Screenland (May-Oct 1931)

for October 1931 65 Presenting a new and novel department dedicated to Charm — edited by a real beauty. Don't miss it! But now — listen — when you get your face all made up in the accepted manner, just like Mary Brown and Sally Jones, is it a face that continues to please the eye after the first approving glance? Will it hold attention? Or is it just one of the many little perfect peas in the popular pod that you can't tell from the one next to it? We treat our faces as if they were portraits we were painting and fix them up to suit ourselves. Fine ! So far ! But if we are going to do that, let's make a good job of it and paint them with desirable qualities from within as well as without. If you don't — well, the goblins'll git you if you don't watch out — you'll have just an empty little mask for a face. Unfortunately, that's what most of us have. Literally millions of words have been written this year, telling us how carefully we must apply our makeup— and they are all words of wisdom. Don't look made-up ! And to make-up without looking made-up requires a professional skill. So we try and try and try. We take lessons and devote much thought to the proper shade over the eyes, the best position for the tiny bit of cheek rouge allowed. No wonder that by the time we have mastered this art (and that is what it is) we are too exhausted to think much more about our appearance. And just when we're wanting a little appreciation if not actual sympathy, the fashion dictators give us another demand. Attention ! To be truly smart, your face must have "character." The busiest debutantes are after it. There must be a light of zeal in your eye, a purpose in the set of your chin, and — don't miss this ! — you must have a cause! It is smart to take an interest in your fellow man. So, if your swain seems less interested than he used to be, try this. Rush out in your garden and pick a large bouquet of zinnias, or whatever you have left, and take them to — say, the Children's Hospital. Then, that evening before you start off with your cool young man just drop a casual remark about your"cause." Something like this : "Just as I left the Children's Hospital this afternoon, I ran into John Smith driving his new roadster. He seemed surprised to see me there and drove me home." Perhaps it's the novelty that is proving so attractive to young men of today — but whatever it is, the fact remains that all the smart young things have a "cause." Read up on your "subject" and appear to know about it — but not too much. Let the men tell you belpful things about it. Having gotten a cause for yourself, don't be too serious and morbid about it. Treat it as a stimulating thing and talk about it very little — just enough. It is not only ultra-smart to be interested in unfortunatehumanity this year, but it puts a light in your eyes and a warmth in your heart that will glow in your face as softly and becomingly as candle-light. Womanly figures are all the rage these days — so, too, are womanly faces. And the girls are going to any length to get them — even pretending they're interested in somebody besides themselves! Well, go on and pretend. It's a start, anyway — and it'll get you in the end. Men love sympathetic women. (If they don't get sappy about it.) So do other women and J may add — so do children and dogs ! You see, we have been so concentrated on improving ourselves that our thoughts have automatically formed the habit of selfishness and that shows in some of our faces — makes them hard. We don't mean to be selfisb. We've just gotten that way without realizing it. But, do you know, selfish thoughts actually cause the muscles of the face to droop ! Take for example the woe-be-gone expression of the woman who enjoys poor health. "Poor me!" her sagging cheeks seem to say. Consider our very language on the subject. "His face fell when he learned of his loss." "The baby was so disappointed she pulled the longest face.'' But when a real interest outside ourselves comes along and sweeps our thoughts out into the .big stream of life — up goes the chin, up go the eyes, up goes the body, and up goes the beauty thermometer ! One is the ME expression which is unlovely. The other is the YOU expression which is the first step toward beauty and charm. There are hundreds of tiny muscles in the face and they are so sensitive that they respond instantly to every condition imposed upon them from within and without. And so long as I am conducting this department for Screexland we will study them both with equal emphasis. They are inseparable in the final effect. Next month I want to talk about Facing the Future, for we want to build a dependable beauty for the future as well as to make-up skilfully at the present. Yours for Beauty and Charm ! Something ^A(ew! A beauty department edited by a girl who is herself a beauty! You may rely upon Margery Wilson's beauty advice and suggestions, for she follows them herself, and she is one of the loveliest women in America. A popular screen star who was "discovered" by D. W. Griffith and then became the producer of her own pictures, Miss Wilson knows all the secrets by which screen actresses enhance their beauty. She will tell you all about them — every month, from now on, in SCREENLAND. If you wish personal answers to specific beauty questions, please enclose a stamped, addressed envelope, and address Miss Margery Wilson, Beauty Editor, SCREENLAND, 45 West 45th Street, New York City.