The Golden Mask~ Ninon de L'Enclos' secret of eternal youth!

Ninon de L'Enclos was a famed  French courtesan, author and beauty of the seventeenth century. I am not that well-versed on her life, I do know, however that after her parents died she entered a convent, only to leave a year later to lead an independent life.  This woman was remarkable for her wonderful physical preservation. At the age of eighty, creditable authorities state, she retained the great beauty of her girlhood, her face having the freshness of youth, and being as free then from the lines of age as it had been at twenty, her whitepowdered hair, then fashionable, but adding to her youthful appearance.

In my opinion, this is one of the most absurd beauty devices EVER!!! If we are to believe the "authorities" and this etching,  I suppose... it WORKED! But who would want to sleep wearing a metal face mask? And did that not interfere with her life as a courtesan? 

                                                                                             

From a tome entitled "Old Age, it's Cause and Prevention, The Story of  an Old Body and Face made Young", by Sanford Bennett, copyright 1912. This portion discusses Mr. Bennett's experiments

with fabricating a new and "improved" mask, as there was no electricity in Mme. 

de L'Enclos' time... 

The Metal Face Mask 

Designed for Softening the Skin and Improving the Complexion

IN the chapter of an old French pamphlet, relating to the celebrated French beauty, Ninon de L'Enclos, mention is made of a metal face mask which she wore as a means for the prevention of wrinkles and for the preservation of the smoothness of skin and brilliant complexion for which she was celebrated. The pamphlet, referred to in the brief sketch of her personality, was silent as to how this mask was constructed, but I could readily understand how it was attached to the face and worn, also that such a device would be cleanly and durable, and that if it fitted the contour of the features accurately the even pressure, exclusion of air, and stimulation of the sweat glands would certainly have a very beneficial effect upon the skin and complexion. Her maid, Jeanne Sauval, simply described it as un masque d'or; i. e., a gold mask. It was evident that a perfect fit was necessary, as if there was an uneven bearing it would be painful and could not be worn when sleeping, as the maid stated was frequently the custom of her mistress.

Feeling assured that the French woman had found the right method, I experimented nearly three years upon that device, being determined to learn how it was constructed. The specialist and the two ladies who kindly assisted in these experiments tried every known variety of mask, hoping to find some less expensive substitute as efficacious as the French beauty's masque d'or. The requisites seemed to be about as follows: An even pressure all over the face, material durable and capable of being scalded and polished without injury, thus assuring antiseptic conditions. The surface which rested upon the skin should be hard, smooth and firm. It should be light and strong and finally not too expensive. These conditions we found to be necessary to success, but a very difficult problem to solve.

We experimented with flannel, kid, celluloid, papier mache, tin, lead and rubber, finding them one and all failures. The flannel and kid masks simply kept the face warm and neither whitened the skin nor had any effect upon the wrinkles, the papier-mache and celluloid quickly lost shape, tin was a flat failure, and rubber, while bleaching the face and admitting the use of face cream to some extent, had no effect upon the wrinkles. It also soon became ill-smelling and impossible.

In the case of one of the ladies, experimenting with the rubber mask, a very troublesome rash appeared, causing apprehensions of some dangerous skin disease. But when a slight accident prevented the fair investigator from wearing the rubber mask for a few nights the eruption quickly disappeared. Accepting Nature's hint, I discarded that form of mask and material. It was evident that the French beauty had the right idea in using gold or possibly a gilding of gold upon the metal used in the construction of her mask, but the expense of such a highpriced material was prohibitive. It seemed evident that her mask was not modeled upon her face, but most probably from a plaster cast taken from it. We therefore had casts made of the ladies' faces, and upon these plaster faces we experimented with various metals. These metals were melted and poured upon the plaster models. In this way we obtained several facsimiles in metal of the original cast, but all were too heavy and cumbersome, which the original masque d'or
                                                      certainly could not have been. 

Finally we hit upon the idea of precipitating copper in solution by electricity upon the plaster faces, allowing the deposit to accumulate to about the thickness of pasteboard, the result being a light, strong copper mask, fitting the features in every detail, the pressure being even at all points, no discomfort was felt by the wearers, as the mouth, nostrils and eyes were left free of obstruction; but finding that the con* tact of copper with the skin had an injurious effect, we plated the mask with silver. However, this speedily tarnished, leaving black stains upon the skin. We then plated with gold, and finally succeeded in producing the veritable masque d'or of Ninon de L'Enclos, and probably a far better article than she used. This light, strong and clean device we fastened to the ladies' faces with elastic bands, as shown in the accompanying illustrations. The application of a thick coat of face cream to the face is necessary as it aids in the exclusion of air and softens the skin. The result has been very remarkable, and both of these ladies, as well as others who have tried the device, have had very extraordinary success.

In a case where there was a deficiency of superficial circulation in the skin of the face (and as a consequence great pallor), an electric current from a small portable battery, as shown in the illustration, was applied. The improvement was very pronounced. The first objection to the metal face mask usually offered is that it would be unpleasant to sleep with such a device upon the face, if that should be desired; but this is not the case. The metal mask fitting the contour of the features accurately in every detail (as it surely will if the plaster cast is made properly), results in a general, even bearing. The warmth generated produces a gentle perspiration which has a soothing effect upon the nerves and induces sleep. After wearing the mask an hour, or even half of that time, when it is removed the face will be found to be bathed in perspiration. Wipe this off with a dry towel. The skin, after this prolonged perspiration bath will be found to be white and smooth and the wrinkles temporarily pressed out.

If the cheeks and chin have been developed by the deep massage exercise described in the chapter relating to those muscles, a very decided improvement in the appearance of the face by the mask alone will quickly result, but the process of facial rejuvenation will be greatly hastened by friction with the palms of the hands and tips of the fingers. Not gentle smoothings with the tips of the fingers, as usually recommended in beauty articles, but rubbing and plenty of it. This should be done immediately after the removal of the mask. The lines have then been temporarily pressed out, the skin has still a slight coating of face cream, and the conditions are then favorable for this friction process. The most convenient position you will find to be as you lie upon your back in bed. The neck should also be treated in the same way as the face, and no harm will be done to the skin as long as it does not chafe, a few drops of the face cream applied by the palms of the hands preventing that condition.

This was the logical, practical and successful method of Ninon de L'Enclos. By it and some of the other methods described she retained a youthful face free from wrinkles and with the appearance of the skin of youth up to the age of 80 years. As success rewarded her efforts, so will success come to anyone who will follow her example. It requires time and patience, but success is certain and the reward to any woman who greatly values her facial appearance, in my judgment, is worth the trouble.

To the reader of this chapter I have now an apology to make. These experiments at facial rejuvenation were not made upon my part with any idea of manufacturing a face mask for sale. They were taken up at the request of numerous correspondents who had obtained copies of my previous works upon Physical and Facial Rejuvenation. Accident placed me in possession of the old French pamphlet referred to. It seemed evident that the French beauty had found the real secret and solution of a problem which has worried womankind in all ages, and to satisfactorily answer those questions these experiments were conducted; but now I must confess that I am confronted with a difficulty which I cannot overcome, or at least to my own satisfaction. In entering into an arrangement with my publishers, it was distinctly understood that all of the matter I was to present for publication was to be the result of my own personal and successful experiences in the art of getting young again. That all of the methods described should be free from any artificial devices or descriptions of drug decoctions designed or used for that purpose, and that Nature's methods of deferring physical old age, or indications of facial age, should be described. In short, the book was to be a clear description of the natural means by which I have become physically young at 72 and presenting the appearance of a man but little over half of my age. Also that anyone could successfully practice those methods without an instructor and without expense. I can confidently and truthfully say that up to this stage of my account of the matter I have carefully adhered to those conditions. The trouble now confronting me is that this metal face mask is now a patented device and I have been restrained from publishing the instructions necessary to understand how to make such a mask or how to make the plaster face cast upon which the mask is built. As this is the basis of the patents of the manufacturer some legal entanglement might result if I were to disregard that restrainer. In any event its construction seems to be a much more intricate process than I had supposed; in fact, about as much of an art as fitting and making a set of false teeth. Probably the only way around the difficulty would be to refer anyone interested in the matter to the experts who manufacture the device. It is an expensive affair, requiring careful measurements, photographs of the face and lines to be eliminated and generally a good deal of time and attention to various details with which I am unfamiliar. The materials of which it is constructed are all expensive; i. e., gold, silver and copper in solution, and I am now advised special electric plating devices are used. Under these conditions the manufacturers write me that they charge for each mask, with battery, etc., if desired, one hundred dollars. To the average reader of this book that will be a prohibitive price, but I can say this much for the device that it is wonderfully effective, and it certainly does whiten the skin and generally improve the complexion. Also if accurately fitted it will last a lifetime, but just like a set of false teeth, each individual must be measured and fitted by herself. There does not seem to be any other way. After using the mask the face should be thoroughly frictioned with the palms of the hands, as heretofore described; afterwards anoint the face with the white of an egg; this, after drying and shrinking up the wrinkles, should be rinsed off in pure warm water. If all this detail is performed as I have instructed, the results will be found to be very satisfactory, possibly far greater than you think possible. The immediate effect will probably endure for several hours, and as the practice is continued, finally permanent improvement will surely ensue. 

Face Decoration for Ladies~

From Harper's Magazine, 1856


read the last four paragraphs, if nothing else...  :)

"We do not know how we can interest our ladyreaders more(though it take up a large share of our gossip) than by adding here a somewhat lengthy resume of the writings of a Paris Jeuilletoniste upon the subject of  "face decoration for ladies"."

"We hazard the risk of seeing our daughters bedizened in new styles by this very plain elucidation of the arts of coquetry in color:

"The "face-menders" or repiqueses (as he calls them), are divided into two large classes or schools; the fanciful and the sensible, rationalists and idealists."

"The idealist is she who considers it slow and humdrum to have a face like her mother, or her grandmother's, or any other of her predecessors; nature's productions are commonplace and mawkish, pappy and finnikin; her style is broad and telling; she aims at color and effect."

"The rationalist has a less lofty flight of imagination. She strives after the true and natural."

"In youth her style is correct and simple; she copies from acknowledged models, or from her own portrait, if it be tolerably like and flattering. In advanced years she is content to patch up and retouch where any part has faded—to fill up cracks, and restore the glazing where it has disappeared. Hers is simply a work of restoration. To give an example—the classical face-painter is generally fond of rubbing in softly a light blue tinge under the eyes; the effect is to give an air of languor, as though ardent and impassioned thoughts had left their unmistakable traces on the visage of the too sensative creature."

"The idealist, on the other hand, boldly spreads beneath her eyes a broad flat tint, hard and dark, charcoally, and altogether improbable. The effect is to give that sort of expression which can only be described as peculiar. Again, tho follower of the rational school gives herself arched, slender, brilliant eyebrows, care being taken to place them at a good height from the lids—eyebrows a Vlmperatrice they are called under the present dynasty."

"The idealist makes hers of a dull color—thick, and turned up with a peremptory twist like the mustache of a Zouave. The object thus secured is a wild, startling, ruffianly grace, that demands your admiration as a footpad does your purse. To the idealist is due the black line which is sometimes seen immediately under the eyelash, on the very edge of the lid, which is to give additional lustre to the glance; and likewise the prolongation of the said black line beyond the corner of the eye, supposed to increase the apparent size of the orbit."

"To sum up—while the rationalist strives at a servile imitation of nature, constituting a sort of Dutch school characterized by simplicity and native grace, the idealist, less 'of the earth, earthy,' rushes into the unexpected and startling; the original local tint, for which she hath small regard, may sometimes be taken by her as a sort of starting-point; but it is the first step in a scale of coloring which mounts up into the maddest play of tints, and exceeds the wildest dreams even of the modern romantic ballad writer."

"The thoroughgoing idealist does not, as may be imagined, rise to the fullness of her poetic frenzy at one flight. Her first essays are more timid and tentative, but gradually, as one bold effect is ventured upon, then another—like the tiger that has lapped blood—she is lashed to a furious thirst, and finally becomes desperate, swaying fearfully on the thin boundary that divides insanity from genius."

"The origin of the moderate or rationalist school is beyond the memory of man. From all time women have used cosmeties; the angel Azaliel first taught them to paint their faces. But the rise of the school of idealists is of more recent date; it is, in fact, entirely modern, although many of its practices have been separately in use among various nations from an early period; for instance, among the American Indians, who paint their cheeks and forehead blue; the Grcenlanders, who streak their faces with white and yellow; the women of the Ueccan, who cut out flowers upon their own skins, and paint them various tints, etc., etc. From each of these the idealist borrows a little—a hint here, a notion there—but the complete system, as a whole, is entirely modern, and of the present day. Another characteristic difference between the two sects, and one which is extremely significative as respects the basis on which each proceeds, is this: the rationalist, when she has oecasion to purchase the materials with which she manufactures her deceptive charms, drives stealthily in a hack carriage under cover of dusk to the shop of the fashionable dealer in the raw material of beauty, vailed and muffled up in sombre garments, as though she were stealing to some guilty rendezvous. Not so the follower of the fantastic and ideal school—boldly and openly her equipage in the full glare of day draws up before the door as though she were about to buy dresses at a linendraper's. In point of fact, the one practices the art as a piece of hypocrisy and a fraud, and the other as a part and parcel of her personal adornments—the necessary complement of her toilet. This latter was exactly the view in which rouge came to be held in the olden time—in the age of hoops, high-heeled shoes, and patches. It formed part of the complete toilet of a lady of fashion—it was one of the items of full dress—to bo without it was to bo en neglige. Unmarried girls were forbidden its use—to wear rouge and diamonds was among the privileges acquired by marriage."

"Pass we now to the practical part of our author's treatise, the arcana of recipes and processes, the chemistry of artificial charms. The fundamental colors, red, black, and white, arc of ancient nsage; they were what is called pearl-white, rouge or carmine, and tale, and lamp or smoke black. Bnt these substances have been found to present many objectionable peculiarities—the pearl-white cracks and foliates, giving the face a surface like veined marble; the rouge, whatever price may be given for it—and as much as five pounds for a little pot is sometimes paid—is not a fast color, runs, and forms a coating of visible thickness; moreover, it has the disadvantage of coloring not only the cheek but the down upon it, so that by a glancing light a scrutinizing eye detects the blushing artifice; as for lampblack, it lacks consistency, and smudges too easily. In place of carmine, what was called vinaigre de rouge was invented—a liquid which dyes the epidermis, so that, when it has been laid on, a wet rag lightly passed over the down washes all color away from it without affecting that on the cheek. This, however, is now classed among the coarser and more ancient processes; and Though, together with them, it is still used by a large number, the more refined compilers of complexions adopt the following methods: Those who are merely too pale, and have no other fault to find with themselves than that they have a dull, lustreless look—those lucky enough, in short, to require only a touch of rouge, have an easy and short task of it. They have recourse neither to the rouge paste nor the rouge vinegar, but to the most enchanting tint of delicate rose—so conceivable a tint rarely equaled by Nature's purest and freshest hues, and which is derived from a composition called rose de Chine. It is a curious kind of preparation, laid upon paper, and forming a kind of pocket-book. The surface of the paper has a shiny emerald-green and gold tinge. You moisten the tip of your finger, rub it, and a rose-red color comes oft" upon the finger, the which is immediately applied to the cheek, which it lights up with a pretty delicate rosy hue, strongly recommendable to the less robust. This process is far preferable to laying slices of raw veal on either cheek, as is known to be nightly practiced by interesting females fluctuating about maturity."

"As regards white, its use is not so simple. as it necessitates a preparatory process, analogous to that which painters called priming. The best white being in powder, the skin has to be prepared for its reception by a previous application of an unctuous and retentive character; this is generally cold cream, with which the visage is lightly anointed. The white is then laid on with the end of the linger, as with a stump. The whole soon dries, and forms a compact surface, on which the rouge may then be applied. Great care is requisite to lay on the proper amount and thickness of white at once; any patching or retouching would produce a blotchy and unequal appearance the only alternative is to begin again. Let it be observed that there aro three orders of white, viz., pink white for the fair; yellow white for the dark, called Rachel's white, its invention being attributed to the great tragedian; and, lastly, white white, or ninny's white, for those who are weakminded enough to beflour their faces in emulation of the clown in a pantomime. Formerly, what was called an ajl depoudre (a dash of powder) was an indispensable process as the finishing touch to the toilet. It consisted in one slight sprinkling from the powder-puff on the hair, and a similar light shower of pearl-white on the shoulders. Under this light and discreet vail disappeared any little accidental imperfections or blurs marring the uniform snowiness of the skin; it was a mask, too, concealing the alterations that might supervene from heat, cold, or unfashionable emotion. Nowadays this imperceptible hoar-frost is considered too evanescent and unstable; a more vigorous and permanent effect is desired, and arras, shoulders, neck, and bust are washed over with a preparation called liquid white. This process calls to mind that by which the spotless white of pantaloon and cross-belt is obtained by soldiers—a species of pipeclaying it is, undoubtedly. There is a dark side, moreover, to this liquid-white which by no means can we omit to mention: its basis is metallic silver, or bismuth; these act as poisons, which corrode, discolor, and wrinkle up the skin; and, moreover, affect, by absorption, the constitution itself. Nor is this all: those whose skins are plastered with it must beware of all sulphurous emanations: a ride on a Thames steamer—a visit to Harrogate or Barege—would simply tum them black—convert them into Hottentot Venuses. We have now to mention the treatment of lips and eyebrows. for the lips and the nails rougo vinegar is the only thing that can be used, though no doubt injurious, especially to the former. As to the eyebrows, the subject is one on which much prose might be written as a counterbalance to the sonnets indited by lovers to those of their mistresses. Charcoal and burned cork, though used by not a few, should decidedly be left to the domain of theatrical 'making up.' The recipe in vogue among the most knowing is derived from an antiquarian discovery. In certain ancient sarcophagi have been found little boxes containing a black matter evidently destined for this purpose, together with the little wooden instrument which was used in applying it. The pigment is composed of two parts of lead and one of plumbago uupurified of the small quantity of iron found in it when native. The little instrument, which is either of wood or ivory, is about an inch long, and cut to a point like a pencil. The point is dipped into the preparation, which is laid on, not at one stroke, but in an infinity of little lines laid close to each other like veritable hairs. The general shape of the whole eyebrow varies according to the fashion of the month. The effect is perfect, and there is only one objection to the process—the very long time it takes up. When we have adverted to the penciling of veins, to give an air of transparency to the marble surface of the skin, which is simply done with a camel-hair brush and a little blue paint, as we trace the branchings of rivers on a map, and, secondly, to the fabrication of artificial moles or beauty-spots, a substitute for the patches of the older time, produced on the same principle as the eyebrow above, we shall have completed our review of the art and mystery of face-painting as shown forth by the daring hand of the French writer—for daring he must be, whether he be a libcler or a true man."

"And now, will it not bo said that, in common with some moralists against whom it has been urged that, while painting vice to make it hideous or ridiculous, they have initiated the ignorant and corrupted the innocent—will it not be said that we, too, in affecting to give a warning, are furnishing hints? Certainly it would not be an easy task to refute such a charge." 

"There is a natural perverseness in the human heart from which the fair are by no means exempt; and whence it results that to lay down a law is to suggest a transgression. All have heard the famous instance of this inverse effect produced by an admonition in the days of patches and Court preachers in France, when Massillon, in a burst of indignation against the "low dresses" of that day, ironically suggested that the Court beauties should still further draw attention to their unveiled charms, and attract the eye by a patch. On the morrow, at the Regent's ball, the hint was adopted; all the ladies appeared with the suggested improvement, and, to give every one their due, the patch in its new place was called a Mossillonne. But, if we are forced to admit that we may have retailed poison, we have done so in strict accordance with Lord Campbell's Act—our arsenic is accompanied with a detective admixture. For, as wo trust the present article will find as many male readers as female, full as many pairs of watchful and wary eyes will be enlisted in the preventive service, as weak minds may have been seduced to smugglo contraband charms. But, as an additional safeguard, we will conclude by summing up in our author's own words or thereabouts the pains and penalties to which those are exposed who have been tempted to launch into the absurd artifices of which a sketch has been given."

"Once the beauty is invested in her borrowed charms, farewell to all the graces of varied expression, ever changing with the movements of the soul—graces more precious than beauty itself. Beneath its crust of paint the face is fixed immovable, as though the head of Gorgon had stared upon it. If it have a smile, it must remain forever a rigid grin, like that on the plaster cast of a hanged criminal—at the utmost a convulsive twitch may be permitted to the extent of a twentieth part of an inch. Joy, anger, the passions generally— in all their shades, in all their gradations—are banished forever from their natural appanage. They may rumble and agitate internally—not a trace can they be allowed to exhibit on the "dial of the soul." A moment's forgetfulness has been known to cause a woeful wreck—instant dilapidation, as from an earthquake. Huge fissures athwart the features, or myriad crackings and exfoliations, shedding from time to time their scales. In polking or waltzing, shoulders, forehead, must be carefully withheld from all contact with the partner's coat. When resting the hand on his shoulder the arm must be painfully kept aloof from the partner's sleeve. A severe gymnastic exercise polking or waltzing under such restrictions!"

"Equally forbidden is any prolonged indulgence in the pleasures of the ball: the heat induced is fatal when it has reached a certain point. Neglect of this precaution has caused frightful disasters. After the thirteenth polka faces have been seen to present a variegated appearance—pink and red on one side, yellow and brown on the other."

"Tears labor under the same interdiction, the penalty being streaks down the face as down a glazed gingham after the first shower; likewise the mechanical allaying of any sudden irritation of the skin called scratching, this interdiction implies sufferings unfelt by Tantalus."

"We might swell the list at pleasure: sufficient, we trust, has been said, however, to deter the most intrepid from joining either sect of repiqueses,or in any the remotest degree sacrificing to Venus in plaster of Paris."

more strange vintage beauty products/devices...

I PROMISE that I will be done with this topic soon. There is so much more that I want to talk about here, and since this is a new blog at this point it appears to be a blog on strangeness. It's not, I swear! Halloween is coming so this just seems to be the perfect time for this. I AM holding out on you, my lovelies. Stay tuned for the all-time scariest beauty "device" EVER!!!!

ok, more strangeness. Vibrator ads were all over the magazines in the early part of the last century.

...I had no idea, though, that vibrators could clear the complexion and make the hair glossy!

a device to correct your nose AND your ears together!

And as long as you are correcting your nose and ears you might as well correct those rounded shoulders AND support your stockings...  all at once!

The vacuum fat-sucker!

The Electric exerciser! Works the muscles AND curls the hair!

If you've had no luck with exercise and diet, no worries, you can simply wash that fat away...

Hair getting sparse? No problem! We have a device that will SUCK that hair right on out! 

and, along the same lines but for the skin- The "hydro-vacu! Apparently this device delivered a forceful jet of water( blasting out impurities, I assume), and then the vacuum component sucks up the resulting murky mess...

wrinkle tape...

and, last but not least.  The quaker bath cabinet. Apparently you were required to remove your head and place it on top of the cabinet. Design flaw?

Without a doubt, one of the scariest beauty products EVER.

Laradium Cream! Yikes! Radioactive face! Glow in the dark, no doubt! This is from 

"Motion Picture" Magazine, 1922. That was a time when America was enamored of the 

potential of radioactivity to cure...well, everything!

and a close-up of that beautiful, GLOWING face~

That issue of Motion Picture Magazine is the only place I found that ad, so either it did not sell or people's faces were falling off. Or, another possibility is that it contained so little of the "active" ingredient, radium, that it did not work. The ONLY other ad that I found for radioactive

 cream is this one:

Iodine in beauty treatments ~ historical uses

http://tinyurl.com/69q47z2

The arts of beauty: or, Secrets of a lady's toilet

 By Lola Montez

I have known ladies to take a preparation of iodyne internally to remedy a too large development of the bosom But this must be a dangerous experiment for the general health The following external application has been recommended for this purpose

Strong essence of mint 1 oz

Iodine of zinc 2 gr

Aromatic vinegar 2 gr

Essence of cedrat 10 drops 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>>> Iodine to reduce the bust? Sure! Iodine deficiency is indicated in fibrocystic breast disease. With the resolution of FBD, many have noted a decrease in bust size. Intuitive brilliance on Lola's part~ !

The second book I'm clipping from is entitled:

http://tinyurl.com/4atpndx 

My secrets of beauty

 By Lina Cavalieri

(for fat neck)

To reduce the bulk of the back and side of the neck a reducing lotion should be applied by long sweeping downward strokes the effect of which strokes is to melt the flesh downward into the larger masses of flesh on the shoulders A lotion I have known to be used with success for the melting away of too ponderous flesh about the neck is this:

Tincture of iodine 30 minims iodide of potassium 60 grains hyposulphite of soda 20 grains distilled water 7 ounces aniseed water 170 minims 

>>> Iodine deficiency is also indicated in goiter, so if the "fat neck" was due to a goiter... more intuitive brilliance on Lina's part!

.......

(for the treatment of obesity)

This too is a good astringent lotion

Tincture of iodine 30 minims iodide of potassium 60 grams distilled water 10 ounces aniseed water 170 minims

Also this Tincture of iodine 1 ounce alcohol 10 ounces 

.......

(for obesity)

 Some preparations of an absorbent nature I have known to be used with good results Most of these contain iodine There are several soaps used for the purpose of massage all containing iodine After receiving my physician's endorsement and having the soap analyzed by a scrupulous chemist there would seem to be no danger attending their use

This formula is safe and if persistently used should be effective as an absorbent remedy I have known corpulent beauties who took it internally but I should never be so daring

Tincture of iodine 30 minims iodide of potassium 60 grains hyposulphite soda 20 grains distilled water 7 ounces aniseed water 170 minims 

>>>Iodine and tyrosine are the components of thyroid hormone. The thyroid regulates metabolism. Would a topical application of iodine in the form of a cream or lotion work as an aid in reducing? The jury's out on that one... my opinion is that internal supplementation would be more reliable, there are many factors that affect topical iodine absorption.

.......

.............

(for boils)

A sparing diet chiefly of fruit and liquids and copious water drinking should soon clear the complexion Alternate applications of hot and cold cloths to the skin help to clear it A pinch of iodide of lime in a glass of water in daily doses for a week will aid in the body cleansing which is necessary to banish the tendency to boils A few Turkish baths will aid the work 

>>> sure, iodine is anti-bacterial. There is also the fact that one of the symptoms of hypothyroidism may be a propensity to boils...

...........

(topical iodine to INCREASE the bust)

 I advise no woman to undertake increasing the size of the bust without first consulting her physician If he thinks it wise apply with muslin cloths to the breast this lotion:

Lanolin 50 grams vaseline 50 grams tincture of benzoin 20 drops iodide of potassium 3 grams

>>> Nothing that I've found in the literature supports the idea that topical iodine will increase the bust...  

...............

(for reducing a double chin)

 Or you might try for the same trouble the following:

Vaseline 100 grams lanolin 100 grams iodide of potassium 6 grams tincture of benzoin 1 ounce 

>>> perhaps through the effects of supplemental iodine on thyroid function. Or the massage~?

Lola Montez

 Lola Montez was a fascinating woman, born 1821, a "Spanish dancer" of Irish birth. Beautiful, intelligent and independent.  She was the consort of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and was able to use her position and influence to institute liberal reforms, during a time in history when women did not have a lot of influence or power. She traveled the world, had adventures in Australia and lived her last years in the United States. She was a dancer and an actress and lectured on beauty and the state of womanhood in general. She had an uncanny ability to see beyond her own time, to see into the past and take note of the larger forces that determined the mores of the society of in which she lived.  I became aware of her through her book, "The Arts of Beauty, or, Secrets of a Lady's Toilet." We'll get to that one later... 


Today I was reading "Autobiography and Lectures of Lola Montez", by C. Chauncey Burr, 1860. These snippets are from her lecture, "Beautiful Women". 


"- It won't last. Beauty has it's date, and it is the penalty of nature that girls must fade, and become wizened as their grandmothers have done before them."


"The old abbey and the aged oak are more venerable in their decay; and many are the charms around us, both of art and nature, that may still linger and please. The breaking wave is most graceful at the moment of it's dissolution; the sun when setting is still glorious and beautiful; and though the longest day must have it's evening, yet is the evening as beautiful as the morning- the light deserts us, but it is to visit us again; the rose retains it's charms for the sense, and though it falls into decay, it renews it's glories at the approach of another spring."


"But for woman there is no second May! To each belongs her little day; and time, that gives new whiteness to the swan, gives it not unto woman. The winner of a hundred hearts, in the very bud of her beauty, in the morn and liquid dews of youth even, cannot obtain a patent for her charms. "They all do fade as a leaf." While the fair lady curls her hair, is it not imperceptibly going gray?"


"To borrow an Arabian Proverb, let her "be light as the full moon", yet when her eye is fullest of light, it is nearest the point where it begins to fade. The fuller the rose is blown, the sooner it is shed. When the peach is ripest, what next?"


"...She has a summer as well as a spring, an autumn, and a winter. As the aspect of Earth alters with the changes of the year, so does the appearance of woman adapt itself to the time which passes over her. Like the rose, she buds, she blooms, she fades, she dies..."


Lola Montez died at 39. She considered that the "zenith" or the "high noon", if you will, to be at the age of 30. She died, in her Autumn...