Even if you learn to make your mouth the most enticing one possible, it will profit you little unless you take care of your teeth. A well made-up mouth should be a frame for your teeth; it should call attention to their whiteness and their gleam. To keep your teeth white and gleaming, brush them at least twice every day. The best time to brush is before and after meals, which would mean, if you discount lunch, four times a day. This may seem like a lot of times, but the results are worth it. If you don't feel that you can stick to such a conscientious schedule, try to remember to give your teeth a good brushing once every morning and once every night. At the same time, rinse your mouth with a good mouthwash. This practice will keep your mouth fresh and clean, destroy particles of food that may cause cavities, and make your breath sweet and pleasant.
A trip to the dentist twice a year is a must. The dentist, as a specialist, will be able to take care of any problems that may pop up from time to time and so prevent you from having serious difficulties. By postponing your visit you gain nothing but the possibility of a very large toothache. A beautiful smile is a necessary attribute to beauty, so if you want to look like a cover girl youVe got to look after your teeth.
Eyes, like teeth, have to last you a lifetime, so take good care of them. If you need glasses, wear glasses. The old prejudice about girls with glasses being unattractive has long since passed away. In fact, glasses nowadays are so nicely designed —in a variety of shapes with frames of various colors—that I know girls who don't wear glasses who envy girls who do.
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As to making up your eyes, don't. Young eyes need no enhancement. They have their own sparkle and flashes of fire, so why bury them under gobs of goo? Mascara and eyebrow pencil, like rouge, are artifices best left to others. Teen-agers who come to school with colored blobs above each eyelid look plain silly.
If you are going somewhere extra special, a big prom perhaps, and you feel that you just have to look glamorous, then try a little Vaseline or cream on each eyelid. Just this little touch will bring out all you need to give your eyes a triumphant twinkle. But no goo. And for that special prom, all your eyebrows need is a bit of combing to make them he flat. The few stray hairs that fall out of hue may be tweezed out with a tweezer. Just the few stray hairs, though, not the whole eyebrow.
To review, then, what any teen-ager needs to keep a straight face, we find that the following are all that are really necessary for makeup: powder, lipstick, and for evening a bit of rouge and a bit of Vaseline or cream. These simple ingredients, used with skill, will do the work and do it well. Above all, remember that each and every one of these ingredients must be removed from the face every day. Every time you make up afresh you should start with a clean face. New makeup should never go on top of old. It not only looks stiff and caky, but it also seals up pores and encourages blackheads and skin eruptions.
Just as no teen-ager is ever stuck with the face she was born with, in view of the ways she has to make up her features to their best advantage, so no teen is ever stuck with the hands she was born with. Well-cared-for hands, be they long and thin, short and broad, or in-between can be beautiful.
The first requisite for pretty hands is that they be kept soft and smooth. Use hand lotion at least once a day. Better still, use hand lotion every time you wash your hands, to replace the oils that the soap and water have removed. If your hands are particularly rough and chapped, carry a small bottle of lotion around with you to use at odd moments during the day.
A weekly manicure performed every Thursday night when you shampoo your hair, will, if well done, be sufficient. Weekly care of the hands is important because neatly trimmed nails, gently tapered, can go a long way toward making a hand look attractive. Nails are the focal point of the hand, so give them your attention.
To keep your nails strong and flexible so that they can be filed into becoming shape with all ten of them more or less equal in length—not nine talons and one stub—be sure to eat leafy green vegetables and drink lots of milk. Nails, like hair, are alive. They are not dead structures that have been tacked on to your body as an afterthought. Keep them healthy with proper diet and proper care.
The Thursday night routine—I choose Thursday night because that is generally the night you choose to wash your hair—should encompass all the necessities of good hand care. First wash your hands to get them clean; if they are really grimy, use a brush to get out every bit of dirt. Make certain to get at the dirt beneath the nails, too.
Next, file your nails. Trim away rough edges. Use an emery board for this, since a metal file is too harsh and tends to split the nail ends. Don't file too deeply at the corners. Nails should be rounded curves; they should not describe a gothic arch.
When your nails are filed to satisfaction, take a cuticle stick and cuticle remover and gently push back the cuticle. Do not cut it. Cuticle will respond to treatment, and if weekly care is given it will not overstep its bounds.
When your nails are filed and the cuticle softened, you are ready to put on the nail base, a clear lacquer that prepares the way for the polish. Cover the whole nail with the base and let it dry thoroughly before you start the polish.
After the base has dried, the next step is to apply the first coat of polish. Cover the whole nail; it is easier than trying to describe an accurate curve around the moon. When the first coat dries, apply the second. To make the polish last, cover a fingertip of the free hand with a bit of tissue and remove the very edge of polish from the nail. In this way the polish will not be chipped by constant contact with hard surfaces. On top of the last (second) coat of polish goes the top coat, a clear lacquer like the base, which protects the polish.
The secret of a good manicure is the careful following out of each of these procedures. Most important of all is to let each coat dry. Do not use your hand until you are certain that each nail is dry; otherwise the still sticky polish will pick up the imprints of the things you touch. Nail polish, if applied this way, should last out the week. If one finger does chip, you can do an emergency touch-up. But if more than one fingernail chips, start the whole process from the beginning. Nothing looks more patched up than touched-over nails.
In choosing your polish colors, keep in mind the lipsticks you use most often. Polish and lipstick need not match but they should harmonize. Pink polish with tangerine lipstick is an out-and-out horror. As with lipstick, choose polish colors from the real reds and lively pinks; leave to others the passionate purples.
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Remember that it is daily care as well as weekly care that keeps your hands in condition. Keep your hands clean every day. Always have an emery board handy to file down rough snags and a nail scissors to cut away a hangnail before you get impatient and pull and bite at it.
A hint for hand care that I can recommend is the use of a pumice to smooth down calluses. Many teens are bothered with a bump on their middle finger, which is caused by the pressure of a pencil. This school girl's badge can be rubbed down with a pumice when your hands are wet. With attention to little details such as these, you can have hands you will be proud of, so that when you want to show off your class ring or, better still, his class ring, you can do it with pride.