news and jottings for... WOMEN

Lake County Mail, Issue 13, 20 August 1947, Page 10

news and jottings for ... WOMEN

by "Beatrice”

All correspondence connected with this column should be addressed to “ Beatrice,” Box 434, Dunedin.

man behind: the FRAGRANCE Fascinations of Perfume ' Creation

Eight hundred Bulgarian roses go to Make a tiny handbag phial of Gardenia perfume and more' than eight hundred shimmering yellow jasmine blossoms from Sicil.v and the South of. France go into the same sized bottle of a new perfume, “ Great Expectations,” made especially for Valerie Hobson and named after a film in which she stars. This perfume is but one of the few created _by Goya, well-known manufacturers of perfume, and the man behind these haunting fragrances is Douglas Collins, tall, dark, 34, with the hands of an . artist and the soft voice of a poet. Douglas Collins’s explanation of the beginnings of a perfume is simply that he keeps the smell in his head until by experiment he has the mixture perfect. Sometimes a perfume takes as long as seven years to evolve. He has a new one in his head now called Vibrations. Aqua Manda, a new toilet water, was a waft of sea breezes and orange blossom. For eight years, however, no combination of known oils would produce that sea breeze. It was only by accident he discovered a brand new oil which he distilled from the flower of a common vegetable after it had gone to seed. Douglas Collins’s yacht was his first laboratory. There, with mounting excitement, he first mixed otto of roses with jasmine. He began, however, to have “ fragrance on the brain ” when he was an accountant at the Carlton Hotel at Cannes and had charge of the perfume accounts. A few visits to Grasse, the centre of the French perfume trade, increased his interest in the art. It was not, however, until after a brief sojourn on the stock exchange that he began to produce perfume on a capital of £3.

Coddle Your Rugs and Mats to Save Wear and Tear

Your fugs may lead a rugged life, but if you follow a few simple rules they will last much longer. To lessen wear and tear use pads under all but the very small rugs or mats. , \ Place all heavy furniture legs in glass or wood cups. These prevent deep dents in the rug pile. Shifting the position of the furniture or turning the rug around periodically will also help to prevent pile crushing. Don’t neglect to vacuum, or brush under large pieces of furniture otherwise dust will get down into the fibre, will discolour it and attract moths. If you have a rug which has a lot of traffic over it give it a rest now and then by exchanging it for one in another room. When you arc buying stair carpetingbuy it about ten inches longer than you actually need and turn the extra part under. Once a year shift the carpeting up or down the stairs so that the extra wear on tread edges won’t continue to come in the same parts. Remove stains at once with a powder or liquid rug cleaner.

Box-Jackets are Paris Fashion News Ah idea from Paris is brightlycoloured little box-jackets lined with fur and worn with dark high-necked pullovers and slim straight skirts. Present Parisian fashions also include interchangeable collars to wear with the same frock. Utility dresses very suitable for social gatherings, as avcll as for general wear, had among them deep red wool frocks .with a draped shoulder and a big side pocket. This kind of dress also looks well for a. child. A somewhat similar style among the “ utilities ” was a dress in black wool. An alternative to wool, saving four coupons, was a vivid red crepe with draped shoulders and sleeves. Looking round for party-wear for children one may come across some attractive chubby-toed silver shoes. r n>ese are among some of the Frenchmade accessories now being sold in this country. There arc also soft pink leather moccasins, thonged in pale blue and tying at the back, for a guinea.

Temperamental Cauliflower Cauliflower can be as temperamental as a priina-clonna so treat it with respect. First, don’t be too generous with the water you use to boil it in. Just sufflcent to cover it is quite enough. To keep it white be sure you put the head downwards in your saucepan. Only beware of it sticking to bottom or burning. Don't cook it too fiercely. When it is'cooked don’t throw away your boiling water. Pepper and salt it (possibly with a dash of nutmeg). Make your white sauce with milk for mixing your flour or cornflour, and lastly add a dab of butter. HAVE YOU TRIED? Using old green ginger jars for flower vases. You know the sort I mean, rough pottery glazed over with green in which you used to buy that delicious ginger in syrup. They are charming for most flowers, but particularly delightful for spring flowers and marigolds.