LADIES' COLUMN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 165, 6 April 1871, Page 7

LADIES' COLUMN.

The first requisite to secure a good complexion is perfect health, without which all endeavours will fail to bo . successful. The complexion is the barometer of health, and' when the skin is sallow or dry, the eyes heavy and without brightness, and the countenance has a worn look, we may feel sure there is something wrong in the health, end that must be set right. The next essential to obtain a clear and blooming complexion is early rising, which is absolutely necessary. Our great grandmothers who lived in the , country used to rise very early and go clown the meadows and dip their faces in M^y dew, which they thought the best thing for the skin ; and no doubt they found the custom beneficial, for it obliged them to rise early and breathe .. the fresh morning air. Seven or halfpast is the latest which any one should rise who wishes to have a clear" and. blooming complexion. Avoid crowded assemblies-, late hours, and much exhausting excitement. Nothing helps more to insure a good complexion than the use of a cold bath every morning. No one who is not in the habit of taking one can imagine how greatly it conduces to the health and to the freshness of the comp'exion. A large spongeful of water should be squeezed all over the body for about two minutes, jvhen rough towels (Turkish is the best) should be used vn + il the friction causes a warm glo\^ "to be felt- The softest water should be used for the face (rain water filtered is much the best), and soap should always be applied once a day. If the skin is at all dry or cracked by th- whither, a little fresh, cold cream uj piled at night will soften it, and restore the elasticity. I'lenty of fresh water and exercise must be taken 'jsan -h mv ;>t the least every clay, and more, if posible, should be devoted to walking or riding. Early rising, a daily cold bath, a simple diet, and plenty of fresh air and exercise, will do irfore to insure a clear and blooming complexion than all the cosmetics ever invented ; Hiid 1 can assure piy readers that the desired end will be attained if they w.ill take the trouble to follow the ' rules given. — " A.8." in the " Queen."

There is no doubt whatever that amongst us singing is in many respects vulgarised. - This must be the case, as far as society is conrorned, ?o long as the effort is made to reduce, an art to an accomplishment. Y/iiile music is considered part of a young lady's curriculnm, in the same category with deportment and painting in water colours, we cannot hope that the mere teaching of the art will produce on the part of those to whom it is taught an educated or intelligent taste. Nothing can be more absurd than the practice of English parents and English teachers in this respect. Girls are taught music utteily irrespective of the fact of their possessing voice or ear. They are made to practise showy pieces or showy songs without the least considerati m for the deleterious consequence which the trash may have upon their futuie study of the art. They leave the finishing school with a faculty for rattling off firework variations on the piano, for performing (imperffctly) shakes and startling intervals, or for thrumming a set of waltzes, and cooing over a gaudy sentimental ballad. The fact is, that music in the drawing-room is regarded tvs a means to an end, as a set-off to other graces, as a collateral attraction. Henca the wearisome ness of that little music to which we are . sometimes treated at evening parties, and which would bo intolerable during the bad quarters of an hour allotted to the operators but for the licence to whisper, which is tacitly conceded during these trying intervals, and the opportunities for ill-natured criticism which these occasions are pretty sure to provoke. — "Daily News."

How to get off a Tight Ring., — Thread a needle flat in the eye with a strong thread, pass the head of ths needle with care under the ring, and pull the thread through a few inches towards the hand ; wrap the long end of the thread tightly round the finger regularly down the nail to reduce its size, then Jay hold of the short end and unwind it: The thread repassing against the ring will gradually remove it from the finger. This neverfailing method will gradually remove the tightest ring without difficulty^, however much swollen the finger may be.

Here is a comfort for the Woman's Rights extremists, from a correspondent: — I don't know" why ifc is, but the men al" over the country are getting to be inferior to the women. Whether this is because they are thrust into trade so early, and rarely have an opportunity of' arquirinij any polish of manner excepting that dreadful making up-to-you tuaumr which is called " shoppy," orbecause they arenaturally less susceptible of finish, or because now-a-days boys are kept in the background and every thins: is lavished on the girls, who receive all the advantages in cultivation and education that their brothers should have, I don't know; bufc it is neverthless true that it is getting to be a common sijjht to see charming well-dressed, well-bred women married to great bores and saps, who havn't an idea beyond the price of ham?, a fc.v dirty stories, and an insatiable craving to be rich and to be thought of more consequence than they are.