9 April 1881 - 'The Toilet-Table and What Should Lie Thereon' by Medicus

Make sure you read right to the end for another toothpaste "recipe". :/

With the toilet-table, as a table, it is not my province to speak, nor to tell you how it should be draped or bedecked; but neatness, tidiness, and perfect cleanliness should reign supreme in a young girl's dressing-room, however splendid and beautiful the fittings thereof may be, or however humble and poor.

Now, under the title I have chosen for this paper, I mean to give you many little hints, and not a few harmless recipes; and if you attend to the former, and make use of the latter, I have no hesitation in saying that improvement in your personal appearance will be the result. Beauty is your birthright, you ought to try to look as well as you can, both for your own personal comfort and  for the sake of those around you. By taking pains to improve your looks by natural and simple means while young, you will retain your beauty even when, with the ever-recurring years, youth is slipping slowly away. But nothing in after years can atone for, what I may call, the want of attention to the simple rules of personal hygiene in your younger days. Does, then, attention to these rules lie in the proper use of the adjuncts of toilet-table, and dressing-room? Not quite. These are mere accessories, indispensable I willingly admit, but accessories nevertheless; and even their constant use has no more effect without something else, which I shall presently name, in retaining true beauty than an occasional coat of paint to a rotten boat has in keeping it seaworthy. The something else is health - perfect health. And even granting that you have the strongest of constitutions, and the highest of animal spirits, if you do not cultivate habits of temperance wand moderation in all your actions and thoughts, take my word for it, you are but frittering those precious possessions away.

"Oh!" I think I hear some of my young readers exclaim, "this isn't a medical paper, this is a sermon 'Medicus' is going to preach."

If "Medicus" does preach, depend upon it he will preach common sense, but not one inch will he budge towards the toilet-table, until he has had his say. "As soon," remarks a great authority, "as we begin to live we begin to die." This is true; and even in youth our bodies are but the strongholds behind which we live, and the stouter the ramparts the more likely are they to ward off the shafts of disease and death. But these very ramparts themselves have a tendency to crumble away, and we must study to strengthen them; we must look upon them as our foes likely at any time to fall and crush us; in other words, we must conquer self, we must study abnegation in everything, for abnegation leads to temperance, indeed, it is the root and soul thereof, temperance leads to health, and health is the foundation of true personal beauty. Be temperate, therefore, in eating, and temperance in this respect will become a habit, although it may cost you much abnegation to acquire it. But look up, never look down, for in this world, though we may sow in tears, we reap rejoicing in the life which is to come.

Be temperate in your hours of pleasure and sleep. Over indulgence in either produces wrinkles and sallowness of complexion. This is easily accounted for in this way, and I will put it as simply as I can. When the heart is overtired from long hours of wakefulness, or languid and weak from over indulgence in sleep, it is unable to receive the blood back sufficiently quick, the tender tissues around the eyes get puffy and swollen, the skin is thus stretched, and when the puffiness goes away it is inclined to lie in folds or wrinkles. The skin, of course, is very resilient and elastic and will regain its former appearance again and again for a time, but a constant drop will wear a stone away, and at last its elasticity is lost and wrinkles are the result. Be temperate in talking and self-abnegating in argument, you will thus preserve your good temper.

Having heard me patiently, I will now advance to the toilet-table, the largest and most conspicuous object on which is the mirror. However big this may be, or however small, let it be a true glass. A few shillings spent on a good mirror is money well laid out A proper looking-glass certainly will not flatter you, but, on the contrary, it will point out to you in a friendly way all your defects, and if there be means of remedying them it will give you light to do so; but a bad glass is your worst friend, because it not only hides your faults, but gives an imperfect and very far from flattering reflection of your face and figure, and this would be no comfort to you if you were going out anywhere to spend the evening. The looking-glass should be kept perfectly clear and bright; it should be well polished once a week at least, but this must be carefully done. Thus: dust the mirror first with a soft brush to prevent scratching, then take a damp sponge and sprinkling a little eau de Cologne on it, rub the surface gently over; then dust over with good whiting, and while it is still damp polish with a silk handkerchief. The sponge itself should be perfectly clean, and sponges, whether used  for the bath or simply for face ablution, should be invariably soft and clean and pure. When bought new, before you use them, shake out the dust, and then steep them for some hours in soft water several times renewed. Soap spoils sponges. If soap must be used with a sponge, rinse the latter in warm water before you put it away. Press or squeeze a sponge - do not wring it - and if it gets slimy, which it never ought to, soak it in water and soda for some hours. The bath sponge should be a very large one, if you mean to benefit by the use of the bath. The bath itself should be kept spotlessly clean; when spots of rust begin to appear in it, it is time it was repainted, else it will not wear. Iron rust is rather good in the water than otherwise; indeed, I have known much good come from a course of iron baths. The iron bath is a simple tonic one, and should be used every morning for a fortnight or three weeks at a time. It is composed of water one bucketful, sulphate of iron a quarter of an ounce, placed in the bath over night. While taking a course of such baths, a tepid bath with soap should be used twice a week - to thoroughly cleanse the skin - the last thing before going to be. For young pale girls with weak nerves and languid circulations the iron bath is likely to be of great use, especially if steel drops - ten in a little water thrice daily after food - are taken at the same time.

Meanwhile, I am turning my back on the toilet-table, so I must face found again. Here are a couple of hair-brushes. How beautifully white and clean you keep them! This delights my eye. Of course you wash the occasionally, by dipping them in cold water in which soda has been dissolved - not soap - with gentle friction on the palm of the hand, holding them in such a position that the backs do not get wetted, and afterwards standing them in the wind, but not in the sun, to dry.

Do you ever use the metallic brushes? They are so cooling to the temples on a warm summer's day, but must be kept dry, else they are apt to rust. I sometimes think they stimulate the growth of the hair by their pleasant, cool friction.  When you wash your hair do not use soap, unless the very mildest transparent kind, the same as you use for hands and face; but yolk of egg is better, well rinsed out with lukewarm water, then with cold soft or rain water, and, when partially dried by means of soft towels, combed and brushed.

Rain water is a great beautifier of the complexion. Collect it, and keep it in jars, after having it run through a filter. This is a hint worth much fine gold, so lay it to heart and you will look well.

Now, I am not your hairdresser, but I know you want me to tell you of something to increase the strength and beauty of the hair. I am good natured, and can't refused. Here is a good application, a little of which may be rubbed into the roots of the hair, after moderate friction with the brushes every morning: - Tincture of cantharides, a quarter of an ounce; eau de Cologne, one ounce; bay rum, one ounce; rose water, two ounces. You can make your own bay rum simply enough: get two ounces of fresh bay leaves and steep them for six days in six ounces of best rum. These are valuable receipts, but they must not be used more than once a day, nor longer than a fortnight at a time, and if they produce the slightest irritation or heat of the skin they must be omitted for a time.

Here is a good and very safe pomade for thinness of the hair; Pure lard four ounces, pure white wax half an ounce, melt, then remove from heat, and add half an ounce of balsam of tolu and twenty drops of oil of rosemary. Equal parts of bay rum, eau de Cologne and castor-oil form a good hair cosmetic.

The most innocent of white powders for face or skin are composed either of oxide of zinc, magnesia starch, or levigated starch. Be on your guard against such as are sold under fancy names. Be on your guard, too, against the dangerous compounds that are advertised by taking titles. Here is a recipe for the best bloom for lips or cheeks: - Early rising, morning tubbing, and plenty of out-door exercise. Soap is a necessity of life, but pray get it pure, non-alkaline, and transparent, and not the dangerously dyed masses of unhealthy curd you see so often exposed for sale.

Toilet vinegar should always find a place on the table. A little in the basin of water you lave your face with is delightfully refreshing.

Does your face often flush - I do not mean simple blushing? If it does you cannot be over strong, you need tonics and more fresh air. No applications will do good, but continuous flushing of the face under the least excitement is very apt to spoil the very best complexion.

Cold cream is one of the most harmless of applications to tender lips or skin.

Here is a lotion for freckles. It is a drachm of the muriate of ammonia dissolved in a pint of soft water, and a dessert-spoonful of eau de Cologne added; apply twice a day. The following is a good wash for sunburning: - fifteen grains of borax, an ounce of limejuice, and a dessert-spoonful of eau de Cologne. Buttermilk applied before going to bed, especially if a little sour, is very cooling after a hot day. Milk or roses (the best) is also a good face application; and here is a very simple one. Dissolve a quarter of an ounce of borax in a pint of elder-flower water, and add an ounce of eau de Cologne. By the way many harmless and delightful preparations can be prepared from flowers, as well as many good but simple perfumes, and if my girl-readers care for it, I feel sure the editor will grant me space for a nice summer article on this subject.

I think, in a former paper, I mentioned tooth-powders. Charcoal is unsightly but very effective, and it can be made more so by rubbing up with an ounce of it as much quinine as will lie on a sixpenny-piece; a few drops of otto of roses may be added. Or, make a tooth-powder thus (if you can find a pestle and mortar): Equal parts of burnt crust of bread, white sugar, and Peruvian bark, and a drop or two of otto of roses. If you prefer a paste, add a little honey. Use a soft and a hard tooth-brush, and never omit brushing the teeth inside and out after meals as well as in the morning.

1 May 1880 - Answers to Correspondents - Miscellaneous

"VERE CASSILLIS" - We are very sorry that we have no prescription to give you for changing the red shade of your hair. But, comfort yourself with the assurance many admire it, and the Old Masters delighted in depicting their beauties with glowing locks. Keep your hair beautifully smooth - not frizzy; plait it, and make it into a coil at the back of the head, and wear pale blue, black, white, violet or sage green. Beside, your manners might be so attractive, and all your words and ways so gentle, sweet, and kind, that the colour of your hair would never be thought of - quite lost in the generally agreeable impression produced by that greater and better part of you, the heart and mind.

CONSTANTINE - 1. Charcoal may be used occasionally as tooth-powder. Your second question has frequently been answered. 3. We have no recipe to offer you for making hair grow long without thickening it. 4. You should pronounce the first z in an Italian word as a t; not the second. 5. We are not disposed to alter the arrangement of our paper; others appreciate the illustrations. 6. Your handwriting is bad and often illegible.

MARIE S. - Very old, as your cat is, its fur is very likely to come off. Take care to give it no greasy food, no fat - and very little meat; which latter should always be cooked. Milk and water sop, and this rather warm, is the best food for it. You would write better if you had a better pen.

ALICE DODD - You have asked us a lot of absurd questions, which of course we do not intend to answer; but, before consigning your letter to the waste paper basket we wish to ask you to learn the spelling of the following easy words; raspberry (you had it as rasberry), whose (whos), amiss (amis), right (write!). Also we might mention that you mix the singular number with the plural punctuate in the wrong places, omit capital letters, and write a disgraceful hand. It would be wiser of you to try to improve your education instead of "reading jollie novels."

24 April 1880 - "Health and Beauty for the Hair" - by Medicus

"The bridegroom, with his locks of light,
Came, in the flush of love and pride,
And scaled the terrace of his bride;
When, as she saw him rashly spring,
And midway up in danger cling,
She flung him down her long, black hair
Exclaiming, breathless, 'There, love, there!'"

Pride, in the incident to which these verses refer, had nearly had a fall, and probably a very ugly one too. The bridegroom, with his locks of light - by which, I suppose, the poet means bonnie yellow hair - was far too impatient to join his bride, on the balcony, else he might have rung the bell, and waited until Mary Ann opened the hall door, and then have gone quietly up stairs in the usual non-poetic fashion. But, no! Heart was light and limbs were young; he scorned the hall door and humble Mary Ann; he would spring. And he did, and had to thank his bride that she possessed presence of mind and hair probably two yards long. "Two yards long!" you exclaim; "is it possible?" "Quite," your "Medicus" replies. Your "Medicus" has travelled a good deal in Eastern countries, and has more than once met with young ladies whose hair was, indeed, a glory to them, and when let down would almost cover them. But then, that was in Eastern countries, and there, I believe, young ladies know more of the art of keeping the hair bright and beautiful, and making it grow long and glossy and soft, than almost any one in this country does.

And now, having travelled so far, and having lived long in the land of the rising sun, perhaps you may imagine that I have possessed myself of some wonderful secret regarding the human hair, and that I have obtained, by hook or by crook, some infallible specific for making it very lovely, and am forthwith to tell you how this recipe is made and all about it, so that henceforth the gentle readers of the GIRL'S OWN may be the envy of the readers of any other magazine in the world. I am going to do nothing of the kind, but something much more sensible and serviceable to you, and the advice I give you, if faithfully followed, will most assuredly increase both the health and beauty of your hair.

Well, then, I want you first and foremost to disabuse your mind once and for ever, of the foolish notion that the hair can be permanently improved by the use, alone, of any outward application whatever. No; the hair cannot, I say, be permanently improved by external means only. Let me tell you the reason why. You have, no doubt, often seen a barber's block with a wig on it. The hair on the wig, perhaps, did not look particularly beautiful, but the barber could easily make it so. He would gently comb and brush it with a clean dry brush, then he would sprinkle on his brush some wonderful oil or gloss-giving preparation of glycerine, and brush again; and lo! It would glitter and shine like a thing of lie; and if the barber then put this block with the wig on it under a glass case, that dead hair would retain its beauty for any length of time. On the other hand, supposing you were to apply the same process to your own hair; suppose you comb it ever so gently, brush it ever so softly and tenderly, and oil it as well, with the most precious cosmetic that money could procure, do you think it would retain its beauty long? Nay, reader, nay; not although (pardon me) you sat all day long with your pretty head in a glass case to keep out the dust, and away the draughts. And the reason why is not far to seek; the hair on the wig is dead hair - it is affected by no change from within; but the hair of the human head is living, growing, ever-changing tissue. It is supplied with nutriment from the skin in which it grows; it is supplied even with its gloss and beauty from within the body.

Just cast your eyes for one moment on the diagram below; it will give you some notion of the delicate anatomy of a human hair, and easily explain to you its structure. Here you have an enlarged view of a single hair growing in the skin, and being supplied therefrom with all its needs to keep it not only healthy but lovely. a a represents the surface of the skin, b the hair itself, which is in reality a hollow tube, and grows in a flask-shaped depression in the skin, the mouth of which is seen at c. The depression is in reality somewhat the shape of a Florence flask. Indeed, if you took a flask of this kind and placed a long rush in it, it would give you a capital notion of a hair growing from its bed in the skin. At d in the diagram you will observe that the bottom of the depression in question is raised upwards and inwards just like that of a wine bottle, and it is to this raised part that the root of the hair is attached, and it is from this raised part that the hair receives its nutriment by means of two blood vessels seen at e and f. Now you will perceive that the hair is quite free to move and wave about in a manner, in the sac from which it grows, just as free as your rush in the Florence flask; it is only attached to the bottom. Well, you will notice at g g two little rounded bodies. They are little glands, and two or more of these lie alongside every hair in your head, and they are really little oil flasks, they secrete a lubricating oil more pure and fine than any perfumer in the world could prepare; this oil, then, is carried from the little flasks by two tubes, h h, and is poured into the sac from which the hair grows, and thus finds its way not only on to the skin, to keep that soft and pliant, but along the hair to its very point - so fine is it - to give to each hair a natural gloss. This natural gloss is part of the glory of a young girl's hair; it is most beautifully seen in those whose hair has been cultivated by natural and not by artificial means. It is a sunny radiance that no art can imitate. My little favourite Matty had it in perfection.

And now, I think, I have proved to you by the aid of my little diagram that each hair on your head is a living, growing thing, just as much as yonder standard rose-tree on the lawn. If you wanted the tree to grow lovely, to have fresh leaves of softest green, and roses on it, that would make you feel a joy even to behold, it is not to the outside of the bush you would direct most attention, is it? You might freshen it up now and then, and water away the dust, but if you were anything of a gardener it would be the kind and quality of the soil about it that would most concern you. And so it is with our heads; if we would have our hair grow thick and soft, and glossy, it is to the roots we must direct our attention.

I'll tell you what I saw a lady doing one time. She had in her study a large and beautiful evergreen, and she was watering it with water in which a little glycerine had been dissolved. "It makes the leaves retain so sweet a gloss, doctor," she said, "you cannot think." But I did think and speak too, and when I explained to her that the pretty plant breathed with the pores in its broad green leaves, which she was varnishing over and choking, she saw her error at once. In the same way I am dead against plastering the hair or skin of the head with the thousand and one nostrums that are sold in the shops. They really do more harm than good - indeed, the good is nil, the harm much.

Now, the great secret of getting anything to grow well and luxuriantly, whether it be a plant or a hair in one's head, is to supply it with proper and sufficient nutriment. The little oil-flasks or gland, g g and the small eminence d, on which the hair itself grows, are all supplied with blood-vessels, little branches of those that are spread out in the skin. If the blood thus supplied be pure and healthy, and be in abundance, can you not see that the hair itself must grow, and be sheeny and glossy? But if, from some cause or other, the supply of blood is limited or impure, it is surely plain that the hair itself must suffer both in quality and in appearance. If ever you had a pet dog who was sick, you could scarcely help noticing how different his coat looked, how it stared, and how dry it appeared. The reason was that the blood being, through illness, driven away from the surface of the skin, the hairs were no longer supplied either with nutriment or the natural oil. There are many different kinds of oils, and other applications for making the hair grow, and they all act in the same way; they contain stimulating liquids, which bring the blood to the surface, and thus supply the roots of the hair with extra blood on which to live and grow. and the hairs do for a time, and alas! Only for a time. The tiny glandlets, g g, get bunnaturally large, their outlets are choked by the greasy mess, the hair itself gets in time diseased, and premature greyness or baldness is the unhappy result. You see, I grant that stimulation makes the hair grow, but this stimulation must be natural, not artificial.

The blood cannot be too pure if you would have beautiful hair. Hence anything that heats it must be carefully avoided. You cannot be too careful in what you eat and drink. Wines, too, and piquant sauces or dishes should be especially avoided; but in summer and autumn ripe fruits may be freely partaken of. If you want to have a good head of hair you ought to cultivate a calm and unruffled frame of mind. Nervous, fidgety folks seldom have nice hair. One young lady I can easily call to mind had the finest and longest hair ever I saw. She was also the sweetest-tempered and most amiable girl I ever knew.

Exercise greatly promotes the health and beauty of the hair. So does the bath. This latter should be taken every morning and as cold as can be borne. EXERCISE AND THE BATH. (Printer, put it in large type.)

The comb and brush come under the category of natural stimulants to the hair; both should be used several times a day. There is no need always to use a hard brush. But every morning the hard brush is to e used for at least five minutes to the skin of the head as much, if not more, than the hair itself. The soft brush I recommend is the metallic one; I think they are half-a-crown. If used after coming in from a walk or a run they will be found deliciously cooling and soothing.

To ensure perfect cleanliness, the hair should be washed once a fortnight. Do not use soap; the yolks of two new-laid eggs must be used instead. The water should be rainwater filtered - lukewarm to wash with, cold to rinse out. Afterwards, dry well and brush.