AFTER AN ILLNESS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 876, 21 January 1930, Page 4

AFTER AN ILLNESS

TAKE YOUR HAIR AND COMPLEXION IN HAND Any illness usually has a bad effect upon one's hair and complexion. And the convalescing stage is the time to take these in hand. Have you ever gazed in a mirror for the iirst time after an illness (which may have been severe or slight) and received a bad shock at your appearance? What a nasty jar one gets! One feels so much better that it seems impossible that one’s complexion should look so utterly ghastly. And as to one’s hair! You must remember that the skin and the scalp arc apt to show wear and tear more quickly than any other part of one’s anatomy, but. equally thev recover very easily. If you are feeling a little "off colour" your skin looks muddy and dirty very quickly, and your hair seems dull and has no life, so it is not surprising that after a bad illness both complexion and scalp are not at their best. Taking the matter in hand from a practical point of view, you must realise that what your skin probably lacks Is tone. It will not be dirty, for it is more than likely that you will have perspired a good deal. It will not have been exposed to the wind and weather, so it will not be rough and coarsened) but it may be flabby, and. of course, you are likely to look very pale. Some medicines, too. such as bromide, bring out spots, but they will soon disappear. A Good Tip You won’t feel equal to spending a great deal of energy on your beauty preparations, and luckily you do not need to. 1£ you follow these simple directions your complexion will soon ibe all right. Every evening massage it very lightly, and for two or three minutes with a little cold cream. This is only to keep it supple and on counteract any dryness induced by feTer. and then apply very liberally a good astringent lotion. You should dab it on with plenty of cotton-wool just as though you were washing your face, and allow it to dry on. A milk and cucumber lotion is always good, particularly if you add benzoin, which will help to tighten it up. Any chemist will make yon up a cucumber and benzoin lotion for a small sum.

A very old tip is none the le.ss an excellent one if you want to keep your skin supple without putting on grease. Take a piece «f lanoline, the size of a nut, and beat it up with a dessert-spoonful of milk. Leave it till the evening, and then use the milk for bathing the face. If you use the lanoline and milk (or the cold cream, whichever you prefer), and afterward an astringent lotion, you will find that in a day or two your complexion will have lost that rather

“tired” look which comes after an illness. Never mind if it is a little white; you can easily remedy that with a touch of pink powder. Plenty of Brushes The hair is not such an easy job as the skin, for the first thing to do is to wash it so as to clear the scalp of all impurities, and that is an operation which doctors are not at all keen on allowing till you are well on the way to recovery. However, you can get a friend of your nurse to brush it well twice a day. being sure to use a clean brush each time. This latter is a most essential point, so you must be prepared to invest in a new brush or two, so as to allow of having them washed. You can buy dry shampoos which you can put on at night and brush out in the morning. A good tonic which will contain both tincture of rosemary and bay rum can be obtained from a chemist, and you should rub it into the partings and then brush for ten minutes. After having brushed, use the comb with long, powerful, soothing strokes. If you persevere in these methods there is really no reason why your hair should not soon pick up tone again and look quite glossy and alive. When you are able to wash it, be careful to use distilled water for the first time, as it will cleanse it so very thoroughly, and It is worth while treating yourself to one or two electrical head massages. They are both soothing and stimulating.