A woman's appearance is often very important to her and those around her. Advice on how to improve one's looks has been offered in lady's magazines throughout history, from "Godey's Ladies' Book" and other publications from the early 1800's, on through modern day magazines such as "Vogue" and "Glamour". It is very interesting to go back to old-time magazines and read what advice for a lady's toilette was recommended. Gathered on this page and the next are three articles, all from the June 1904 issue of "The Designer" magazine, and all written by the same woman, Harriet Arnot. The original column appeared as "Toilet Table Chat", from which I borrowed the above design. Following these articles is a small collection of hair accessory ads, also taken from the same magazine.

***SPECIAL NOTE: Please remember that home remedies of the past are often not safe to use today. The information given on these pages is for informational reading and entertainment and should not be considered sound medical advice for this day and age.

Thinning of the eyebrows and eyelashes seems to be rather a common source of complaint nowadays, especially among women of over-strung nervous systems or otherwise impaired visibility. Of course, in cases of physical disability there should be internal medication as well as external treatment; but in all cases it becomes necessary to make use of some good local remedy in order to produce the desired results. A tonic which may be used both for eyebrows and eyelashes is composed as follows:

Pure glycerine, one and one-quarter ounces; fluid extract of jaborandi, two drams; eau de cologne, two and one-half ounces.
Shake the ingredients together until thoroughly mixed; then apply with a thin camel's hair brush.

In applying to the eyebrows, care should be taken to follow only the prescribed line of the brow as traced by Nature, or a condition of hairiness may be produced where it is not desired. When the eyelashes are under treatment, the utmost care becomes essential, as serious inflammation would ensue were even a drop of the lotion to find its way into the eye. Only the edges of the lids should be touched with the brush, and it is best to do this with the eye closed, and not to open until the application has dried on. For thickening and strengthening the eyebrow growth of hair, the following is an excellent lotion:

Tincture of rosemary, ten grains; tincture of cantharides, two grains; tincture of camphor, one hundred grains; eau de cologne, one hundred grains.
Mix well and apply with a camel's hair brush in the manner previously described.

This lotion, however, cannot be safely recommended for application to the eyelashes, the nature of the chief ingredients being such that they would undoubtedly cause severe inflammation of the tissues were they brought into contact with them. It may, however, be applied with distinct advantage to the scalp when, owing to the latter's debilitated condition, the hair has begun to lose its tone or to fall out. The lotion is especially useful as a scalp stimulant in cases of convalescence from typhoid or malarial fever - those terrible maladies which almost invariably result in a total loss of the hair. -printed in "The Designer" magazine, June 1904

***SPECIAL NOTE: Again, do not try these remedies at home. It is best to seek the advice of a doctor if you have the symptoms described in the above article.

Women who lean toward the small extravagances of dress will probably not rejoice to learn that a celebrated scientist has recently traced a case of partial paralysis, with ataxic gait, to the wearing of silk stockings, which, when analyzed, were found to have been dyed with a mixture containing large quantities of tin. The occurence has led certain European physicians to warn women in general against the wearing of silken hosiery unless it can be proved that the latter is not dyed with colors mordanted with tin - which might, in most cases, be a rather difficult task. The unfortunate phase of the matter is that colors which are perfectly "fast", so far as washing is concerned, are quite frequently capable of solution in perspiration, and are particularly dangerous when the fluid is exuded from the pores of a person who is not in perfect health. Under these circumstances it would seem that in hot weather one should approach dyed stockings of all kinds with considerable discretion - particularly if one should happen not to be in good health.