Skin tone

“ It teaches how to conceal the evidence of age, and how to make the most stubbornly red and rough hands beautifully soft and white. Remember that “The Ladies' Book of Useful Information” does not teach the use of paint and powder, which is injurious to the skin, but how to make the cheek glow with health, and the neck, arms and hands to rival the lily in whiteness. It teaches how to cure Greasy Skin, Freckles, Pimples, Wrinkles, Blackheads, Crow's-feet, Blotches, Face Grubs, Tan, Sunburn, Chapped Hands, Sore Lips, etc. ”

“ It must have a perfectly clear skin, and a decided color or tint, whether white, pink, creamy, gray, brown or black. If white, it must not have a cloud or a blur or haze, nor should the skin have the slightest appearance of being opaque or dead. It must be absolutely free from all cracks, scratches, spots, flaws, indentations, shadowy reflections or blemishes of any kind. It must possess the peculiar luster or orient characteristic of the gem. The skin must be unbroken, and not show any evidence of having been polished. ”

“ His skin was of that lustrous black which shines as if freshly oiled, and his face was closely shaved except for two tufts of short, white hair, one on each side, which shone like snow against his black cheeks. ”

“ Your face, unlike the rest of your body, is continually exposed to wind and weather, dirt and dust, and demands especial care. In very few cases, indeed, can the skin be neglected and yet retain its freshness and purity. The greater the natural beauty and refinement of your complexion, the more perishable it is and the more faithfully should you attend to its preservation.
Help your skin to overcome every obstacle, to combat every enemy. Go to your mirror. Ask yourself these questions: Has the skin a good, clear coloring, a natural glow? Has it a smooth, soft finish? Fine, even pores? ”

“ Fair of skin, blue- or violet-eyed, with hair brown in varying shades, with features sharply cut, delicate lips, thin and well-formed nose, there you have one of the finest types of human beauty existing upon earth. ”

“ I know of no other simple or single means, by which such circulation can be established and maintained in the skin, as by the constant and spirited use of the hair mittens. Besides, it will do wonders for the beauty of your face. Giving the skin of the residue of the body a free circulation, the skin of the face is not likely to be called upon to do more than its share of removing the effete matter in the system, and, therefore, is not likely to take on pimples and other evidences of impurities in the blood. ”

“ Thus, in praising the modest blush which crimsons the cheek of beauty, we should destroy all its charm, if we attributed it to a sudden change in the reflecting surface of the epidermis,--a mere mechanical rushing of blood to the skin, and a corresponding change in its angle of reflection! ”

“ Now no woman resigns herself without a struggle to a cracked and parchy skin. It isn't in her nature to sit down quietly and watch her colour fading, and the whites of her eyes get yellow, and the horrid little lines grow deeper all over her face. ”

“ The skin itself, as is known to everyone, is an envelope which contains the whole body within it. It is composed of three separate layers, the outer being insensible, and laid on as a protection to the delicate and tender structures which lie beneath. It is hardly possible to convey to the general reader a notion of the intricate and wonderfully complicate nature of the dermis, or true skin. ”

“ The texture of the skin is of a dry, parchment-like appearance, which, covering any other human form, would not answer the purposes of its functions, but seems calculated alone to cover the slender, juiceless body of the being arrayed with it. ”

“ In the young of both sexes the complexion is clear and transparent, and the skin smooth. The colour of the latter, when divested of oil and dirt, is scarcely a shade darker than that of a deep brunette, so that the blood is plainly perceptible when it mounts into the cheeks. In the old folks, whose faces were much wrinkled, the skin appears of a much more dingy hue, the dirt being less easily, and, therefore, less frequently dislodged from them. ”

“ Forbes says, [1313] that from the colour of their skins it is impossible that their blushes should be as clearly visible as in the white races; still under such circumstances as would raise a blush in us, “there can always be seen the same expression of modesty or confusion; and even in the dark, a rise of temperature of the skin of the face can be felt, exactly as occurs in the European.” ”

“ My color is as good as it ever was, and my hair's just as thick and not a thread of gray. I suppose the time's got to come, if I live long enough, that I shall look in my glass and see my skin yellow and flabby ”

“ It is a small fine Skin, transparent and insensible, having also innumerable Pores for the discharging of Sweat, and other Humours by imperceptible Transpiration: It is extended over the whole inner Skin, to dull its too exquisite Sense, by covering the Extremities of the Nerves which are there terminated. It also renders the same Skin even and smooth, and so contributes very much to Beauty. ”

“ The parts of the body usually bare, as the skin of the face and hands, are darker than others. In the same region, country-people are more tanned than town residents. In latitudes not far apart, the inhabitants of the same country vary in complexion in a measure perceptibly related to the intensity of solar light. In Europe three varieties of color in the skin are distinctly marked: olive-brown, with black hair, beard, and eyes; chestnut, with tawny beard and bluish eyes; blond, with fair, light beard and sky-blue eyes. White skins show more readily alterations occasioned by light and heat ”

“ The colours of these cells blend with that of the blood, thus producing, according to their number and depth of coloration, the brunette, black, yellow, or red complexion. The palm of the negro’s hand is whiter than the rest of his body, because there the horny epidermis is so thick that the black pigmentary matter cannot be seen through it. And the reason why every negro is born to blush unseen is because the pigmentary matter in his skin is so deep and abundant that it neutralises the colour of the blood. ”

“ The tint of the skin, of course, is largely a racial indication, but in certain respects, the tint, as well as the texture, is an index of health and vigor. The standard of beauty in complexion, whether light or dark, is that which goes with the full bloom of sexual vigor, when the human organism is at its perfect development for the perpetuation of the species. ”

“ The colour of the hair and irides commonly indicates the colour of the skin. If they are dark, the skin is ordinarily dark; and if blue or light, the skin is ordinarily fair. I have seen flaxen hair and surpassing whiteness of skin with eyes as black as death. ”

“ The two universal traits of Beauty which chiefly guided man in the preference of a hairless skin were evidently Smoothness and Colour. One need only compare for a moment the face of a female chimpanzee, its leathery folded skin and straggling hairs, with the smooth and rosy complexion of a European damsel, to understand that, leaving touch out of consideration, sight alone would have sufficed to give the preference to the hairless skin. ”

“ Nearly all black and brown skins are beautiful, but a beautiful white skin is rare. ”

“ Every Woman wishes to be Beautiful, and desires to have a Clear, Transparent, Soft, and Healthy Skin. Many use cosmetics, in a vain hope to produce this effect, some few foolish ones make their skin death-looking by taking arsenic. ”

“ The black pigment protects the underlying nerves of temperature, while the solar heat absorbed by this pigment is immediately radiated in the form of perspiration. Now we can see not only why the negro’s skin is more velvety, smooth, and hairless than our own, but why its sweat-pores are larger and more numerous than in our skin. ”

“ Moreover, there is no reason why physiologists should not ere long discover the secret of changing the tint of the skin, hair, and iris to suit one’s taste. All children are born with light eyes, but a great many exchange them for dark eyes as soon as they realise their mistake. We also know that ill-health temporarily changes the colour of the hair. ”

“ In woman, the purer lily and more vivid rose of complexion, depend on various causes.
It would appear that, in women, the blood is in general carried less abundantly to the surface and to the extremities, where also the white vessels are more developed; and that, to this, as well as to the subjacent adipose substance, the skin owes its whiteness. ”

“ In the same way the human skin, sensitive throughout in its minutest parts, reveals to us the morbidezza of its colouring, those tints of flesh-colour and vein-colour which are the despair of an artist. On the other hand, however much the human body presents, as the apparent mirror of Life, a contrast with that of animals, it undoubtedly expresses also the natural process of self-preservation in the subdivision of the skin, and the indentations, wrinkles, pores, small hairs and veins which we find attach thereto. ”

“ They write and ask questions that show how worried they are about their skin—freckles, pimples, discolorations, patches, etc.—their complexion, their hair, its color, glossiness, quantity, how it should be dressed, and a thousand and one things that clearly reveal the improper emphasis placed upon them. ”

“ While the skin is thus more white in women, it is also more transparent. The reticular tissue, or substance interposed between the true skin and scarf-skin, appears to have more clearness and turgescence, especially on the face, where, under the influence of various emotions, it easily permits a passage to the blood, as we see in blushing. It is in youth that this turgescence and clearness are most evident. ”

“ Those women who have a delicate complexion and are naturally pale take a high color, and vice versâ. In some cases a considerable quantity of hair appears on those parts of the face occupied by the beard in men; it disappears after labor, and returns on every subsequent pregnancy. Oftentimes the skin becomes loose and wrinkled, giving a haggard, aged air to the face, and spoiling good looks. Women who ordinarily perspire freely, have now a dry, rough skin; whereas those whose skin is not naturally moist, have copious perspiration, which may be of a peculiarly strong odor. ”

“ White or light colored clothing permits the penetration of light rays to the skin, and dark clothing prevents this; the former, therefore, is of greater vitalizing value. The sun and light baths are of great therapeutic value with nervous or anemic children. The tanning of the skin gives remarkable resistance. ”

“ Beside those of colour, figure, and hair, there are other physical distinctions, proving a difference of race. They have less hair on the face and body. They secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands of the skin; which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odour. This greater degree of transpiration renders them more tolerant of heat, and less so of cold, than the whites. ”

“ But in order to be convinced of the diversity of races, it is sufficient to observe, 1st, that the teint of the skin is but one of the characters which distinguish each race, and that many others are always united to it. The nature and form of the hair, the thickness of the lips and the nose, the width of the forehead, the degree of inclination of the facial angle, the whole appearance of the face, &c. are constant attributes which indicate a general modification in the organization, and not merely a difference of the dermoid system. 2d. White people become tawny in hot countries ”

“ Ugliness inevitably follows, not confined to shapelessness and warping, but color suffers, not only of skin or hair, but congestions or lividities are shown upon eyes, lips and nose. Nothing so centralizes the esthetic effect as the condition of the eyes ”

“ The whole science of tanning depends on two principles, one the removal of the hair from the skin, 291with the least injury to the gelatinous matter of which it is composed, and the other is the rendering of the skin insoluble in water, and to resist the action of the atmosphere, and yet be flexible. ”

“ People should select colors that go with their skin. And elderly women should not wear grass green, or Royal blue, or purple, or any hard color that needs a faultless complexion. Swarthy skin always looks better in colors that have red or yellow in them. ”

“ People seem to imagine that they improve the appearance of children by exposing their necks and limbs. For my own part, I never can discover the beauty of the red, harsh, and often chapped and painful skin which results from the practice. The appearance natural to the skin of childhood is a creamy, satiny softness, beautiful alike to sight and touch, and it is therefore no less wrong artistically than hygienically to submit children to the evil influence of cold. ”

“ The skin rested, as did the brain, so that it seemed probable that central activity, thought, will, or whatever name is given, has some effect in the change of color. The probability is that, as they become pale, the pigment does not leave the skin, but that it is collected in spheres too small to affect our retina, which will be impressed by the same quantity of pigment when more extended. ”

“ The colour of the skin is, of course, greatly dependent upon the nature of the climate and the constant exposure of the surface of the body to the sun; the parts under the arms are of a brighter colour than those more exposed. ”

“ That which you take to be our honest, natural skin is only a flesh-colored material under which the real epidermis lies concealed as securely and as secretly as the nut under its shell. We do well to throw aside our cloaks, because, with us, we do not show ourselves as we are when we do so. ”