Too Busy for Beauty?

Shame Mrs Colby doesn't give any advice on time management... I find time to follow the course but blogging about it is another matter.

This week the topics covered manicure, pedicure, how to fend off double chin (I'll post more about that later), how to pick the right foundation and how to be your own masseuse.

Yesterday was dedicated to organising my wardrobe, which, at least in my world, is a never ending job. I don't know what happens but my wardrobe seems to be a black hole for clothes, things disappear never to be seen again or lovely things are replaced with rubbish clothes in wrong colours, sizes and styles.

But many hours, three loads of washing, a huge pile of ironing and some minor mending later it's looking a lot better. A large bag is on it's way to the charity shop, another bag to the dry cleaners and I have listed the key pieces I need so I can look for them in the summer sales. A time consuming but satisfying exercise.

DIY Facial

Day 9 - Facial

Equipment:

Cleansing Cream + Lubricating Cream + Freshener + Mask

Don’t put off your facial just because you don’t have any shop bought masks in the house, you can make your own - mixed fresh anytime you need it.

Mix two tablespoons of cornmeal with one lightly beaten egg white to form a thick paste, spread over face and let dry, then rinse off with cool water

So let’s begin:

Wrap yourself in a big towel, leaving arms and shoulders bare, tie back your hair.

Step 1: Cleanse thoroughly, either with cleansing cream or soap and finish with several warm rinses. Now fall to pieces, drop your head, let its weight fall willy-nillly, let your shoulders sag, your arms fall lifeless. Shake out your hands, rest there a minute

Step 2: Take your palms full of oil or rich cream and work into body massaging and kneading as you work your way up from your feet.

Step 3: Starting at the base of throat with fresh oil or cream and stroke up to chin, alternating hands 10 times, now work on an angle out to jaw hinge 10 times, now pulling with two fingers make 10 strokes from chin to ear.

Step 4: With upwards rotations of first three fingers massage from jaw to top of ear, then upward at an angle from corner of nose to temple, stroke 10 times. Now from below mouth corners, work up the laugh lines rouding over cheek to inner eye corner. Then rapidly alternating hands pat storke up up from chin to lip, repeat this all across forehead, quick little pats , between eyes. Then gently pat (don’t rub) around eyes from nose across cheekbones to outer eye corners.

Step 5: Steam with cloth wrung out of hot water to open pores and make ready for the mask. Cover all of face except eye area, make sure mask is thick enough to cover every pore, pack into wrinkles and crevices. Soak cotton pads with eye lotion lay over eyes and get into Hollywood Slant.
Relax for 15-20 minutes, think nothing except to count your blessings.

Step 6: Saturate a big blob cotton with skin freshener and repeating your stroking patterns wipe off mask, rinse off with cold water. Your skin is smooth as baby’s, your eyes are bright and dewy and your body is fresh and relaxed. Now you’re ready for a lovely make up.


I added exfoliation and extraction between the cleansing and mask, skin feels baby soft and the rest of me rather chilled (like the dry Riesling in my glass...)

Seasonal Beauty

Your face changes through seasons. Winter is cruel and drying, make sure you lubricate, lubricate, lubricate, even if your skin is oily.

Spring is the time to cleanse and lubricate, shed off all the old skin in prepareation for summer. Mild rains and damp weather are good for you, just look at the English roses!

Summer is the time to repair your beauty, you exercise, eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, drink more liquids, breathe more fresh air and get the healing benefits of the sun. But be careful, if you are foolish you can do a lot of damage, salt water, windburn and sunburn can take a horrid toll.
Don’t go out in the sun with perfume on your skin, it attracts bees not boys and the alcohol and sun can burn spots into the skin.


When sunbathing cover your body with oil with a “screen” and oil often, turn constantly as on a spit and come in before you burn . Wear large sunglasses to protect the sensitive eye area.
Even honey tone is ideal, moisturise and cleanse well after sunbathing.

Autumn is another time for deep cleansing.

And remember your body needs care too. If you feel dry and itcy in the winter make like a seal, give your whole body an oil rub once a week. Roll up in some big towels or washable robe and take a nap, then a warm bath, a brisk towel rub and you are a new woman.

Inventory Day

Day 8 - Inventory

All the way through this course and for as long as you are interested in being an interested person, which I hope is for life - use Sundays as your inventory day.
Check your assets and take out your liabilities and look them into face. Enjoy your progress, congratulate yourself on improvements, that’s your credit side. Make some definite plans about the debit side.

There isn’t an ugly woman in the world, there are undiscovered women, unrealised girls who have not had the drive and determination to create beauty within themselves, to uncover the hidden charms that every woman possesses.

There is a basis for beauty that cannot be manufactured - genuine peace with yourself. This is the most important thing I can ever tell you: Contentment is a woman’s best cosmetic. The look of happiness on your face will be worth all the make up tricks you can ever learn. Beauty and health shine from within. But the most beautiful look in the world is the glow on the face of a woman in love. You will have to take care of falling in love yourself, all I can do is help you to become lovable. Then even though I can’t guarantee a delivery of a man at your feet by the end of this course, I’ll be tempted to bet on it.
~Anita Colby~

Use your Sundays to actively cultivate your soul. Give it a good spiritual exercise. Relax during the day with a book of good thinking and do some reading (Mrs Colby recommends: Three Minutes a Day by Father James Keller or As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. Madame MG recommends Creative Visualisation by Shakti Gawain or anything by Dr Wayne Dyer).

Then take yourself outdoors or to somewhere else that inspires you; the fashion collection at Victoria and Albert Museum works for me every time. This is how you clear out cobwebs from your mind, eradicate worries and belittle your own troubles

And finally grade yourself from 1 to 10 for degree of accomplishment, be fair and honest.


My weekly score:

1. Have you followed the basic principles of the course - diet exercise, rest? 6/10
2. Have you intelligently done your daily 1,2,3 beauty routine? 7/10
3. Are your teeth, hair, hands and clothing well groomed? 6/10
4. Can you do your exercises well? 9/10
5. Do you practise good posture constantly and back it up with daily deep breathing sessions? 7/10
6. Can you relax completely to relieve tension of mind and body? 8/10
7. Are you breaking your bad habits, tidying up your mind? 5/10
8. Are you widening the horizon of you interestes, your friends, your hobbies and cultural pursuits? 8/10
9. Do you find your viewpoint, your effectiveness as person improving with your physical appearance? 7/10
10. Have you found a true, living, working faith? 8/10

Score: 71/100

I didn’t score too badly, I’ve stuck to the cleansing plan, but traded soap and water to some Lancôme cleanser and toner, my blackheads are disappearing even though the only major difference to my normal routine is cleansing my face with a cleanser in the morning too, previously I would have just used a bit of toner after shower and before moisturising, now I cleanse properly twice a day.

I have done my exercises, not every day but a good five times so far and tilt myself into Hollywood Slant at every opportunity, it feels great, you should try it.

But I have to come clean, diet wise this week has been a disaster… wine, beer, ice cream. pizza, cake and all sorts of other lovely things that you are supposed to enjoy in moderation - not daily! I seriously need to plan my eating a bit better. Wine is great and British summer so short (and often non-existent) that it seems a pity to say no to an ice cream when it’s really hot, but needs must.

So for next week I’m going to focus on the diet bit.

I took a sneak peek to what’s in store in the coming week and there’s manicure, sunbathing, hairstyling and towards to end of the week we are finally getting to my favourite part; make up!

Personal Habits - They Make or Break a Beauty

Day 7 - Breaking Bad Habits & Date Night

Use your Saturdays to collect yourself to restore order to your mind, your body and your belongings.

All the things your do from the moment you wake up until you shut your eyes at night form a pattern of your life, your self-portrait to the world. You are simply the sum of the million little things you do every day. So the way to change yourself is to check off bad habits and break them.

Stop picking on yourself:
Some of the things you say to yourself you would never say to someone you love. Be kind to yourself and stop comparing your looks to somebody else's. Learn how to look like yourself, but your very best, individual self. Analyse and study your face and body for their own special assets and then polish yourself from top to toe.

Do you flounder through life? Are you the kind of person who is always having accidents? Do you let things "just happen" to you, lose interest, or your grip or your man?
Coordinate yourself, keep your body in such poised and perfect alignment that it takes you beautifully through life. Keep your mind in balance too. Plan your life, your time, your budget, your pleasure and your duties, so that you make things happen as you want them to.

Do you get slipshod about being clean, clean, clean ,clean? There is no basis for beauty not even for self respect except scrupulous cleanliness.
Follow your cleansing regime religiously.

Do you gobble heavy, rich foods when your skin and your figure tell you you shouldn't?
Eat with sense, follow your diet, count your calories.

Do you let careless elimination habits (that's having a poo to you and me)cloud up your skin and vitality?
Try to establish regular daily hours for your body's elimination habits. Drink enough water if you're not regular - 6 to 8 glasses between meals - but no more.

Do you wave dry, wrinkled paws?
Moisturise your hands at every opportunity, after carefully drying every finger, every inch of palm, use lotion, keep a bottle in your bathroom, by the kitchen sink, on your nightstand... A daytime glove habit keeps your hands protected summer or winter (plus looks super elegant!)

Are you armadillo elbowed?
Oil a lot, at night, before baths. In the tub take a scrubbing brush and soap to work off tough outer skin. Dip elbows into halves of lemons after you've pumiced and oiled them.

Have you got fresh breath?
Even your best friend won't tell you if you smell bad, but stinky breath makes a girl about as uncharming as a girl can be. Do your proper tooth brushing after every meal or munch hard fruit and raw vegetables to clean the teeth. Keep a moutwash in you desk drawer at work, see a dentist regulardy and don't specialise in high smelling food or drink. (Now if only she had given advice on how to let somebody know they have a vile breath without upsetting them...)

How about BO?
Keep clean, fresh and fuzzfree, use deodorants and antiperspirants.

Do you allow underarm or leg fuzz to grow?
Don't! Shave regularly, at least two or three times a week and don't think stockings are going to hide unshaved legs, it's like putting your legs under glass.

Do you live with messy dressing table, bureau, drawers?
Tidy up your table tops, put underwear, stockings, gloves, scarves, bags and sweaters in proper drawers. Put sachets, scented lining paper or emptied perfume bottles in your bureau. At work keep a small space in the back of your drawer for your cosmetics, moutwash and comb.



Date Night

What do you do when you have got a date at eight but you are exhausted after shopping all day? (I hope you sneaked a look at yourself in the shop window - are you a better looking girl than a week ago? Did you have a posture so regal you could have put those parcels on the top of your head and carried them right back home?)

But your feet ache, your hair is stringy, you are tired all over and there's just an hour to go.

Start from the feet, rub and massage deeply with olive oil and then a quick shower or do a contrast bath like Betty Grable (picture above) used to do, stinging hot and then icy cold sprays, scrubbing with a brush and massaging.

Set your hair in cologne, it dries quickly and makes your hair smell lovely to the man you are dancing with.

Cream Clean your face, long and thoroughly, smoothing away the tired lines, then tone and lubricate (that's moisturise to you and me)

Make eye lotion pads and lay them on your lids (cucumber slices, teabags, table spoons that have been in the fridge for a bit or just a simple gel eye mask will also do the trick).

Now the Hollywood Slant, put those feet up and massage them if they are still giving you trouble, use a menthol foot cream. Before you put your shoes on sprinkle shoes and feet with talcum powder. Go limp, see black and lie there for 15 minutes with blood flowing to recharge your face.
Now then, refreshed and bright eyed, remove the cream from your face, put on your make up and perfume the pulse spots of your body, brush out your hair, slip into your date dress and shoes, comb your hair into shape, blot on some lipstick, check your reflection in the mirror and go and have fun.

Days 5 and 6 - Teeth and Hair

Firstly I must apologise but the weather’s been so amazing over the past few days, that the last thing I’ve wanted to do is to sit in front of the computer.


Day 5 - Show your teeth - and how to turn household chores into exercise

Whenever you talk, laugh, smile or sing people are conscious of your teeth. They should be one of your real beauty points. Are they? Shining white? Immaculately clean, no stains?

Brush teeth at least twice a day, better still, three times or every time after eating, never skip bedtime brushing.

You need:

Two brushes: one for morning and one for night (why?) and ideally one for your handbag or office drawer. Toothbrush should be hard, once limp replace immediately.

Dental floss: one for your bathroom, another for your handbag

Powder, paste or liquid (I guess modern day toothpaste didn’t exist back then)

Mouth wash: An excellent mouth wash (or tooth powder) is bicarbonate of soda ground up with an equal amount of salt, this fights oral acidity (thanks but I’ll stick to my Colgate…)

General recommendations for healthy teeth:

Eat for teeth, your diet must include calcium, vitamins D, A and C.

Whilst you are brushing your teeth, pull in your stomach for a waist toning exercise.

Do not use your teeth to open safety pins, bottles, bobby pins, they are not made from stainless steel but enamel and enamel chips.

And finally see your dentist twice a year, they are not a madman with a riveting machine but your friend who wants to keep you from having cavities.

Ok, agreed I'll be making an appointment for a clean and check up asap all the other stuff I'm already doing.

Now that the teeth are covered, let's move on to stretching. For a busy working girl or a housewife, Mrs Colby recommends turning everyday chores into exercise:

1. When you make beds, do it the efficient way a nurse does, making up complete bed on one side first with hospital corners top and bottom for sheets and blankets and s-t-r-e-t-c-h to smooth everything across to the other side, I tried this and belly flopped on my super king size bed… My arms just aren't long enough, so unless you sleep in a single bed or have extremely long arms I think this stretch is a bit challenging, also I don't know what hospital corners are.

2. Crawl when you wash floors or scrub the tiles. Keep your back up not swasy backed you and your stomach pulled in, this is very good for your posture

3. Squat as you scrub the tub dust low places, or if you are a salesgirl straighten out stock and then twist and stretch to reach the things you are after

4. Push when you pick up the baby - or any weight. This way Bend your knees and make your legs push you back carrying the weight.

And for the working girl (no not that kind of working girl although I could think of a few on the job stretches for them too)

Stretch at the file cabinet, bend knees deeply and keep straight as you go through files stretching for the back ones. Sit with erect back and pulled in tummy as you type, pick up imaginary book on the floor by bending far over without moving hips from the chair.

Day 6 Your Crowning Beauty

Your hair’s character is formed as soon as it pushes out of the follicle, but you can always improve its looks by shining and vitalising it.

Wash your hair as often as it needs to be washed, oily or dry wash - repeatedly wash - until you have a clean scalp.

Before your shampoo dry hair and scalp you should give yourself an olive oil treatment, ideally the night before to loosen dirt and scale.

Hot oil treatment:
Heat some olive oil, section off your hair in inch wide parts all over your head, dip cotton swab in oil and scour parts with it covering every bit of scalp. Now wrap in a warm towel and let stand at least two hours, ideally overnight. When you take off the towel massage until scalp is loose and tingling.

Washing your hair:
Before washing your hair, look after the equipment, wash and sterilise your combs and brushes. A few drops of ammonia in a bowl of water ir a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda to a quart of water will lift off dirt. Rinse first with soapy, then with clean warm water, let dry. Never borrow someone else’s comb.


Hanging backwards over end of bed, arms and shoulders free (this is also an excellent exercise for your bosom apparently) work up from scalp, brush through your hair making sure you brush right out to the ends, when you get really good at this you can use two brushes simultaneously.

And now you are ready for, guess what! SOAP AND WATER!!!!

There are plenty of good shampoos made for your special hair type but bland soap shaved into a pint of warm water will do the same job

Wet your hair with warm water, then lather richly and wash off, repeat as many times as necessary long or heavily oiled hair may need up to three latherings. Your hair is clean when it squeaks.

For shine, rinse with vinegar or lemon juice.

Towel dry and then brush head down to improve circulation (next week we lean more about styling your hair)

If you cannot do a proper shampoo cleanse your hair with tonic or if you must with a dry shampoo but be careful, it’s really hard to get out of long or oily hair.

But whatever you do never ever let your hair smell bad, it is a huge turn off for men.

How to control various types of hair?

Coarse, wiry: This type is manageable if kept well lubricated and cut and shaped by a knowing pair of scissors. Use pomade to soften it. Give yourself regular warm oil shampoos.

Baby fine: This type of hair benefits from being cut quite short so it’s own weight won’t drag it down, lots of brushing up from scalp gives it shine and body.

Bushy, too curly: Use pomades to prevent kinking, use oil shampoos and lots of shaping brushing

Naturally curly: Oil shampoo keeps it getting too fluffy. Set it with the wave it has naturally.

Seems to me that conditioners and handheld blow driers were invented some time after The beauty book was published (according to Wikipedia modern day conditioner was created in 1980! Surely not?) All I can say is that I am happy to put olive oil in my hair, even rinse it with vinegar, although I'm not quite sure how this keeps it smelling nice, but I'm forever grateful for , Redken, TIGI, Paul Mitchell, Cutrin, John Frieda, Aussie and Pantene....and will not be swapping my products for soap shavings any time soon.



I am using images of the Hollywood beauties Mrs Colby refers to in these particular sections of the book, from the top Ann Blyth and Mary Martin (mother of JR Ewing, Larry Hagman).