Important: Safety Warning
This page contains cosmetic recipes using substances now known to be poisonous, such as lead, mercury, or arsenic compounds, which cause cumulative and serious harm when absorbed through the skin or eyes.
This page presents medical treatment from an era before modern medicine. The remedies described are ineffective against the conditions named, and some of the ingredients or doses are harmful. Do not use them to treat any illness; consult a qualified medical professional.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
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The Toilet and Bath: Freckles
A face wash containing fluid pothol, 4 ounces, is also beneficial. ash, 1 ounce, cologne, 2 ounces, alco- Freckles. Freckles are discolorations formed in the deeper layers of the skin by the action of sunlight.
Hence to affect them directly it is layers of the skin with a remedy that necessary to work through the outer THE TOILET AND BATH will change the deposits of coloring matter. Freckles, accordingly, offer great resistance and are not amenable to ordinary treatment. Some authorities are of the opinion that indigestion may result in a deposit of carbonaceous or fatty matter beneath the skin, which, when acted upon by sunlight, will produce freckles.
Hence, as a preventive, attention should be paid to diet and exercise to promote the normal secretions.
The skin should be kept scrupulously clean by daily bathing, and the activity of the pores should be promoted by friction with a coarse towel. These methods are safer than the use of astringents or mineral emulsions, and the latter should never be employed without the advice of a competent physician. The only certain preventive is the wearing of a brown veil whenever the complexion is exposed to sunlight.
Moth Patches. -Apply a solution of common baking soda to the patches with a soft rag or camel'shair brush several times a day for two or three days. Allow this to dry This treatment is usually sufficient. Afterwards cleanse the face with a bran bath and the skin will usually be found clear and brilliant. on.
Or keep alum at hand and rub occasionally on the moth patches. This will usually cause them to disappear.
Moles. Depilatories advertised for sale for the removal of moles are dangerous and their use is not recommended. They frequently continue eating into the flesh until an ulcer is formed, and occasionally blood poison sets in. Some moles are of the nature of tumors, and too much care cannot be exercised in treating them.
Concentrated acetic acid applied by means of a hair pencil will sometimes do the work. If this succeeds once it can be used again, but it will not prevent the blemish from returning. Care must be taken that the acid does not extend to surrounding parts.
Moles can sometimes be destroyed by the use of a burning glass. The patient must take his place in the clear, strong sunlight, and focus the burning glass on the affected part for about five minutes at a time daily, until the mole has been destroyed. Needless to say, this is a painful process, but it cannot be regarded as dangerous. The electric needle in the hands of a competent physician is a thoroughly safe and reliable method of treatment.
Pimples. The immediate cause of pimples is usually an excess of fatty matter in the skin. They are very common in young persons from fourteen to twenty years of age. They are often caused by constitutional conditions, and when very numerous are often persistent until the general health is restored. Exercise, attention to the diet, and general hygienic measures are recommended. A warm face bath with a heaping teaspoonful of borax in the water will be found helpful. on Scars. Little scars are often left the face after eruptions. A course of electric massage treatment soon effaces them. For home treatment, every night apply to the face a cold compress, keeping it on until the flesh becomes pink, then anoint the little spots with ointment of zinc oxide.
Ointment for Wrinkles or Relaxed Skin. To 10 grains of camphor add 2 ounces of prepared lard and 1 fluid dram of rectified spirits of wine. Apply a little of the ointment at night, previously washing the face, and strengthen the body by means of tonics and nourishing diet.
Or bathe the parts where the wrinkles appear with alum and water. This will tighten the skin.
Or fresh butter, 2 drams; essence of turpentine, 2 drams; mastic, 1 dram.
BATHS AND BATHING Historians say that the civilization of a community can be estimated by the quantity of soap it consumes.
Similarly the refinement of a family is indicated by the amount of water it uses.
Records of cities show that the amount used each day on an average by each person runs from seven or eight gallons among the poor, where there is only one faucet in the house, to about sixty gallons in the homes of wealthy persons. The average of an ordinary family in cities may be taken as about twenty gallons daily for each member. More water is used in the summer than in the winter-which is an argument in favor of a bathroom, even where there is no furnace in the house. About ten barrels of water would be required every day on this basis by a family of ten persons.