AMAZING REVELATIONS ABOUT BEAUTY DOCTORS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 319, 9 January 1909, Page 4

AMAZING REVELATIONS ABOUT BEAUTY DOCTORS

GOOD LOOKS MADE TO ORDER. , (English paper). , Women will suiter anything and pay anjth.ug (or beauty, a well-known doctor remarked a short time ago, ani, juilg ug by a number of specialists who have established liicniselvcs in most of our large cities, there is not much doubt that their particular business is in a very flourishing cundition to-day. Almost every week one hears of new methods for the treatment of Nature's defects ia the appearance of women, and as most of the elient.de of beauty doctors are society ladies who consider tliat the payment of .C.'iOO or £6OO for a more youthful lookiug complexion, for instance, is a good bargain, it naturally follows that the cures arc not characterised by cheapness. la some beauty doctors' establishment as much as from £lO to £2O is paid by society women for preparing their hair and complexions for one evening. Sixty-guinea courses of message treatment, manicuring at four or five guineas a time, salves, powders, and lotions at 10s to 20s a bottle or box, and live guiu- ' cas a month to have one's hair dyed and re-dyed—these are few of the items ■ in beautv doctors' bills.

Not only, however, do beauty doctors renovate the hair and complexion, move wrinkles, crow's feet, and cure red noses and freckles by means of creams, massage, etc., but they also claim to be able to provide an entirely new complexion by removing the old one, add inches to the height of a woman, make dimples, plant eyelashes, alter noses, aua make cheeks plump, smooth, and girlish-look-ing, no matter how sunken they may be or how old the patient. Perhaps the most painful of these treatments is that of removing the whole skin of the face by means of a .blistering lotion—a desperately long and tedious process—and then cultivating a new skin. Anything from fifty to » hundred guineas will be charged fortius operation, and the woman who agrees 'to the treatment must be prepared to suffer agony for many moatbs. There are several brazen quacks ia America who claim to be able to provide new complexions and wipe the impress uf twenty years olf a woman's face. Tiiey usually fail, and often make a woman's complexion worse than it was before On the oilier hand, there are many specialists ia this country who have successfully performed this operation.

One of the latest methods of treating the complexion is what is known as " lace-tucking," a process by which the wrinkled and shrivelled skin of a woman of seventy can, so the specialists claim, be made to look as firm as that of a girl of twenty-live. Minute tucks are taken in the skin all over the face, and the sagging of the tissues thus, for a time at least, corrected. There are not a great many beauty doctors, however, who will undertake this task," 1 and those who do charge something like £I,OOO for the treatment, which is equally as painful as that of removing the old skin by the blistering operation. One of the quickest, and at the same time most beneficial method of treating | the complexion is an operation which surgeons have sometimes been induced to perform. It consist of cutting a three cornered piece out of the scalp, after a strong local anaesthetic has lieeii applied, and sewing the wound quickly and neatly together. This draws up the

whole iskin of the face, which at once I assumes a more youthful appearand'. The deep lines on either side of the. mouth disappear or become softened, while a prominent double chin will bo held up. An elderly lady had such an operation performed some time ago. chiefly to obliterate a double chin and general sagging of the face. At first the results were not so obvious, but after six months, when the muscles that had been disturlied tightened and grew together again, the chin became firm and of good 'contour, and the whole face seemed to have lifted, taking away at least ten years from the woman's apparent age. One of the latest inventions of the replaced, and, hey, presto ! a brand-new beauty doctor is a process by which lie claims to be able to manufacture dimples. The skin of the cheek is lifted, a tiny bit of the flesh removed, the skin dimple appears in due course. But they take the time and patience to manufacture properly, awl the patient must lie prepared to suffer a pain approaching acute neuralgia for some time, especially if it decided to cat out the little dent by acids, as is sometimes done, instead of cutting. And the price is somewhere between £3O and .t(i(), according to the position of the dimple. The girl who is not satisfied with her eyelashes has a choice of two treatments, specially recommended by beauty specialists. The least painful one consists of gumming on false eyclishcs, and this is done so skillfully that the closest inspection does not reveal the false hairs. Constant washing of the face naturally loosens them. But it is easy to tell when it is time to take them oil', have them regummed, ami stuck on' again. Gummed eye-lashes last quit; 1 well for two or three -days, and after the' first time it is a very simple matter to adjust them. The latest novelty-in female coquetry, however, is the planting of eyelashes and eyebrows—a very delicate and painful operation. A long hair is singled out of the patient's head. A needle is threaded with it, and forced in and out of the skin along the edge of the eyelid. These loops arc then cut at the extremities with a pair of scissors, and the rows of lashes thus obtained are curled upwards with curlers. When the operation is finished the patient has to spend twelve hours with an oiled bandage over the eyes. I There is a certain American beauty specialist who guarantees to add 2in.' or 3in. to the height of any lady without the aid of elevators. Five pounds—massage and gymnastic eX'Tcis'cs being extra—is his charge for each pulling anil stretching operation, and, the cost of increasing the stature by his methods Vrurks out at something like .C3OO an an inch.

' As a matter of fact there is no end to the claims of some beauty specialists. They will Romanize the lurned-up nose, flatten back-protruding ears, make bad"ly shaped lips more symmetrica!, and alter the figure to any size or shape re'quired. Perhaps, however, the most extraordinary cure, for the improvement of the figure was Hint suggested to a certain actress by - a German beauty doctor. He told his patient to spend so much time daily in standing ion her head, assuring her that this up-side down position would enhance the appearance of her figure. Upon the actress declining to adopt such a course or pay the fees demanded, the irate specialist at once retaliated by commencing an action for the recovery of £SOO for services rendered. Needless to say, lie (oat his case.