The lady's mirror : a guide to beauty with numerous prescriptions for the skin, teeth, and complexion etc / by Wm. G. Sutherland.

  • Sutherland, Wm. G. (William George)
Date:
[between 1900 and 1909?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The lady's mirror : a guide to beauty with numerous prescriptions for the skin, teeth, and complexion etc / by Wm. G. Sutherland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/64 (page 1)
    PREFACE. THE puerile nnturo of tbe majority of popular books on this subject, the grossly inaccurate nature of the information they often convey, together with the antiquated, often ludicrous, nature of most of their recipes, influenced the writer in putting the following notes together in, what he hopes is, a clear and popular style—as much as possible devoid of technical terms. Special attention has been directed to the “ why and wherefores ” of everything, as being the only solid foundation upon which any rational treatment can be based. In a careful perusal the reader will require to relinquish many cherished, but orroneous, ideas—ideas which, from seeing them in print so often, many have come to regard almost as gospel truths. It will bo noticed, too, that many recipes, which formerly any book on the subject would be thought incomplete without, have been passed by in contemptuous silence. Not a word about the cucumber, dropsical and bloated, ns befits his venerable age. Nobly has he done his duty and shed the last drop of his juice in many a pot and pan, in many a cream and complexion- wash. He has had a long innings, and if he did no real good yet he was never mischievous. The most efficacious skin and complexion bcautifiers, whether for internal or external use, happen to be poison, but as they legally should only be dispensed on a medical practitioner’s prescription, I decided to omit formulas for them here. In selecting recipes, the difficulty was to separate the wheat from the chaff—to present only those which are harmless, but yet are beneficial, if ever so slightly, for the purpose in view. They are taken, for the most part, from standai-d authorities, and may be accepted as the best of their kind. A word of caution may be given here. Skill in the mixing of puddings and pastries does not neces- sarily imply competence in the preparation of toilet articles. The avoirdu- pois weight of 437^ grains to the ounce is not the same as the apothe- caries’ ounce of 480 gi’ains. Similarly, if in a French or German recipe liquids are taken to mean by measure, a satisfactory result is not to be looked for. In such cases the recipe is blamed rather than the incompetence of the compounder The subject does not allow much scope for originality, but in laying down clearly the essentials to be looked for in both internal and external beautifiers for the skin, I trust I have paved the way for other scientific inquirers in this subject. To enumerate all the works consulted would be to give a list of the standard books on Cosmetics, pharmacy and dermatology, but Dr. P. J. EichlxofTs practical Cosmetics and Dr. Hcbra’s great work on the skin may be specially mentioned. Wm. G. SUTHERLAND. Junction Ed., London, N.