How to Obtain and Preserve a Beautiful Complexion
How to Obtain and Preserve a Beautiful Complexion
How to Obtain and Preserve a Beautiful Complexion


Tips for beautiful skin from a 1915 household guide.

  1. The great secret in acquiring a bright, beautiful skin, is temperance, exercise and cleanliness.
  2. High living and late hours will destroy the most beautiful complexion.
  3. Those who desire to be beautiful should never drink strong coffee, nor eat warm bread and butter, fat meat, etc.
  4. Moderate diet and frequent bathing will insure a healthy and a beautiful face.
  5. If you desire your skin to be perfectly clean and white, bathe it in warm water and bran, adding a few drops of bay rum.
  6. To keep the skin and face perfectly soft take the whites of four eggs boiled in rose water, one-half ounce of alum, and one-half ounce of sweet almonds; beat the whole together till it assumes the consistency of paste. Spread this on a cloth and wear it on the face during the night.
  7. Another good preparation to produce a soft and beautiful skin is, to take a small piece of the gum of benzoin and boil it in spirits of wine till it becomes a rich tincture. Fifteen drops of this, poured into a glass of water, will produce a mixture which will look like milk, and it also has an agreeable perfume. This will give the face a rich flesh color.
  8. A lady who possesses a beautiful face should preserve it by wearing a veil or other covering on going into the open air or sunlight.
  9. Do not use strong cosmetics, paints or pastes for adorning the face. They will ruin the best and most beautiful complexion in the world.
  10. To powder and paint the cheek of beauty, is a ridiculous and culpable practice. There are many good remedies to produce a good healthy and natural complexion; that is all that is necessary. There is no such beauty as a rosy cheek which nature paints.