GIRL’S BEAUTY BUDGET

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20510, 28 May 1938, Page 23 (Supplement)

GIRL’S BEAUTY BUDGET

COSMETICS GOOD FOR THE SKIN DERMATOLOGIST'S OPINION Girls, cosmetics are good for you, writes Andrew Kidd in the Sunday Chronicle. Dr. William James O'Donovan, the Harley-Street dermatologist, gave this opinion in a High Court case. I consulted Dr. O'Donovan's writings in the medical Press for the reasons. They are: — Cosmetics clean the skin with less irritation than any soap; Replace the grease in the skin that may be removed by too strenuous washing or be deficient through old age; Act as a protection against the assault of wind and weather; Provide a vehicle of colour that gives a great psychological tonic to both sexes. “It is right always to remember,” wrote Dr. O’Donovan In The PracMtioner, “the statement of Professor Sabouraud, of Paris, that he would almost prefer bad creams and bad cosmetics to none at all. “For he has noticed, as have others, that the skins of actresses as a class look younger than those of their contemporary sisters.” Dangers of skin irritation and disease through the use of beauty preparations have been grossly exaggerated. Mrs Grundy still promises the modern girl an ugly old age through pores clogged with too much powder. “That is nonsense,” a Harley Street specialist told me. “It is impossible to clog up the pores of the skin. “Cosmetics, as a rule, are extremely beneficial and the dangers are one in a million. Doctors' Verdict “The greatest care is taken by the makers of all cosmetics to eliminate any ingredient likely to be an irritant. “Plucking the eyebrows, however, should not be overdone in ’case it causes local inflammation. “Don’t try to remove freckles. No freckle-remover is known to the medical profession. “Many of the skin troubles asscribed to tlie use of cosmetics are really due to over-exposure to the sun.” The verdict nf Harley Street is that the money spent on ’cosmetics gives an adequate dividend In terms of health and fitness. Office girls spend an average of 3s per week on beauty: the middle-class woman about 7s; the society woman pays as much as £2 for a gilded 2oz. pot of face-cream which any chemist would sell her under another name for 2s 6-d over the counter.