Publisher's Synopsis
For both men and women, concerns over beauty and presentation are daily and-as this charming Victorian manual proves-timeless preoccupations. First published in the 1870s, this guidebook offers essential advice for women on how to heighten and maintain their appearances, and allows modern readers to glimpse a bygone era.
Beauty, What It Is and How to Retain It covers all aspects of a woman's beauty regimen, from body shape and complexion to health and dress. Some of the advice, about clean teeth and smooth hair, has lasting relevance, while other tips serve as reminders of the age in which the book was written: "The water used for washing the skin should be rain-water, but if London rain-water, it must be filtered to clear it from smuts." Recipes for hair tonics and face creams using such ingredients as beef marrow, lard, and borax illustrate that this was still the time of the homemade beauty product.
