Housekeeper.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 440, 15 September 1904, Page 7

Housekeeper.

THE TOILET TABLE. IN fashionable circles the business oi the toilet occupies a considerable portion of each day, what with facial massage and other treatments for the complexion, manicure and hairdressing, But from all accounts the women of Prance formerly spent far more time over the toilet table than do even our English belles of to-day. The higher classes of the French people have long been celebrated for the ingenuity and taste they bring to bear upon oven the arrangement of the toilet table. Josephine, the amiable consort of Napoleon, was an example in this regard. Before she was displaced in favour of Marie Louise of Austria, her toilet, it is said, was not perhaps more worthy of admiration than afterwards at Malmaison and Nevarre. The fashions which she originated may still be traced in the apartments of Parisian ladies of high rank. The dressing-room of a certain French Duchess who lived fifty years ago, has thus been described by a visitor : ' Enter, and observe the demijour, which is suffused through curtains of transparent gray crape, while the draperies of the gilded table are composed of rich lace over rosehued satin of the lightest tint. The table itselt is occupied, not by many cases, but by one superb apparatus, combining in its framework, nocre, buhl, ivory, and sandal wood. By this means the vessels within, of gold, silver, crystal, and tutenag, and the etuis, combs, scissors, etc., have their especial place, and are easily kept in order.' THE HAIR. Palling hair is a common source of worry to women, and in spring-time they are specially subject to the annoyance. The cause of the loosening of the hair may be local, but it is often the result of the general health being ' run down.' A local cure is to brush the scalp until redness and a glow are produced, and then rub among the roots of the hair a wash made of three drachms of pure glycerine and four ounces of limewaier. After the use of this for two or three weeks, half an ounce of tincture of cantharides may be added to the above mixture. The treatment should be followed once or twice a day, according to the state of the scalp ; if tender, diminish the application, if insensible, increase it. A tonic in which jaborandi is an ingredient is also recommended for improving the condition of weakened hair.