ©• ■'■ &- - ■-' y
>
.< WRIi - 'V~ < /
i"" W ■? -Bfe ‘Wgk.
x w® w, “
wHHHrv*
...jV
'fe
w
W«
\
wbOfa \
aMr
,-*r ' z |k
W *V - wW w^ 1 Photo -av
» f- ' J' ■ HA v * **•
MwSLr r*’’ / >* T# W/ ’^ :
.a/ - ’-;
I X W f iflH r
'
y
. ■ !
_ .. < : •- .f'jikar*
To Stop Fraudulent “Beautv” Cosmetics
By Rene Bache.
THE Richardson Bill, now be
fore a committee in Congress,
is aimed at fraudulent cos
metics. if, as is expected, j t be _
comes a law, it will drive all the
Pretended "face lotions,” “skin
foods,” and other such beauty fakes
out of the market.
This is a matter of very great im
portance, because up to the present
ime there has been no restriction
whatever upon the sale of stuff of
the kind, which find a market in
this country to the extent of many
millions of dollars yearly. Most of
it is absolutely worthiest, and much
of it highly injurious and even dan
gerous—being calculated to destroy,
rather than to enhance, feminine
charms.
The Government would l ave at
tacked this swindling business long
ago, but for the fact, that its hands
have been tied. For fraudulent cos
metics are not within tho scope of
the Pure Food and Drug Law,
simply for the reason that they can
not be classified as medicine in a
proper sense of the term. If a
woman seeks a cosmetic to make her
more beautiful, it can hardly be said
• hat she is purchasing a medicine.
This situation of affairs, however,
will be entirely changed by the
passage of th< Richardson bill; and
thereupon the Government will pro
ceed to make wholesale seizures of
f a nlulent bcau^-making nostrums
of all kinds—basing its action in
some cases upon the false labelling
of the preparations in question, and
in others upon the fact that they
are worthless or worse. Already
the Bureau of Chemistry has made
a fairly complete investigation of
the whole subject, and has planned
its line of procedure.
The women In particular should
be glad of the protection which by
this means is to be afforded them
against a species of fraud which,
not only cheats them out of their
money, but threatens to rob them of
their good looks. Take for instance
most of the so-called “face lotions”
which to-day are so widely adver
tised and sold. Most of these have
been analyzed by the Bureau of
Chemistry, and it has found that
■
< " '*■••- ly > :t ■ ' zwjjMk
y -"'■. < . v' \
; . »«r- . r;,,. |gr 4\
2■ . Z » fez . vX
' r ,= M 4: BSt»* ■ x
X fl - r.«t v * " ',.
Er j . a&H-' .4xOMK ■• ■ x
y." ' | <
nearly all contain bichloride of mer
cury—that is to say, corrosive sub
limate. The typical notsrum of this
description consists of corrosive
sublimate dissolved in water and
glycerine and flavored with tincture
of benzoin.
It goes without saying that such
n mixture is extremely cheap, lu
fact, it can be put up for almost
nothing at all, but it easily com
mands a high price. Apparently
(say the Government experts) the
more absurd and extravagant are
the fdaims made in behalf of a
beatify fake, the more readily it
sells.
One manufacturer, when asked
“what was in” a cosmetic prepara
tion that he sold, coolly replied:
“There is 80 per cent profit for me.”
The fraudulent ‘‘beauty lotions"
beautify by destroying the surface
layer of the skin with which they
come into contact. That is to say,
the corrosive sublimate they con
tain causes the outer "scarf skin”
(epidermis) to peel off. thus bring
ing to view the lower layer of skin
(dermis) which is smooth and pink.
Incidentally, of course, it leaves
the skin very tender and sensitive—
deprived as it
is of the protec
tion which na
ture has pro
vided for it.
Further appli
cations of the
lotion do more
damage, pro
ducing irrita
tion, roughness
and cracking of
the skin. These
symptoms (for
lack of the out
er protective
coat) are likely
to be followed
by germ infec
tion, which re
su 11 s in a
"breaking out,”
cr eruption of a
most disagree
able and even
distressing
character.
Recently the
BureauofChem- -
■ s t ''
Magnified Cross-Section of
the Skin.
E. —The Outer Surface us the Skin
(Epidermis) Which is Eaten Away
by Bad Complexion Remedies.
D.—Underlying Skin (Dermis) Which
Is Left Exposed tv Inflammation cr-l
Disease.
istry learned of a typical experience
of this kind—certainly most instruc
tive- which was recited by a lady
who. in the quest of beauty, had
purchased and applied one of these
lotions.
Her complexion having been
ruined thereby, she went to a pyhsi
cian, who prescribed an iodide
ointment. In obedience to his in
structions, she used it before going
to bed. When she go: up the next
morning, she found that her face
had turned literally as red as a
boiled lobster -this being the effect
of a combination of the iodine in
the ointment with the mercury of
the lotion.
In despair sh» went to another
doctor, who gave her an ointment
that contained sulphur. When she
used this, it turned her face black,
so that she looked lik ■ a negress.
In the course of time, with the
disappearance of tlie ch.nnlcals and
the natural replacement of the in
jured skin by fresh tissue, the
lady’s complexion resumed its nor
mal and healthy appearance. But
she is not buying any more “beautv
lotions.
E'er since "aselin • appeared on
an extremely cheap material, in
disguise, for much money, with th«
help of -.d' rtisemei.is making false
and extravagant claims in regard to
the efficiency of the preparation aa
a beauty maker.
The same thing has been largely
done with mutton tallow. And a
good deal of very expensive tooth
powder is nothing more than a mix
ture of powdered soap and preci
pitated chalk, with a little scent and
pink coloring to render it attractive.
Toothpowder, it might be said, is
bcrdly to be classed as a cosmetic;
but it serves to illustrate the great
principle that underlies the manu
facture of nearly all toilet prepara
tions—the idea, that is to say, of
selling a mixture of cheap materials
at a high price.
A serious objection to vaseline as
an unguent for use on the face is
that it is at least suspected to have
a tendency to encourage the growth
of hair where it is not wanted. This
is merely a suggestion which women
may consider it worth while to take
into view.
Even the colored population is not
overlooked by the manufacturers,
though the nostrums sold for their
special use are most commonly for
taking the kinks out of the hair.
It seems awful funny to me,’ said
a negro maid to her mistress one
daj, how you white ladies are al
ways tryin’ to put kinks into your
hn’r, while wo cullnd folks are doin’
our best to get ’em out.’
There is a very w-fi an(t profl .
able sale for “anti-kinks.” of which
there are many brands on the mar
ket. o n e. recently analyzed by the
,>!ire;ui o’ Chemistry, was found tc
oe a mixture of cocoanut oil and
crude vaseline, flavored with oil o.’
bergamot. Another was a mo’-e
elaborate preparation, composed o,
lard, beeswax, camphor oil. beef
marrow and gum benzoin, flavored
with oils of lemo , orange, cloves
and lemon grass. Yet another was
ninety parts vaseline and ten parts
beef suet, with oil of bergamot for
flavoring. All of them are sold with
fake “before and after” pictures, il
lustrating the marvelous effects they
produce.
If the Richardson bill becomes a
law the Government officials will
make havoc on the fraudulent com
plexion and beauty business.
the market as
a commercial
article, it has
been widely em
ployed as a
basis for cos
metics. In itself
it is harmless
and even bene
ficial barring
one rather seri
ous drawback
which will pre
sently be men
tioned. But it
has been the
custom of man
ufacturers of
nostrums to add
a little scent
and coloring
matter, and sell
it at fancy
prices under
one trade name
or another —the
fraud in thia
case consisting
in the sale of