The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Copyright, 1013, by the Star Company. Great Britain nights rteserreA
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ISA O
isadvanta
eauty
By Miss Edna Goodrich
ASIC any beautiful woman who thinks, what
advantago her benutr has been to her and
she will answer: "Nono. On tho contrary,
it has been a decided disadvantage." She will bo
qulto honest in so saying, for oho Will tell tho truth.
For this I can glvo reasons, convincing to myself,
and, I hope, satisfying to you. At any .rate I shall
try, and if I can convoy to you ono-half tho earnest
protest that Ilea In' tho soul Of any beauty against
her lot you will pity instead of envy tho woman who
is beautiful.
tteauty has always seemed to me a beacon on the
high seas of life. A boacon suggest" something flash
lug, brilliant and wonderful, does it not? And yet
what Is A beacon on (ho high soas? A lighthouse
colling Attention to tho rocks about it That Is
precisely what be&uty docs. II calls attention to' tho
Imperfections which it lights, throwing them Into
mors cruel relief. How often nave you heard some
ono exclaim, "What a pretty girl! Isn't It a pity
she is so fat?" or, ''What a sweet face! Isn't It
a fthamo that sho Is so awkward?" And most often
you navo hoard: "She's protty, but hasn't an ounce
of brains."
Really, physical beauty only accontuatos tho lacks
which might pass unnoticed wore tho owner plain
of face or form. I am speaking honestly when I say
that beauty Is a 4ruol light turned garishly upon
all the crudenessos of youth and Haws of mind and
character. "Were It not for a certain outward lo vollncs'i,
these Inward ugllnoBSos would scarcely bo manifest,
certainly would not bo thrown so daringly upon tho
screen of tho public mind. Uccauso a woman Is
beautiful too much Is oxpoctod of her. Every Very
good looking woman I havo known I have board
moan at some time: "So much Is oxpoctod of a
bewutyl"
The World Is Cruel to c. Beauty.
If, as is tho caso with somo of tho most famous
beauties, they are on tho stage, their debuts are a
torment Tho audlonco notices when tho unusually
handsomo Woman Walks upon the stago an exceptional
endowment of good looks, and at onco this punctuator
her laok of experience.
"Pretty, but gawky 1" Handsome, but a horrible
actress!" Thoso discouraging phrases float up to her
and nearly put an iud to her career through heart
failure or" apoplexy. Year after year It Is the sama,
and when, after she has gained oxporlenco and skill,
sho Improves, the Improvement is grudlngly noted
by tho critics. Tho world is ns cruel to a beauty
as it Is kind to a lovor. It seems to dony her
everything but the beauty, and that It discounts' and
decries,
Boon a beauty learns that sho does not belong
to herself but to thp public. Sho may bo the daughter
of a multl'mllllonalro or tho lghtoon-dollar-a.week
girl at the end of tho choruB lino, but In ft short
time nho will find that sho Is only horsolf limited.
Tho publlo has part In her. It spoaks of "Our Mary,"
or "Now York's lovely Miss Smith." Her beauty
is not her own, She la not her own. Tho public,
owns shares in her whloh it claims by staring nt
her and making rude personal remarks, as, "She's
not up to tho mark to-day, wonder what's thof
matter? She Is the kind that agos fast." Tho public
feels It lityt tho equal right to crltlelzo a beauty,
as freely as tho mayor or tho head of tho streot clean
lnf department.
The beauty cannot artjoy herself ns other womon
do. She is always on exhibition. Sho Imb the sonso
of being always on parade. A beautiful woman longs
to got Into a sweater and run about with her hair
mussed as other women do, but she must notl No,
some ono may be looking over a tuck fenco or out
of an attlo window, training Hold glasses on her,
and Saying. "She a beauty? Why, she's a frightl'1
This is especially unforgivable In this country. In
Europe one is permitted to persplro, and wear n
sweater and big loose boots, and that Is the reason
I llkft to stay over there.
Can't Eat, Drink or Dress as You Wish.
It Is bard work to keep one's, reputation of being
a beauty. You cannot dress your hair hurriedly In
& new mode and go down town to shop. Not at all.
You must, if you are a beauty, work hours at the
mirror, studying yourself at every anglo, to be suro
that your coiffure is adapted to yourself. You cannot,
It you are In high spirits, take a hop, skip and jump
anywhere. Vou must move slowly and gracefully
with & dignity befitting tho reputation you didn't
want, but which tho public has forced upon you.
You 'can't eat what you llko because It may maka
you tat You can't drink Ico cream soda lest It
muddy your complexion. You havo to take horrid
exercises beforo going to bed and gp through even
worse contortions when you got up to keep your
figure; It you go to Sherry's to luncheon you caunot
oat and chat with perfect enjoymeut. You cannot
forget that peoplo's eyes are focussed upon you.
Suddenly you feel as though thrust Into an Icy pool.
, Some woman Is staring at you, and saying, "Why did
sho ever wear that bat?"
It costs a great deal of time to ho a boauty. You
must give twlco as much time to shopping as a
plainer and so more fortunate woman, does. You
cannot hurry through a month's shopping in two
hours and dash off to a matinee. You must keep
at it steadily, as a galley slave at bis oars. You
must worry tho lives out of the shop girls and glvo
tho floor walkers nervous prostration. Your shopping
is as important as an election. Instead of spending
ttmo with books or with your friends, you must rest
and take beauty treatments, because you are a boauty.
It costs a great deal of monoy. You cannot afford
to wear coarse cloth nor have ill-cut clothes. A flno
plcturo must have , good frame. Empty your purse
of all that you wanted to spend for a trip to Florida,
or to refurnish your apartment, for clothes you must
have, many of them, and expensive ones.
These are the lessor disadvantages. They are irri
tating, and bring frowns, and wrinkles, and rob you
of your beauty and your good disposition.
i come now to tho greater disadvantages affecting
the -vital things in every woman's lifebo she artist
or woman In the home.
It is a fact known by beauties, and suspected by
others, that beautiful womon do not attract tho best
men. Callow boys or silly old men flutter about
the flame of beauty. Intellectual men do not caro
for physical beauty. Men who are worth while are
.attracted but briefly by it. If at all. Recall tho sort
ot ma who have lost their heads over a beautiful
face. What sort ot heads woro thoy7 Loose and
ompty, were they not? Tho admiration of those men
had its root not In tho beauty of tho womon but In
their own vanity. These men want to be seen with
what thoy call "n looker." Thoy want other men
to envy them. That which tho poor boauty, yearning
as all women do for slncero affection, mistook for
lovo for herself was tho Self lovo of tho foolish youth
or tho vain old man. So I was not surprised to hear
a woman who had boen an enchantress of Interna
tional renown nay: "In all my llfo I havo never been
loved!" That which In tho glory of oVory woman's
llfo, desired by her above all things else, tho Ioto of
a manly man, Is genorally denied the beauty.
Middle Age a Grief, Old Age a Tragedy.
Cousldcr tho marriages of great beauties. Which
of them has been happy? Tho genulraly bjappy mar
rlage is generally unknown to them. Their fault,
you say?. In part, perhaps, for whilo a beauty may
not havo been born selfish, she may have grown so,
gradually, uhconsclously. Every foolish person who
exclalraB, "What a lovely little girl!" helps fostor self
ishness and conceit in her. Sho Is "spoiled whon
sho reaches tho altar of manrlogo. Tho arm on
whloh she leans as sho loaves tho altar Is neither
a strong nor trusty ono. It cannot, or doos not, guldo
her Into wlso paths, nor toward the heights of
character Attainment. For this reason tho saving
"All beauties aro spoiled" remains true, while under
kind, firm guidance thoy might becomo womon of
rarest, finest characters.
Certain sayings about beauties pass into provorbs,
and boauttos hoar them so often that they accept
thom as truth. For lnstanco, "ilonuty and brains
do not go togothor." This, hoard so often, dlscouragoa
them, and hopeless of living down this untrue saying
thoy cense o try..
And this brings mo to tho greatest disadvantage
of all the disadvantages of being a boauty. Because
of poor training In youth a boautiful girl thinks that
bolng a boauty Is enough, Sho asks nothing moro
of tho gods. CroatUres gather about the candlo flame
of her beauty. Thoy aro moths, but sho mistakes
them for men. She doos not need to put forth any
effort td attract. Thero Is no need to cultivate her
brain or hor character, she thinks, Everything Indi
cates that hor beauty Ib enough. Sho wastes her
youth.
Sho lays up no rlchos of tho charm of a cultured
mind and a harmonious character. When middle
ago comos It finds hor empty-hoarted and ompty.
handed, oflon, 1 grieve to say empty-handed. That
dcopor, rlchor charm which holds lovo to the ebd she
nover had. That is the reason mlddlo age is a grief,
and old age A tragedy, to a beauty.
Two Portraits of Edna Goodrich Who
I Generally Rated s a "Boauty."
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To Stop Fraudulent "Beauty" Cosmetics
TO.- TT - t
By Rene Bache.
THE Mchardsc-n Dill, hdw be
fore a committee In Congress,
is aimed at fraudulent cos
metlcs. if, as la expected, it bo
comes a law, it will drive all the
jirotendod "face lotions," "skin
foods," and other such beauty fakcB
out of the market
This is a matter of very great im
portance, because up to the preseut
time there has been no restriction
whatever upon tho sale ot stuff ot
the kind, which find a market in
this country to the extent of many
millions of dollars yearly. Moat ot
it is absolutely worthless, and much
ot it highly Injurious and even dan
gerousbeing calculated to destroy,
rather than to enhance, temluine
charms.
The Government would havo at
tacked this swindling business long
ago, but for the fact that Its hands
have been tied. For fraudulent cos
metics are not within tho scope ot
the Pure Food and Drug Law,
simply for tho roason that thoy can- '
not be classified as medicine In a
proper senso ot the term. It a
woman seeks a cosmetlo to make her
more beautiful, It can hardly bo said
that she Is purchasing a medlolno.
This situation ot affairs, however,
will be entirely changed by the
passage or the Richardson bill; and
thoreupon the Government will pro
ceed to make wholesale seizures of
fraudulent beauty-making nostrums
of all kindsbasing Its action In
some cases upon the false labelling
of the preparations In question, and
In others upon tho fact that they
are worthless or worse. Already
the Dureau of Chemistry has made
a fairly complete investigation ot
the whole subject, and has planned
Its lme of procedure.
The women In particular should
be glad ot the protection which by
this means Is to be afforded them
against a species ot fraud which,
not only cheats them out ot thoir
money, but threatens to rob them ot
tholr good looks. Take tor instance
most of the so-called ''face lotions"
which to day are so widely adver
tised and sold. Most ot these havo
been unalyzod by the Dureau ot
"hemistry. and It has found that
I
nearly all contain bichloride of mer
cury -that is to say, corrosive sub
limate. Tfie typical Jiotsrum of this
description consists of corrosive
subllmato dlssolvod In water and
glycerine and flavored with tincture
of benzoin.
It goes without saying that such
a mixture is extremely cheap. Ia
fact, it can bo put up for almost
nothing at all, but It easily com
mands a high prico. Apparently
(say the Government experts) the
more absurd and extravagant are
tho claims made in behalf of a
beauty fake, tho more readily it
sells:
One manufacturer, fthen asked
"what was In" a cosmetic prepara
tion that he sold, coolly replied:
"There is 80 per cent profit for me."
The fraudulent "beauty lotions"
beautify by destroying tho Burface
layer of the skin with which they
come into contact That is to Bay,
the corrosive sublimate they con
tain causes the outer "scarf Bkln"
(epidermis) to peel off. thus bring
ing to view the lower layer of skin
(dermis) which Is smobth and pink.
Incidentally, ot course, it leaves
the skin very tonder and sensitive
deprived as It
Is of the protec
tion which na
turo has pro
vided tor It
Further appli
cations of tho
lotion do more
damage, pro
ducing irrita
tion, roughness
and cracking of
the skin. These
symptoms (for
lack ot the out
er protective
coat) are likely
to be followed
by germ Infec
tion, which re
sulta In a
"breaking out"
or eruption of a
most disagree
able and even
distressing
character.
Recently the
DureauofChem-
Magnified Cross-Section of
the Skin.
E. The Outer Surface of the Skin
(Epidermis) Which la Eaten Away
by Bad Complexion Remedies.
D. Underlying Skin iDennli) Which
I Left Exposed to Inlammatioa and
Disease.
istry learned of a typical experience
of this kind certainly most instruc
tive which was recited by a lady
who, Jn the quest of beauty, had
purchased and applied one of these
lotions.
lies complexion having been
ruined thereby, she went to a pyhsl
clan, who prescribed an iodide
ointment In obedience to his In
structions, sho used it before going
to bed. When sho got up the noxt
morning, she found that her faco
had turned lltorally as red as a
boiled lobster this being the effect
of a combination of the iodine In
the ointment with the mercury ot
the lotion.
In despair sho went to another
doctor, Vhc- gave her an ointment
that contained sulphur. When she
used this, It turned her faco black,
so that she looked llko a negress.
In the course ot time, with the
disappearance of tho chomlcals and
the natural replacement of the In
jured skin by fresh tissue, the
lady's complexion reuuraed its nor
mal and healthy appearance. But
eho Is not buying any more "beauty
lotions."
Ever since vasellno -appeared on
the market as'
a commercial
article, it has
been widely em
ployed as a
basis for cos
metics. In Itself
it la harmless
and even bene
flolal barring
one rather seri
ous drawback
which will pre
sently be men
tioned. Dut It
has been the
custom ot man
ufacturers of
nostrums to add
a little scent
and coloring
matter, and sell
it at fancy
prices under
one trade name
or another the
fraud In this
case consisting
in ihn salo of
an extremoly cheap material, in
disguise, for much money, with tho
help of advertisements making false
and extravagant claims in regard to
the efficiency of the preparation aa
a beauty maker.
The Same thing has been largely
done With mutton tallow. And a
good deal of very expensive tooth
powder la nothing more than a mix
ture of powdert-d soap and preci
pitated chalk, with a little ecent and
pink coloring to render It attractive.
Toothpowder, it might be said, la
hardly to be Classed as a 'cosmetic;
but it serves to illustrate the great
principle that underlies the manu
facture of nearly all toilet prepara
tionsthe Idea, that Is to say, of
soiling a mixture of cheap matorlala
at 'a high price.
A serious objeotlon to vaseline as
an unguent for use on the face ia
that it la at least suspected to have
a tendency to encourage the growth
of hair where It is not wanted. This
Is merely a suggestion which women
may consider it worth whilo to .take
Into view.
Even tho colored populatidn is not
overlooked by the manufacturers,
though tho nostrums sold for their
special use are most commonly for
taking tho kinks oift of the hair.
"It seems awful funny to me," said
a negro maid to her mistress ono
day, "how you white ladles aro al
ways tryln' to put kinks Into your
hair, while wo cullud folks are doln'
our best to get 'em out
There Is a very wide and profit
able Bale for "antl-ltlnks," of which
there are many brands on the mar
ket. One, recently analyzed by the
Bureau of Chemistry, was found to
be a mixture of cocoanut oil and
crude vaseline, flavored with oil of
bergamot Another was a more
elaborate preparation, composed of
lard, beeswax, camphor oil, beet
marrow and gum benzoin, flavored
with oils of lemon, orange, cloves
and lemon grass. Yet another was
ninety parts vaseline and ten parta
beef suet, with oil of bergamot for
flavoring. All of them are sold with
fake "before and after" pictures, il
lustrating tho marvelous effects they
produce.
If the Richardson bill becomes a
law the Government officials will
make havoc on the fraudulent com
plexion and beauty business.