Lina says "don't"

Beauty don'ts from "My Secrets of Beauty", by Lina Cavalieri, 1914. Lina was an Italian operatic soprano, world renowned for her beauty. Good advice never changes, this is a perfect example~

Don't eat too much.

Don't chew the lips.

Don't bite the nails.

Don't sit on your foot.

Don't eat many sweets.

Don't read in a dim light.

Don't bathe in a cold room.

Don't neglect a daily outing.

Don't read or write facing a light.

Don't sleep in ill-ventilated rooms. 

Don't read when the eyes are tired.

Don't read or write on a moving train.

Don't open the eyes upon a bright light.

Don't stand with the shoulders forward.

Don't stand with the abdomen thrust out.

Don't let your hands or feet remain cold.

Don't make faces when you talk or listen. 

Don't drink much wine. The less the better. 

Don't neglect to bathe your feet every night.

Don't sit on the last three bones of your spine.

Don't be afraid to yawn or stretch when alone. 

Don't thrust the hips far backward as you walk. 

Don't sit with one shoulder higher than the other.

Don't stand with one hip higher than the other.

Don't fail to sleep as many hours as you require.

Don't wear too light weight clothing in winter. 

Don't sleep in a room crowded with draperies and rugs. 

Don't forget to visit your dentist once every three months.

Don't let the chin bury itself in the neck. Keep it high.

Don't wear tight shoes or tight gloves or tight corsets.

Don't brush or comb the hair roughly. The scalp is tender.

Don't go into the outer air directly after washing the face.

Don't be afraid of rain or snow. They are tonics and beautifiers.

Don't be discontented. Discontent engraves ugly lines in the face.

Don't fall asleep with the features drawn in anger, worry or fatigue.

Don't forget that the warm bath is a sedative; the cool bath a stimulant.

Don't use every new cosmetic you see advertised or hear recommended.

Don't wear clothing so heavy that its weight drags upon the vital organs.

Don't dwell upon unpleasant things. Dismiss them if you value your beauty.

Don't allow the skin to grow dry. A dry skin is the parent of many wrinkles.

Don't rest upon large pillows. They cause round shoulders and double chins.

Don't lie down for rest with your nerves and muscles tied in small, hard knots.

Don't forget that the reclining posture is a storehouse of strength and beauty.

Don't let the muscles grow flabby. Firm muscles give the appearance of youth.

Don't lead a too regular life. A varied programme is better than an unvarying one.

Don't keep your rooms either too hot or cold, but at an even, moderate temperature.

Don't be afraid to work, and to work hard. It is only worry mingled with work that kills.

Don't allow yourself to become ill. Every illness subtracts from vitality and adds to apparent age.

Don't think that when you have brushed your hair your duty to your head is done. The scalp must be massaged.

Don't wriggle the feet or fingers or hunch the shoulders. Find other and less ugly outlets for your nervous energy.

Don't moisten the lips with the tongue to make them red. It will only cause them to roughen and chap.

Don't forget that the eye bath, the nasal douche and the mouth bath are part of the daily ceremonial of cleanliness.

Don't forget for one moment that health is the basis of beauty. And build your beauty upon that only sure foundation.

Don't neglect the protection for your skin when you go out or the care for it when you come in from out of doors.

Don't think that to keep the teeth beautiful they must be continually brushed. After the daily brushing remember the mouth bath.

Don't think you are ever too tired for the night toilet. The face must always be washed and cold creamed at night if you value your complexion.

Don't, especially if you are slenderly built, permit the shoulders and chest to sink. If you are too tired to hold them up take a nap, or at least recline for a time.

Nose Clips and Chin Straps

"The Strand", Volume 33

"The Strand"', Volume 33

Text from "My Secrets of Beauty", by Lina Cavalieri, 1914:

"The nose clamp is a new and amusing device adopted by beauties and would-be beauties to prevent the spreading of the nostrils and to give the nose, that would otherwise be too round, a delicate point. I have called on my friends in the morning and have been received in their bedrooms. They looked very charming in their night robes of delicate batiste, embroidered and further ornamented with pink and blue bows, not pink and blue bows on different gowns, but combined in the same gown. Their hair carefully parted from the point of the forehead to the back of the neck, and braided in two loose braids, either hangs becomingly over their shoulders, one braid tied with a blue bow, the other with a pink, to match the ribbon garniture of the night robe, or is twisted loosely around the head. Their complexions looked fresh and cool from their bath of cold cream, but they all looked odd, and I shrieked with laughter at them because they wore nose clamps. One who disliked the touch of the cold metal substituted the homely domestic article, the clothespin. Both the clamp and the clothespin are well protected by a lining of white silk or velvet. Absurd as these things look, I was assured by all who wore them that they served admirably their purpose...

...Women are beginning to realize that sagging muscles, rather than a superabundance of flesh, are the cause of the double chin. They are preventing, as far as possible, the falling cheek muscles and the pendulousness of the chin muscles by hardening them with lumps of ice held in the hand and pressed against those muscles as long as the pressure can be endured; also by wearing chin bandages.


First the fancy, then the fad, then the flitting. This is the history of most announced discoveries of the means to heighten beauty. They have their little hour of discipleship; their impulsive following; their period of vanishing. Yet beneath nearly all the beauty fads there is a more or less well applied principle of science.


For instance, there is the rubber chin band. The band to control the usurping flesh of the double chin was first of muslin. Then it was improved by the use of elastic. Now it has evolved to its best state, that of strong yet light rubber, made with a throat latch resembling the lower part of a horse's halter. Attached by a clasp on either side are straps that fasten at the top of the head. The original idea of compressing the flesh so that it would form in a smaller and becoming mold was sound, but the later idea of using rubber appeals still more to common knowledge. The wearing of rubber next to the skin causes perspiration.


Therefore, the rubber band will not only hold the flesh of the pendulous chin in place, but by causing free perspiration it will gradually reduce its size. The rubber band, worn at night, and frequently during the day, for a half hour or more at a time, is the best cure for the double chin the new year has offered us."

"The Strand", Volume 33

Lina Cavalieri, "the Most beautiful woman of her time", image source, wikipedia

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~?