Wring out a soft towel in hot water and apply it to the face. This will relax the pores. Apply the face cream liberally, rubbing it in well and allowing it to remain on for five or ten minutes. Wipe off gently and it will then be easy to remove the blackhead with a comedone extractor, which may be purchased at any drug store for ten cents. Take care not to bruise the sensitive skin. When the face is cleared of blackheads, douche with cold water or use cold compresses. This is most important after steaming or massage, for it closes the pores and keeps the flesh firm.
Pimples Frequently Caused by Uncleanliness
When the pores are allowed to fill with dust, dirt or the impurities discharged by the system, irritation is quick to start. Inflammation sets in. Pimples, skin eruptions and kindred ailments, in many cases, are directly traceable to this cause—uncleanliness. If every pore is kept immaculately clean, free from all impurities and in good working order, danger of infection is greatly minimized.
Forestall Wrinkles—Banish the First Lines
Give a few minutes a day to these simple exercises if you would forestall the first wrinkle or banish betraying lines. To be beneficial, massage must be regular, firm and gentle. A rotary motion should be used on the chin, cheeks and forehead. No rubbing should ever be done until the face is washed perfectly clean in warm water and soap. Because of its cleansing, skin-softening properties, a green soap is well suited to use in preparing the face for massage. Then apply a good massage cream to the dry skin and rub well into the pores. Continue massaging the skin until the cream rolls out. The thorough rubbing out of the cream is important.
Massage one side of the face at a time; otherwise the skin is drawn in opposite ways, unless one is very adept.
After the massage—and this treatment should never be extended over more than ten minutes—apply a cold compress to contract the relaxed pores. This is important if you would retain the fine even texture of your skin.
How an Excessively Dry Skin Invites Wrinkles
Many people have just the opposite of an oily skin—they have a dry tight skin which often needs oil. As we grow older, also, it is the tendency with everyone for the natural oils of the skin to decrease somewhat and for the skin to lose much of its pliancy and suppleness. This dry, tawny condition is usually accompanied by roughness and is almost invariably the forerunner of a fine crop of wrinkles. Unless you supply the deficiency, the skin loses its power of resistance when its elasticity is gone.
Feed your skin—keep it well lubricated. The famous beauty, Mme. Patti, said it was impossible to overestimate the importance of keeping the skin well fed with oils and cream.