HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY SECRETS

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 33, 27 January 1939, Page 19

HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY SECRETS

By

MAX

FACTOR

Jun.

® "Don’t do tt the hard way!’’ ® Such is the advice, somewhat fuppant in its tone, but very sensible in its import, which I have on many occasions heard a picture director give to an actor or an actress who. was over-acting @ scene. @ The skilled director demands

a great degree of emotional moderation from his players because he knows that too much histrionic emphasis very often results in acting antics which are amateurish and ridiculous when finally flashed on the screen.

iUS, in the performances of such famous sereen players as Bette Davis, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Rosalind Russell, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy and Olivia de Havilland, we can obse~ve a % and convincingly natural restraint. In other words, the dramatic portrayals presented by "hese ladies are simply not done "the hard way." : My object in this preliminary dissertation on the merits of restraint in acting is to introduce the point that this same moderation and control can very often be beneficial when applied to personal grooming practices. ; Tt is true that many women are too enthusiastic about some of their beautification procedures. A particularly dangerous error in this respect comes from overdoing the matter of following directions in the application of skin fresheners, astringents, colognes, or any other liquid lotions, to the face.

Not Rubbed [n PIRECTIONS for the use of such items usually suggest that they be patted on-not rubbed in. . Such advice is absolutel correct. But it does not mean that the patting should be practised so ‘strenuously that it becomes out-and-out slapping. Pounding the delicate facial surfaces in such a violent manner often results in imperceptible bruising. And over a period of years, it may eventually bring an obvious presence of scar-tissue, with the skin becoming thick, tough, leathery, and altogether unattractive.

~ Continued massage of the face with brushes of any sort will also serve to bring about this same bruised and scartissued condition. The scrubbing technique which is so efficient in cleansing kitchen floors was never meant for the tender skin of the human face, Another error on the side of violence which I regularly encounter, even here in complexion-conscious Hollywood, is that of applying cleansing cream with a vigorous massaging motion.

Wrong Procedure HIS is an entirely all-wrong procedure. A good cleansing cream melts immediately upon contact with the skin, and needs no massage to make it penetrate the pores. Such massaging, if done with any great degree of vigour, and without planned direction of the strokes, can be very damaging to the muscle structure of the face. Treatment of the hair is another activity in which gentle moderation is essential. Brushing or shampooing the hair, or massaging the scalp-all of these are activities which, if practised too vigorously, may result in a great deal of damage. 1 think, then, that my rea*ers could very profitably bear'in mind,

especially when it comes to any one of the grooming practices just discussed, the quotation with which I commenced this article: "Don’t do it the hard way."