Beauty Culture (Woodbury)/Chapter 18

​

While the beauty culturist should make no attempt to practice medicine, and should refer all cases requiring constitutional treatment to a physician, to one in particular who is a specialist in the disorder in question, there are many common affections of the skin which she may with propriety treat in her office. In the following directions a knowledge of simple massage is assumed, for instruction in which the reader is referred to the chapter on facial massage found on page 259.

Pimples or Acne.—One of the commonest of these disorders is pimples, or acne. This unsightly condition of the skin is very frequently noticed in young people. There are many causes that produce it, of which lack of cleanliness, carelessness in looking after the skin, faults in exercise and diet, and blackheads are the most common. The use of improper lotions and ointments is another cause,

A great many cases can be cured by simple external measures associated with proper hygiene. Of course the diet and method of living must be looked into. Foods that are heating, fresh bread and pies, condiments, in​dulgence in candy, meat two or three times a day, must be forbidden. Plain food, meat once a day, fresh fruit, especially oranges, and vegetables, are needed. The skin of the whole body requires stimulation and cleansing, and so a warm bath three days is to be recommended, followed by a quick, moderately cold douche, brisk rubbing and thorough drying. Outdoor exercise and regular hours of sleep are essential.

From a persistent cleansing of the skin a recovery soon results, unless the unfortunate condition has been caused by impoverished blood or some internal derangement, usually of the digestive apparatus.

The cleansing creams (Nos. 1 and 2) given on page 239 will be found of exceptional value.

Massaging the face of the patient is not at first advisable. After using the hot towels, the pimples should be opened with a small lancet that has been properly sterilized by boiling and dipping into peroxide of hydrogen. The matter is gently pressed out of each pimple and the face cleansed with an antiseptic lotion.

Of these lotions there are many; the highly antiseptic ones give the best results, of which the following is excellent:

Mercury Bichloride	7	gr.
Zinc Sulphate	15	gr.
Tinct. Benzoin	2	dr.
Water	4	oz.

Dissolve the mercury in the water; then add the zinc sulphate and lastly the benzoin.

This lotion is poisonous and should not be allowed to get into the eyes. A thorough application should be given by daubing it on the face with absorbent cotton and allowing it to dry and remain on. It should be used daily, or every other day, if it proves very irritating.

​Before the second or third treatment the face may he washed with tincture of green soap, well rinsed off and cleansed of any pus that may be in the pimples, then treated with the above lotion. If the lotion is too severe and irritating, it should be applied every other day.

Sulphur is an excellent remedy to apply, in some cases, instead of the above, and can be made and applied as follows:

Precipitated Sulphur	1	dr.
Tragacanth Powder	20	gr.
Spirits of Camphor	2	dr.
Water	1	oz.

Mix and apply with cotton daily. This lotion cannot be used with mercury or any other sulphur lotion.

If the skin is oily and covered with pimples the following is better:

Precipitated Sulphur	1	dr.
Ether	4	dr.
Alcohol	2½	oz.
Water sufficient to make 12 ounces.

Mix and shake well and apply with cotton twice daily.

Sometimes in very obstinate cases the following ointment is found excellent:

Beta Naphthol	½	dr.
Precipitated Sulphur	1	oz.
Green Soap	1	oz.

Apply once a day, preferably at night. Or the following:

Precipitated Sulphur	½	dr.
Benzoinated Lard	2	dr.
Lanolin	2	dr.

Apply once a day at night.

​Finally a good lotion to use as the condition improves is made as follows:

Resorcin	20 gr.
Witch Hazel	2 oz.

Mix and apply with absorbent cotton after cleansing the face with hot towels once a day.

As the parts become cleared of the pimples gentle massage is needed to stimulate the skin to better activity.

Red Nose. This unfortunate condition, giving the person a drunkard's appearance, can be readily cured if taken under treatment before the veins become so large that only surgical micans or electrolysis will remove them.

The cause is usually internal, but may be hereditary or the result of chronic acne. All causes must be looked into and a vigorous treatment be used externally. Hot towels are not good to use, as they tend to enlarge the blood vessels, therefore cold are best. Externally apply cotton moistened with the following lotion each night, letting the wet covering remain:

Muriale of Ammonia	2	dr.
Tannic Acid	3	dr.
Glycerine	2	oz.
Rose Water	3	oz.

Or this lotion can be advantageously used:

Powdered Calamine	1	dr.
Zinc Oxide	30	gr.
Glycerine	½	dr.
Cherry Laurel Water	4	oz.

Shake well and mop on nose morning and evening.

For a medium case, that is, one not aggravated, but incipient, the following formula will be found efficient:

Sulphate Potash	¾	oz.
Sulphate Zinc	1	oz.
Distilled Water	1	qt.

​Dissolve the first in one-half of the water and the zinc in the other half, using separate bottles. After each is thoroughly dissolved, mix together. This is to be applied on a red nose, or can be with good results also to a pimpled skin, twice a day, preferably night and morning. After washing the parts thoroughly with warm water, dab on a little of the mixture with absorbent cotton.

For an aggravated case of red nose or for pimples of obstinate character, this has been frequently successful:

Sodium Sulphide	1	oz.
Sodium Hyposulphite	¾	oz.
Zinc Sulphate	1½	oz.
Acetone	2¼	oz.
Alcohol	4½	oz.
Glycerine	1	oz.
Distilled water sufficient to make 1 quart.

Dissolve the sodium sulphide and the hyposulphite together in some of the water. Then filter through cotton. Then add the rest of the ingredients as per formula. This preparation is expected in its first effects to irritate the skin. If, as in case of some skins, it burns severely, it should be diluted with more water.

For non-alcoholic red nose the following are good, spread over the nose at night and allowed to remain:

Refined Chalk	½	ounce
Glycerine	12	drops

Rose Water	1	ounce
Carbolic Acid	½	of 1%

Exercise in the open air; look to the digestion; raise the body on the toes a few times thrice a day, or twice as often, if need be.

A good nasal douche, to snuff up each nostril, night and morning, is a half teaspoonful of table salt in a tumbler of warm water.

​For the reduction of enlargement of the nose occasionally seen, only surgical means are effectual.

Dry, Scaly Skin. This condition is always due to a lack of good circulation and the consequent want of fat in the skin. Constitutional treatment must be undertaken and daily massage given with the application of a food-giving cream at home. The tissue-building and skinfood creams will give a happy result. All lotions and washes containing alcohol or ether, or such chemicals as borax, ammonia, mercury, zinc, etc., are to be avoided. Lotions containing glycerine and rosewater perfumed to suit agree with most cases.

Hygienic laws must be followed and the diet should he made as nutritious as possible. Outdoor exercise helps a great deal.

The following may he tried after the steam towels and massage and applied again at night:

Iodide of Potash	1	dr.
Glycerine	1	dr.
Lanolin	½	oz.
Neatsfoot Oil	½	oz.

Lanolin	1	oz.
Cocoa Butter	1	oz.
Glycerine	1	oz.
Rose Water	2	oz.

Glycerine burns some skins; cocoa butter irritates others. A formula without these should then be used.

Some cases do well on the following:

Spermaceti	2	oz.
White Wax	2	oz.
Sweet Almond Oil	6	oz.
Lanolin	2	oz.
Witch Hazel	2	oz.

​

Olive Oil	3	oz.
White Wax	3	oz.
Spermaceti	2	oz.
Lanolin	3	oz.
Sweet Almond Oil	3	oz.
Orange Flower Water	2	oz.

Melt the spermaceti, white wax, lanolin, and olive oil together. Add the almond oil. When cool, pour in 6 ounces of water and, after stirring, add the witch-hazel or orange-flower water and about 20 drops of benzoin to each lotion.

Glycerine	4	dr.
Orange Flower Water	4	oz.
Mix and apply in skin daily, letting it absorb.

Oxide of Zinc	4	dr.
Rose Water	6	oz.
Lime Water	2	oz.
Glycerine	1	dr.
To be dabbed on with fine sponge and NOT messaged in.

Oily Skin and Enlarged Pores. This condition is exactly opposite to that just mentioned. Here there is an over-active condition of the sebaceous glands. The skin appears thick and coarse and shiny, and the pores are usually prominent.

Vigorous massage daily should follow the use of hot towels. A simple cream should be used, followed by hot and cold towels and one of the wrinkle lotions be applied twice daily. Creams with wax should be avoided, as they help to clog the pores still more, thus adding to the trouble. Some of the astringent lotions referred to in the treatment of black heads usually help to reduce the pores. The treatments are usually of several months' duration, and given daily to make the skin what it should be.

​

Pulverised Camphor	20	gr.
Powdered Talcum	½	oz.
Oxide of Zinc	2	dr.
Starch	2	dr.

Rose Water	45	gr.
Sweet Almonds	8	gr.
Bitter Almonds	2	gr.
Benzoate of Soda	¼	gr.

An astringent cream that bleaches and softens some coarse skins is the following:

Milk of 50 Crushed Almonds
Rose Water	1	pint
Alum	½	ounce

Strain through fine cheese cloth, and dab on a skin that is inclined to large pores, after having squeezed out any blackheads.

Rose Water	6	oz.
Elder Flower Water	2	oz.
Tinct. Benzoin	½	oz.
Tannic Acid	10	gr.

Alcohol	12	gr.
Tinct. Rencoin	2	gr.
Liquid Borax	2	gr.
Balsam of Judea	5	drops

Blackheads. This unsightly affection of the skin is one of the hardest to overcome. Blackheads are not worms, but plugs of sebaccous matter retained in the lazy and inactive pores. To remove them the face should be thoroughly cleansed with hot towels to soften the skin, and the blackheads he squeezed out with the finger tips or an instrument made for that purpose. Here, too, the cleansing lotions, especially No. 2, given on page 239, will be found excellent. An astringent lotion which may be applied with good results is composed as follows:

​

Sulphate of Zinc	1	dr.
Sulphuret Potash	1	dr.
Rose Water	4	oz.

Mix and after shaking apply once daily with absorbent cotton. If the case is of a chronic nature the following ointment may prove of value:

Salicylic Acid	6	dr.
Bengoinated Lard	2	oz.

Vaseline	30	gr.
Oxide of Zinc	7	gr.
Ergotine	3	gr.

Mix into a smooth paste and apply to parts after the steaming process once daily, or massage the skin with green soap, tempering its severe action by bathing freely with rosewater.

Here is about the best formula for the green soap, if you wish to make it yourself:

Potash or Green Soap	10	parts
Sulphur Precipitate	10	parts
Naphthol	1	part

The following two formulas are found to produce good results in some cases:

Rosewater	2	oz.
Glycerine	½	dr.
Tincture of Camphor	½	dr.
Precipitate of Sulphur	½	dr.

Potassium Carbonate	½	pd.
Acetone	1	pt.
Alcohol	2	qt.
Glycerine	1½	qt.
Water	1	gal.

​Milium. This peculiar blemish, commonly called whiteheads, as contrasted to blackheads, is ignored by some as a thing too trifling to treat, and indeed the appearance of milium is in many cases of so slight a character as to be hardly noticeable. Milium may be described as a series of minute elevations in the skin, white, or gray, or yellowish, which vary in size from a pinhead or less to a third the size of a rice grain. Occasionally these projections actually resemble small grains of rice. They may be found on any part of the face, but are most frequently just below the eyes, and their size for years may remain the same. It is only when they get numerous or grow large that they can be deemed a special disfigurement. Exactly what causes them is a puzzle. The proper way to treat them is to open each with a very fine lancet and by gentle pressure expel the contents. Be sure that your lancet is sterilized, and after you have pressed out the contents, although this condition hardly constitutes a disease, and may be quite a natural one, it is well to use a little peroxide of hydrogen on the part treated.

Ringworm. This affliction, which, however, the facial operator is not likely to be called on very often to treat, can be dispelled by a treatment exceedingly simple. Paint the part every other day with a camel-hair brush dipped in decolored tincture of iodine until cured.

Chapped Lips. A simple, easily made remedy is a combination of mutton or lamb tallow and camphor. Melt a piece of gum camphor about the size of a walnut with two ounces of the tallow. Keep in a porcelain or glass jar.

This is also good for chapped hands.

​Sunburn. This painful inflammatory condition results from undue exposure to the sun. The patron should not receive massage until the irritation of the skin subsides, but treatment of a cooling nature such as mild glycerine and rosewater lotions should be applied. Glycerine and witch-hazel usually act beneficially.

A cooling massage cream without wax or the employment of white vaseline or benzoinated lard, as prescribed by the United States Pharmacopoeia, gives comfort.

After the skin begins to scale off gentle massage may be followed with the application of a pure cream, leaving sufficient on at night to keep the skin soft and cool. A good powder may then be used to protect the new and delicate skin from the elements until entirely restored.

While it is well enough to treat sunburn, it is of value to know how to prevent it. A delicate cream, like the sweet cream from milk or a rosewater cream (cold cream) without wax, as has already been referred to, rubbed on the skin before going into the hot sun, is the best safeguard. Over the cream a cooling face powder should be dusted on. Those powders having coloring matter, especially the brunette, are most suitable for this purpose. Over this veils of blue or red should be worn to counteract the piercing rays.

For those whose skins burn very readily the following lotion should be applied to the skin thoroughly and allowed to dry on:

Calamine Powder	20	gr.
Oxide of Zinc	½	dr.
Glycerine	½	oz.
Lime Water	6	dr.
Rose Water to make	4	oz.

Mix the powders with the glycerine into a paste and add the lime and rosewater. Shake well before using.

​The use of this mixture leaves, a powder upon the skin which acts as the protective agent. No face powder need be applied over it.

For the hands the same methods as for the face are to be used. Open-work silk gloves are to be avoided, but gloves of even weave and solid texture should be worn. To wet the hands and allow them to dry in the sun is a sure way of producing not only painful burns, but also large and ugly freckles and discolorations.

Freckles and Tan. Freckles and tan are the result of pigmentation brought to the skin by the action of the sun or wind. They can be readily removed, but will appear again if the skin is exposed. Bleaching agents remove them, of which the following are good:

Lactic Acid	1	oz.
Glycerine	1	oz.
Rose Water	6	oz.

Rose Water	2	oz.
Oxide of Zinc	½	oz.
Glycerine	½	dr.
Oil of Rose	6	drops

Mix and apply to the face with absorbent cotton two or three times a day.

For summer freckles the following simple mixtures will often prove effective, the degree, of course, varying with various skin textures.

They are to be dabbed on with a bit of cotton or a soft rag or sponge or a carmel-hair brush, several times a day, if possible.

Peroxide	1	oz.
Ammonia	1	oz.

​

Peroxide	½	wine glass
Witch Hazel	½	wine glass

Rose Water	½	wine glass
Ammonia	6	drops

Glycerine	1	oz.
Lemon Juice	1	oz.

For winter, or strongly intrenched freckles the following is effective:

Bitter Almonds	1½	dr.
Blanched Jordan Almonds	½	oz.
Sol Bichloride of Mercury (1/1000)	6	drops
Distilled Water	½	pint

Apply with camel-hair brush; keep away from the eyes; allow to remain on five minutes, and wipe off with soft cloth.

Another suitable but poisonous lotion which should not be allowed to get into the eyes is made as follows:

Mercuric Chloride	7	gr.
Zinc Sulphate	90	gr.
Almonds (blanched)	60	gr.
Rose Water	8	oz.

Make an emulsion with the almonds and rosewater. Dissolve the mercury therein and add the oxide. Shake well before using and apply with cotton once daily.

If it irritates skip a day. The same lotions as for freckles are used to eradicate tan.

To prevent the reappearance of the freckles, before exposure to the sun and wind, use a little cream on the skin and cover with one of the face powders. On very hot days wear a red or blue veil. Freckles are much ​rarer among brown-skinned individuals and races than among the blond.

Liver Spots and Moth Patches. These unsightly spots of yellowish brown and brown appear on the face, arms and hands, and do not respond to freckle lotions readily.

The pigmentation here is deeper and harder to reach. A direct application is necessary. A capital lotion applied to the spots once daily with a little bit of cotton wound around a tooth-pick is made as follows:

Bichloride of Mercury	7	gr.
Acetic Acid Dilute	2	dr.
Borax	20	gr.
Rose Water	4	oz.

Mix and apply as directed. If the spots become irritated and scaly, skip for one or two days. Lighter blotches or spots may respond to the daily use of peroxide of hydrogen, in full strength.

Warts. These ugly excrescences are likely to appear on the handsomest faces. They sometimes, but very rarely disappear of their own accord. The electric needle will remove them, as described fully in the course on Electrolysis. The internal use of a tablespoonful of lime-water twice a day will often give good results, especially when the warts appear on the hands of young persons.

The careful daily application of glacial acetic acid with the point of a tooth-pick will sometimes cause them to disappear, but the healthy skin must not he touched therewith since it will cause ugly sores and consequent scars in the skin.

The external use of a stick of lunar caustic, carefully applied, will gradually kill them off. The warts turn ​black after the application. This black covering is to be peeled off and the caustic again applied in a few days, repeating the process until the wart disappears.

The two latter methods are liable to leave small white scars where the warts have been.

The following has been found in skilful hands to be a highly effective

Ferri Chloride of Iron	2	oz.
Tincture Chloride of Tron	1	pt.

Mix and put in glass bottle with glass or rubber stopper. Apply to the wart by dipping a tooth-pick into the mixture and dabbing it on the wart, without pricking it. Be careful to protect the tissue surrounding the wart from the iron mixture. This can be ensured by covering it with a piece of paper or adhesive plaster. After applying the mixture to the wart for a few minutes, dip a bit of absorbent cotton in the best cider vinegar and squeeze a drop slowly on the wart. It is better to make this iron application very lightly the first few times one performs this operation, for the iron might eat too deep. When skill has been gained by experience, one application will suffice; the wart will blacken and drop off soon.

This same application can be used for a mole; but, in the case of a hairy mole, it will not kill the hair. That must be extirpated by electrolysis, either before or after, preferably after (scc page 323).

Scars and Small-pox Marks. Scars are difficult to eradicate—children usually outgrow them. Sometimes a large scar can be made much smaller by surgical means, and in some cases the scar tissue can be broken down and the appearance very much improved by electrical means. This is fully described in the chapter on Electrolysis (see page 326).

​Birthmarks. We would not advise an attempt to treat a birthmark. Where the mark is rough or raised, facial surgeons have had considerable success—but birthmarks that are smooth and well implanted into the skin and flesh yield very slowly if at all to treatment, and should not be touched except by an experienced physician. What can be done for their eradication is described in the chapter on Electrolysis (see page 325).

Superfluous Hair. This facial disorder has already been discussed in the part of the book treating of hair (see page 205), and will be still more fully treated of in Part V, on Electrolysis.