The Secrets of Specialists/Chapter 21

The above title describes another type of specialist with which every city is familiar. These specialists are generally of the feminine gender, and their finely furnished parlors are found on every fashionable thoroughfare. As most women are ambitious to become handsome, we find these specialists well patronized and "for ways that are dark and tricks that are vain" they are unapproachable.

Georgine Champbaron, of Paris, was among the first to establish a reputation with her famous rejuvenating treatment. Afterwards Mrs. Harriet Hubbard Ayer opened an establishment on Fifth Avenue, New York, for the purpose of beautifying the complexion of patients. From a financial standpoint, her success must have been phenomenal, for at the present time, we find temples of beauty everywhere, with a presiding princess, who is usually a woman past her first youth, hard in feature, illiterate to a degree, but seductive in manner and fluent in argument.

These "ladies" generally claim to be philanthropists, pure and simple, animated solely by a desire to help their less beautiful sisters (at a trifling charge of from fifty to three hundred dollars for each case). Their primary training as beauty specialists is often obtained at some fashionable manicure or hairdressing establishment, where they have acted as an apprentice and learned to listen to and sympathize with women who are not blessed with good complexions by nature.

A clever woman at once finds the field a large and profitable one, and enters into business on her own responsibility, with a few pretty young ladies as her assistants.

By consulting some recipe book she finds the formulæ for the preparations required in her practice, places them in fancy ​bottles and labels them "Creme de Beaute of the French Court," "Helen of Troy Skin Rejuvenator," "Circle's Bloom," or "Elixir of Youth." They also have wrinkle-eradicators, hair dyes and bleaches, plasters, etc. They have steaming and other appliances which impress their patrons favorably.

A young lady once delivered herself into the hands of one of these philanthropic "ladies," for the purpose of learning

their methods, and under her treatment was kneaded, pinched, massaged, greased, steamed, lotioned, powdered, painted and elixired during six weary days. She claims that she got along with the treatment more easily than many others, for as soon as she had retired from their apartments, she washed their stuff off, and was not self-sacrificing enough to undergo the rejuvenating process, for she did not care to submit to the Lorture and be flayed alive. She describes the process of beautifying as divided into three departments, bleaching, steaming and plastering. The almost invariable basis of the complexion ​bleach is corrosive sublimate, the action of which is to remove the outer cuticle, leaving the smooth, pink underskin exposed. The pain connected with the use of this preparation varies according to the strength in which it is applied, and the delicacy of the skin.

The face-steaming treatment used at these institutions is too well known to require much description. The face is thoroughly greased and then bathed with medicated steam. This opens the pores and allows all secretions to escape, including the natural oil which is absolutely essential for the nourishment of the skin. The great argument in favor of the facesteaming treatment is, that it removes all impuritics, which is quite true, but experience has demonstrated that the continual and excessive use of these steaming treatments will weaken the secretory gland of the skin, and have a tendency to leave it dry by extracting its oil. This, of course, is the cause of wrinkles, which no amount of their creams or flesh food will repair.

The most horrible and barbarous of all the complexion processes is known by the alluring title of "rejuvenating treatment," and is guaranteed to make a person look twenty years younger in a few weeks. This is practically a revival of the torture process in vogue in France in the fifteenth century, and the suffering which it entails varies only in degree.

Unlike the other treatments given, the skin, in this process, is pceled off in strips. The face is first bathed with a mixture of iodine, some use the pure tincture. Plasters are then applied which not only loosen the skin, but draw out a thick, milky pus. The outer skin is finally torn off with the plaster, leaving the half-raw and agonizingly sensitive under-cuticle exposed. When the surface has entirely healed, the shortest time being from four to eight days, the complexion in many cases is really marvelously beautiful, although all the lines of character have disappeared, leaving the face as expressionless as that of a doll.

For weeks afterward the faintest breath of wind or the touch of the softest cloth in bathing the face, causes the most ​excruciating pain. In a few months after taking this treatment, the sensitive skin commences to show thousands of crisscross lines almost imperceptible at first, but gradually deepening until the face, when viewed closely, shows a shrivelled surface somewhat resembling that of a peach which has been plucked too soon. In connection with the above treatment, these specialists often give massage treatments; bleach, dye and shampoo the hair, treat baldness and remove superfluous hair, have remedies for pimples on the face and other skin diseases, advertise flesh foods to develop the bust and to round

out the neck. They also have complexion tablets and other beautifying articles.

Although physicians, as a rule, do not care to assume the dignified title of "Beauty Specialists," they are often requested to compound toilet preparations for some of the above conditions. I, therefore, append some of the formulas of their secret preparations, which may be of service to them.

It is this part of the anatomy that offers the "beauty specialists" their greatest opportunity to hold high carnival, ​and we find their preparations extensively advertised to cure everything from a pimple to a "mother mark." Among the remedies used for beautifying the skin, glycerine, no doubt, heads the list. Pure glycerine should never be used, however, in concentrated forms, as it abstracts water from the skin and produces a sensation of heat and burning, but when it is combined with an equal part of rose water, we find it a very valuable agent in rendering the skin white, supple, soft and glossy. No other remedy will clear a sun-burned skin in so short a time as this preparation.

Owing to the penetrating properties of lanoline, we find it also a valuable preparation, in which other remedies may be incorporated to convey them to the under cuticle. Corrosive sublimate is the remedy most generally used as a bleaching agent.

To remove freckles, moth patches, liver spots, etc. I subjoin several formulæ which are used extensively in treating these different conditions of the skin:

Under the title of Albadermine, a foreign specialist has devised a method of treatment for the removal of "tan" and the milder varieties of "freckles," which is as follows:

Dissolve the iodide of potassium in a small quantity of the infusion and a drachm of the glycerine; with this fluid moisten the iodine in a glass mortar and rub it down, gradually adding more liquid until complete solution has been obtained; then stir in the remainder of the ingredients and bottle the mixture.

With a small camel's hair pencil or piece of fine sponge apply a little of "Albadermine A" to the tanned or freckled surface, until a slight but tolerably uniform brownish-yellow skin has been produced. At the expiration of fifteen or twenty minutes moisten a piece of cambric, linen or soft rag with "B," and lay it upon the affected part, removing, squeezing away the liquid, soaking it afresh and again applying until the iodide stain has disappeared. Repeat the entire process thrice daily but diminish the frequency of the application if tenderness is produced. In the course of from three or four days to as many weeks the freckles will either have disappeared entirely or their intensity will be greatly diminished. "Summer freckles" yield very speedily to this treatment.

Melt the wax and spermaceti by gentle heat, then add the almond oil, next the glycerine mixed with rose water and the oil of rose. This makes a splendid preparation for sunburn, chapped hands, etc.

This lotion is used in connection with the Melvina Cream, and is recommended by the manufacturers to remove freckles, ​pimples, moth-patches, liver moles, ringworm and salt rheum and also to straighten wrinkles in the face, and cleanse and soften the skin to youthful freshness. The following formula will make a preparation similar to this remedy:

Make an emulsion of the almonds and rose water; dissolve the mercuric chloride and add this with the zinc oxide.—(New Idea.)

This is a cosmetic for tinting the fingers, face and lips, which preserves the skin, cures chapped hands, etc. The New Idea gives the following formula as approximately replacing the original:

Recent analysis assigns the following composition to this highly lauded cosmetic:

Mix and apply twice a day.

The ammonia carbonate forms a soap with the grease. The boracic acid acts as an antiseptic and the ether as a solvent.—(Analytic.)

Said to resemble the genuine.

Cosmetic for the skin:

Mix.

A teaspoonful of this mixture, added to an ordinary handbasin of water, makes an admirable cosmetic for the skin of the face and hands.

This name sounds quite Oriental enough to enable one to conjure up a vision of some dusky beauty. This cream is used to whiten the skin of the neck and arms temporarily and is especially useful for the purpose of disguising a bad skin in the evening.

This preparation is also known as Sarah Bernhardt's face powder, and has had a wonderful sale in some localities.

Mix well and perfume with a mixture of oils of bergamot, ylang ylang and neroli.

​The beautiful red color which distinguishes this preparation is produced with alkanet root; the mass, before the essential oils are added, is macerated for from six to eight hours under frequent stirring with the comminuted root and then decanted from the sediment.

The finger nail being an appendage to the skin, we give the following formula for imparting smoothness and gloss to the nails:

The oxide of tin must be an impalpable powder and is mixed with the other substances in a mortar.

The following formula is the very best treatment known for discolored skin due to a bruise, especially the so-called "black-eye."

Paint this over the affected parts, allow it to dry and then apply again, until the surface has three or four coats. The formula for other toilet preparations will be found in the chapter on Secret Nostrums.

One of the most amusing incidents the writer has ever had in investigating beauty culture was to visit the parlors of an itinerant beauty specialist, who had advertised quite extensively and given several lectures regarding her rejuvenating treatment for the removal of wrinkles, etc. Her parlors were always crowded and she did a flourishing business during her stay in the city.

By allowing her to understand that I wished to secure an interest in the business, she was extremely willing to enlighten me as much as possible regarding her method of treatment. The specialist occupied three rooms in one of the leading hotels; one was used as a reception room, one as a consultation and treatment room and the other for what she called the "retiring room." Patients were required to take a course of ten treatments for $15.00 in advance. At this nominal price she found many victims from all walks of life, but old maid school teachers seemed to predominate.

The treatment, or enameling process, consisted of painting the entire face, using a common half-inch round paint brush, with the following formula, which I learned afterwards:

Mix by beating and trituration.

The entire face was given a heavy coat of this substance and allowed to dry, when another coat was applied. This was repeated several times. With the assistance of a fan this process took about fifteen minutes and several ladies were treated at the same time. After the last coat they were placed in the retiring room and requested to stay there three hours; they were not allowed to talk or open their mouths, for fear they would break the enamel. Imagine yourself placed in a ​room full of ladies, where all is silence and their faces as expressionless as a doll's; it reminds one of a visit to some ancient Egyptian, incarnated mummery.

The process removes the wrinkles, however, but of course the results are only temporary and many of the ladies abandon

the treatment before the course is completed. This illustrates one of the many ridiculous things which a fluent and persuasive tongue can accomplish in inducing the gentler sex to improve their complexion and restore their youthfulness.

It is doubtful if there is any one thing other than a beautiful complexion that a woman desires more than a full, symmetrical bust. This has caused the inventor and the specialist to contrive all kinds of devices to assist nature in the development of the mammary glands in flat-chested women, and we find bust foods and vacuum treatments advertised very extensively.

The vacuum treatment consists of a cup-shaped glass (see cut) which will fit around the gland, and when suction is made at the apex, either with a rubber bulb or pump, it will draw the breast into the cup, where it is allowed to remain in this expanded position during the night.

Bust foods are nothing more or less than lanoline, which may be adulterated with lard or cheap oils and perfumed. This is rubbed into the breast by a course of massage treatment, which occupies from one to two hours each evening before retiring. I have never had any experience in the use of either of these treatments but the accompanying cut is supposed to represent the results obtained from their use.

​The Medical World has the following to say regarding the development of the bust: If woman's "crowning glory" be her hair, it is certain that a well-developed bust is a more attractive feature to most people. Many women go through life with scrawny figures which are a source of constant mortification to them; when a little advice and proper exercise would modify matters materially. The quack advertisements in the yellowest of lay papers are matched by the better worded advertisements in the highest class of ladies' magazines in bidding for the money of the credulous. The proof is evident that there is a demand for some method of developing the figure, and the family physician should know what advice to give; in fact he should frequently have the tact to give advice unasked. The average physician would ridicule a lady patient who asked such advice, when he should encourage and aid. Of course one must ridicule any drug which has the merit (?) of "developing the bust four to six inches in a few days," but we can instruct our patients in the use of inunctions, massage, bathing and breathing so as to obtain for them appreciable results. The following extract is taken from Ostrom's Massage and Swedish Movements: "Massage and exercise are the only means by which the bust may be properly developed. The patient should be taught how to breathe properly, and for the quick development of the mammary glands, use in massage the following preparation:

This preparation has not a fine odor but produces a pleasant sensation in the skin. It is a valuable compound wherever we wish to develop a part, but it should not be used on the face."

​A few deep breaths taken on rising each morning will work wonders in the course of a few months. The growing girl should be taught to stand and walk with the abdomen drawn back, the chest thrown well forward, shoulders well thrown back and on a line with the hips. Bathing with alcohol or cold water on rising or retiring is not only grateful but beneficial. If your flat-chested girl patients do not speak to you

on such matters, it is your duty to speak to them (probably through their mothers) thus not only earning their gratitude but benefiting their health.

Galega is the internal remedy used by most mail order specialists and at local institutes for bust development, and it is claimed that wonderful results have been obtained in many cases, not only as a bust developer, but as an aphrodisiac for women. The discovery of this drug was due to its extensive use in the central parts of Europe, where it is given to cows to increase the quantity of their milk from thirty to fifty per cent.