The number of times the hair should be washed depends entirely upon the amount of dirt or dust it has accumulated. But the rule is, as I have mentioned, that washing the hair should be done only when there is an accumulation of dust, for the more it is let alone the better hair you will have. In washing the hair you remove the protective oil and this leaves the hair dry and brittle. All applications of oil or vaseline to the hair are injurious; man cannot make the artificial take the place of the natural. If you must use any oil, then use pure olive oil.
Never attempt to remove superfluous hair from the face or neck. If you do attempt it yourself, unsightly pimples will follow, perhaps ugly sores and in the end the roots will be left to send out larger and darker hairs. If troubled with superfluous hairs, go to a reputable physician. He can, by a method of using an electric needle, rid you of your trouble. Never go to an advertising man or woman for this trouble or any other.
Never try to beat Nature—you cannot do it. Help her and she will do the best thing for you. I make this remark because I know many girls who have straight hair want to have curly hair and try all kinds of methods to get curls.
Curly hair is due to the angle it is placed in the skin of the scalp. Straight hair simply means that the hair grows straight up from the scalp. You can now see that it is impossible to get a natural curly hair from straight roots. If you persist in this useless process, you are bound to disturb the roots and ultimately find that your hair is dropping out.
Then there is another fact to remember. The face and skin develop along their own lines and in harmony with each other. A face and complexion made for straight hair will always look somewhat out of proportion surrounded by artificially curled hair. This gives the head and face that “frowsy” look so often seen in the most carefully dressed girl. Such a girl thinks she has beaten Nature. But it is the other way about.
Don’t use a HAIR nailbrush. In doing so you are liable to tear the tender skin at the base of the nails and open opportunities for germs. A rubber nail brush is the very best to use. Such a brush is generally called a flesh brush. It is a rubber plate with many cylindrical projections rising from one of its flat surfaces. These little rubber projections do better work than the bristles of a hairbrush and get in under the nail better and do much less damage. The flesh brush, beside cleaning the nails well, and with little damage to the surrounding skin, is itself easily washed and sterilized.
The finger nails ought to be trimmed so that they may fulfill their function of supporting and protecting the pulp of the fingers. They therefore ought to be cut in a line corresponding to, but slightly behind, the round of the finger tip. They should not be cut too close at the corners. The manicure method of cutting the nails close at the corners and trimming them too close, is injurious and dangerous. The finger nails can pick up more poisonous germs than any other portion of the body, and unless they are protected by their tough surroundings they will carry into the body deadly microbes. Never use a knife or nail scissors in pushing back the skin lying at the base of the nails. Gently work it back by the tip of your fingers or thumb.