Silver Screen (Nov 1930-Oct 1931)

H air aism ecrets DANDRUFF, o i 1 i n e s s , falling hair, dullness. Ugly little words, those, that I see too frequently in my correspondence. There seem to be two extremes of attitude about having lovely hair. Some girls seem to regard it as a great, dark mystery. Others act as though it were as easy to raise a head of beautiful hair as it is to raise a cloud of dust. Well, there's no particular secret about it, but neither is it a lead-pipe cinch. Hair is beauty, ages. The skin ages grow tired. But given proper care, The face The eyes the hair, remains beautiful always. The most perfectly cared-for face will look badly if the hair above it is lusterless and disordered. Yet a neglected face will never be apparent if the hair around it is shining and becomingly arranged. The hair is like a frame to a picture. It makes a bad picture look good and a good picture look better. So, why not have beautiful hair? It honestly is yours for the asking, or rather the wanting. Two things you must have. Health and a hairbrush. Now, isn't that simple? Seriously, it is amazing how many girls overlook the influence of their health on their locks, curly or otherwise. If you have been overindulging, in food or in parties, in things that make your blood sluggish and your body tired, your hair will show it by becoming dull and thin. If you have been worrying, your scalp will tighten up, and your hair get dry and that affliction, dandruff, will probably set in. So you must keep yourself wellj — eat the right food ; get your eight hours'^ — — — nightly sleep and your twenty minutes' daily exercise, if you want to make your "crowning glory" live up to its title. Then you must use your hairbrush. (No, not like an angry parent. Use it for one hundred strokes dailv, at least, from your scalp to the very ends of your hair.) Now I can hear a lot of you saying, "But Miss Lee, since the advent of the bob, we all take more care of our hair than ever before. We get it waved every week or so; shampooed every ten to twenty days. Isn't that better care than girls used to give their heads?" Well, it is in one way. But we have lost something, too, in the rise of the beauty shop. Take that matter of the hundred brush strokes, for instance. That used to By Mary Lee BEAUTY FOR THE ASKING Mary Lee will be glad to advise you on any beauty problem — skin, hair, eyes, the best colors to wear, the little tricks of personality. Send her a stamped, addressed envelope, for personal replies. Miss Lee's address is in care of SILVER SCREEN, 45 West 45th Street, New York. be our mothers' nightly rite. Brushing their hair was as much a matter of beauty routine with them as our cold creaming our faces is with us. But too many of us now neglect this brushing. We are afraid of losing our waves, or we are tired, or we don't see the sense in it anyway. Well, there is sense, girls, really and truly. Sufficient brushing keeps the circulation of the scalp healthy and vigorous. It prevents hair from becoming either too oily or too dry. It brings out the natural gloss of the hair, and it helps to keep it clean. As far as brushing out a marcel or water wave is concerned, it may make the wave straighten out a bit sooner than you like, but on the other hand, a wave stays less and less in hair that is growing unhealthy. It is better to have healthy, straight hair than a dull elaborately dressed coiffure. So please do brush your hair at least five minutes daily. You will be amazed how it will repay you. There are two schools of thought on shampooing. I belong to the one which believes you should not wash the hair too often. For oily scalps every ten days to two weeks should be enough, I think. For dry scalps, every third week, always implying, of course, that you have brushed your hair daily meanwhile. But do use pure soap. An olive oil soap is excellent for dry hair, a pure castile for oily. There are on the market, too, liquid shampoos that are very fine and you will find these easier to use than cake soap. Tar soap is better for brunettes, as it has a slight drying tendency. When you do use cake soap for shampooing, it is best to make a ]cIIy of the soap by melting it in a little water and adding a pinch of borax. This prevents your getting hits of soap on your scalp which do not rinse off easily. A tablespoon of lemon juice in the final rinsing water will cut the soap curds and assure you that the hair is clean. Do rinse it out carefully, and if it is possible, dry your hair by hand, out in the sunlight, and avoid those terrible hot drying lamps at the average hairdresser's. Good health, careful brushing, complete cleanliness. These are the things you need for hair beauty. I am sorrv I haven't space to give you definite advice here on dandruff and advanced hair troubles, but if you will write me personally I'll give you advice on those by mail. I'll be glad to tell you how to dress your hair, too. Silver Screen