Social Moods.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 383, 10 September 1903, Page 7

Social Moods.

THi, KEWEST FAD. guest iavited to one of the jIwJL beauty-parties now having such a IB&Jk voguo in Paris takes with her a whole box of fascinating instruments, with winch she displays her ekill during tho beauty hour' that follows the light luncheon and chort resting-time. Sae takes also her own vaporiser and lamp, her own bottles of tonic, pots of en am,.boxes of powder, ky Sometimes she takes her own maid too. But thiß is quite unnecessary. Massage rollers have superseded the maid. Ozca before, when tbis meful parsonage was discarded for beautifying purposes, she was quickly reinstalled ; for then face massage was done in the old wsy, and the fiur Parisienne, induced to this tt.sk by i a wbiin of fashion, soon became per uvded fciat, by rubbing creams into her face with her:own fiager-tips, she was unduly fattening up those rosy points as well as rounding up the contours of her face. She has no such fear now with Lor box of instruments near.at hand, aad, whea she adjourns with other smart guests to her hostess's boudoir or dressing-room sbe finds a table has been allotted to her', on which is arranged a whole army of means uifßcient to defy al] enemies of beauty. When cuce seated, the looking-glass adjiuted, and a wrappar thrown around her shoulders, then will tb.B invariably ycung and beautiful Parisienne settle down to work in real earnest First she will give her face a good vapour bath. Trusa baths, by the way, vary considerably. One guest will prefer to wrap her head around with a towel and hold her face over a basin of hot into which has been put a little cincture of benzion, a few drops of myrrh, a little orange flower water, and a pinch of powdered alum; and another will use a special skin tonic in cna part of her vaporiser and plain water in another, so that the Bieam of the boiling water will drawup a sufficient amount of tfce tonic to mingle with thi vapour that sprays out on to the face. A large glass funnel, into the mouth of which the head is placed, is also used by many of these wealthy Parisiennes who attend the fashionable ' beau fry. parties.' It takes some five or saves mieutes to vaporise the face properly, and the face is afterwards wiped with "a specially prepared scft paper, or with the softest of towel?. After this, miladi turns to her box of massage, rollers and selects an ivory baton that comes at one end of a long stick, and with, it Bmears her favourite skin-food tnickly over the whole of her face. Sic then wipeß this baton and puts it down and takes up the vibrator. This vibrator is a collection-of three rollers that move independently, though .on one and the same axis. The surface of these rollers is not smooth, the design on them suggesting rather that a series cf wedges hav<s bean cub out .fiom the plain roller. Though finer, the design is exactly similar on the small roller placed in the centre of the three. For about five minutes this instrument is rolled over cheeks and forehead, round and round, up and' down, rousing every part of the face into life, and making it warm and rosy. A different ivory vibrator is used for the tender partß around tho eyes and nose. This comes inually at the other end of the baton stick with which the cream is put on, and looks like a raisod piece cf ivory slashed crisscross with a knife. S.metimes a little more skin-food is put on 11 this time, and then the masseuse will begin with her smooth rollers. She has that is very like an roller, and with this Bhe masspg«sS her forehead, putting tUe roller just above her eyebrows, and rolling it upwards to tho roots of her hair. Bub she does not roll it down again. Instead, she commences at the nose, and rolls it up again. Always upwards. Then from the centre of her forehead the roller travels to the right, and from centre again to the left. How: long this is continued depends entirely on the state of the face. Some guests at a beamy-party will have deep lines oa their foreheads, and not the suggestion of a wrinkle around the eyes, and vice veisa. ' Wrinkles are tremendously a matter of habit,' says a fashionable Parisian beauty-doctor. Another fascinating item in the Parisienne's box of massage-rollers has a single round roller at one end, much like the beads on children's kindergarten toys, and at the other end a collection of three of exactly the same shape. The single roller is passed most carefully backwards and forwards underneath the eyes, and over the eyelid from the outer corner towards the nose, and the three bead-rollers are then brought into use for the cheek and chin. With these, a line from the nose up to the hair is followed, the rollers recommencing their work again at the nose, or just beneath it. The corner of the mouth is another starting-point for them, and even just below the outier edge of the lips tne39 rollers will start for an upward route. For the forehead, too, the three beads are employed, and the plain roller that first massaged the forehead goes over the whole ground of the face very gently as a finish. After half an hour or more of this — always more if miladi has been massaging her neck with tbe rollers going from just under the chin outward towards the ear—one of tho maids in attendance comes to her aid. A bisin of lukewarm water is brought, and tie cr;am is gently washed off with a small sponge, the face rissed with another water softened with prepared oatmeal and wiped on a cloth. It should tardly be wiped, though, for if the. cloth is laid over the face, and this is lightly dabbed with the fingers, all the rtoistnre will soon ba absorbed. Then when the guest has lightly dusted htr faia Tiioh fine powder, smoothed ba.k her eyebrows, rearranged the front of h6r coiffure, she will throw back her wrapper and declare her beaity is complete.