When the hair loses color, it may be restored by bathing the head in a weak solution of ammonia, an even teaspoonful of carbonate of ammonia to a quart of water, washing the head with a crash mitten, and brushing the hair thoroughly while wet. Bathing the head in a strong solution of rock-salt is said to restore gray hair in some cases. Pour boiling water on rock-salt in the proportion of two heaping table-spoonfuls to a quart of water, and let it stand till cold before using.
The old specific of bear’s grease for the hair is hardly found now, and one can never be sure of getting the real article; but an equally powerful application is discovered in pure sperm-oil, of the very freshest, finest quality. This forms the basis of successful hair restoratives, and will not fail of effect if used alone. It is, however, procured in proper freshness only by special importation from the north coast of Europe.
In the list of hair-dyes, one agent has long been overlooked which is found in the humblest households. It is too common and humble, indeed, to excite confidence at first; but it is said that the water in which potatoes have been boiled with the skins on forms a speedy and harmless dye for the hair and eyebrows. The parings of potatoes before cooking may be boiled by themselves, and the water strained off for use. To apply it, the shoulders should be covered with cloths to protect the dress, and a fine comb dipped in the water drawn through the hair, wetting it at each stroke, till the head is thoroughly soaked. Let the hair dry thoroughly before putting it up. If the result is not satisfactory the first time, repeat the wetting with a sponge, taking care not to discolor the skin of the brow and neck. Exposing the hair to the sun out-of-doors will darken and set this dye. No hesitation need be felt about trying this, for potato-water is a safe article used in the household pharmacopœia in a variety of ways. It relieves chilblains if the feet are soaked in it while the water is hot, and is said to ease rheumatic gout.
Inquiries have been made after a cure for corns. It is not always the case that they come from wearing tight shoes. I have seen troublesome ones produced by wearing a loose cloth shoe that rubbed the sides of the foot. It is best always to wear a snugly fitting shoe of light, soft leather, not so tight as to be painful, nor loose enough to allow the foot to spread. The muscles are grateful for a certain amount of compression, which helps them to do their work.
When corns are troublesome, make a shield of buckskin leather an inch or two across, with a hole cut in the centre the size of the corn; touch the exposed spot with pyroligneous acid, which will eat it away in a few applications. Besides this, a strong mixture of carbolic acid and glycerine is good—say one half as much acid as glycerine. Of course, only a very small quantity will be needed, and it must be kept out of the way, for it is a burning poison. In default of these, turpentine may be used both for corns and bunions. A weaker solution of carbolic acid will heal soft corns between the toes.
CHAPTER XIX.
A Talk about Complexions.—Delicate Lotion.—Cause of Rough Faces.—Sun Painting and Bleaching.—Court Ladies Refusing to Wash their Faces.—Experiments with Olive-tar.—Consumption and Clear Faces.—Rev. W. H. H. Murray on Olive-tar.—Porcelain Women.—Drawing Humors to the Surface.—What is to be Done for the Weak Women?
A Southern lady sends the following recipe for glycerine lotion, which is refined and pleasant as well as useful. The pain of sunburned and freckled skin, so troublesome to many of our fair readers, can be relieved, and the shining morning face of youth restored, by this application: Take one ounce of sweet almonds, or of pistachio-nuts, half a pint of elder or rose-water, and one ounce of pure glycerine; grate the nuts, put the powder in a little bag of linen, and squeeze it for several minutes in the rose-water; then add glycerine and a little perfume. It may be used by wetting the face with it two or three times a day. This is a grateful application for a parched, rough skin. It should be allowed to dry thoroughly, when, if it feel sticky or pasty, it may be washed off with warm water.
The reason why so many young women have rough faces is, they wash their faces every day but neglect to cleanse their bodies. The pores are clogged by secretions, and morbid matters in the blood break out in the only free spot, the face. The ladies of King George’s court were perfectly logical when they refused to wash their faces lest it should spoil their complexions. They seldom washed either bodies or linen, and it was dangerous to give their festering blood an outlet by clearing a place for it.
Full-blooded girls whose complexions give them trouble should not eat fat meat save in the depth of winter, nor drink milk. They may take these in after-years, if they grow thin and weak from hard work or the nursing of children. Their systems can turn the grapes and pears they ought to feed on, the fish, chicken, and lean meat, the nutty oatmeal and wheat cakes (not mushes), into flesh enough to round their elbows, and strength enough to make their walk like the figure of a dance. They should try daily bathing, or rather scrubbing with soap and hot water, followed by a cold dip, a process taking a matter of ten minutes a day, at most, if they know the meaning of dispatch. Very likely they will need a few bottles of Saratoga water or doses of salts to clear the blood, adhering religiously to a Graham diet the while, or their last state after the medicine will be worse than the first. After taking the sulphur vapor-baths they must go out-of-doors, and finish bleaching themselves in the sun. By living in it five hours a day, they may gain the lovely painted marble of the English girl’s face, who reaps all day in the harvest field.