POWDERED PEARLS ARE TAKEN INTERNALLY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 32, 22 February 1937, Page 5

POWDERED PEARLS ARE TAKEN INTERNALLY

An old Ghinese custom still followed by the women of modern China is tD take internally powdered pearls. Tiny doses are prescribed to keep the skin young and fresh. The powder is purchased at chemists' shops or the pearls are bought and powdered at home. Another Chinese custom is using the whites of eggs as a wash for the skin. This is, of course, an ingredient in many Western beauty treatments. Chinese women use it as an astringent. Bean powder, which has cleansing properties, is also used as a skin food by Chinese women. Superfluous hairs are removed by twisting a silken thread about them. Lipstick has been adopted instead of cotton soaked in powdered rouge. Eor the nails, European polishes have super- ' seded the old custom, in which a coloured paste made from flower petals was wrapped about with cotton wool and allowed to remain on overnight. Many Chinese women prefer their hair sleek and unwaved, although the younger women have deserted the tradition of centuries and have indulged in permanent waves. Generally the hair is shampooed only once a month, and again the white of an egg is used, to give gloss. Chinese women usually have slim figures, yet they do not diet or exercise, and their proportions are ideal for the slim-fitting tunics which it is felt will never be entirely di&carded for Western dress.