The Fastidious and Well-Mannered Woman

A Practical Beauty Routine

A women is well-groomed when she looks fresh, neat, clean, and well-pressed.  This means a daily shower or bath, fresh underwear and stockings daily, competent home or professional hairdressing at least once a week, well-manicured hands, no chipped nail polish, runless, wrinkleless stockings, and shined shoes at all times, even for housework.

Beauty care must be on a regular schedule, not just when social activities are planned.  Excess hair must be kept invisible by one method or another at all times.  Feet, pedicured and with toenails painted or not, must be kept soft and attractive, knees and elbows must receive their regular attention with emollients, and eyebrows be kept neat, though not obviously plucked.  A good deodorant must be used daily.

Hair must be brushed morning and night with a clean, firm brush and combed with a  good comb that, like the brush, is frequently cleaned in cold water and ammonia, then warm suds.  A dirty comb or brush is as repellent as a bath towel used beyond its initial freshness.

durhamskywriter

A well-groomed woman is carefully girdled, if necessary, from the time she gets up until she undresses for the night.  If she has heavy work to do she protects her hands with rubber gloves or work gloves and uses hand cream.  For dusty work she covers her hair with a clean kerchief and she wears clean aprons or smocks to protect her clothes.  Her handkerchief is always clean and when not in use, safely on her - not left on chairs or tables around the house or office.

john.curtin

The fastidious woman understands how much the appearance of her hair has to do with that of her whole person.  If her hair is fine and hard to manage she arranges it many times a day, if necessary, to preserve the required neat look.  She has it styled in the way that stays neat and attractive longest, and she never combs her hair or does her nails in public.

christianmontone