From a Paris Beauty Salon

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 219, 5 December 1927, Page 5

From a Paris Beauty Salon

I>OUGE and lip-stick are best V left alone unless they are applied artistically and with care/’ said the manageress of one of the most exclusive houses for cosmetiques in Paris. Frenchwomen make up far more heavily than their British sisters, but they do it artistically, and even when the effect is very artificial it is never crude. To apply colouring to the face is an art, and this is how she told me it should be done. Rouge should be chosen in the right shade to suit each special complexion. In the salon were at least ten different shades to suit different skins. It is not enough to ask for a rouge for a fair skin or a dark one. There is a shade for the clear fair skin, another for the fair inclined to be sallow, another for a clear brunette, etc. Before applying the rougle rub the cheek briskly, to bring a natural colour to the face, wait for a few minutes, and as the natural colour fades notice Just how much colour is required to give a really good effect. Make a mental note of this and never apply more or less rouge than is necessary to give that amount of colour to the cheeks. To apply a lip-stick is even a greater art, she said. The effect produced can be very similar to that of a stage clown, or t'ne whole shape of the mouth can be improved and beautified. Having chosen your “stick" in the right shade study the shape of your mouth. If it is too large do not carry the colour to the extreme edge—concentrate in the middle, especially on the upper lip, shading the colour away gradually to within a sixteenth of an inch from the corners. Very thin lips can be improved if the colour is applied in the exact centre on both the upper and lower and then worked in toward the sides. When the upper lip is too long it can be made to appear shorter by carrying the colour Just over the edge of the actual lip and shaping it carefully into a Cupid's bow. The shaping of the “bow" is most important, for If the colour is allowed to smear the effect will be entirely spoilt.