The Ogden standard-examiner. [volume], June 25, 1922, The Standard - Examiner Sunday Feature Section, Page 6, Image 34

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6 THE OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 25, 1
I How the Famous Stage Queen Managed to ' 2
Lillian Russell at 74
I By Dr. I. L. Nascher
TT WAS not so much the late Lillian
Russell's great dramatic ability or
1 her clear, well-trained voice as her
I personality and physical beauty that
made her the most famous musical com
I edy star of her day and acclaimed for
more than a generation "America's
greatest beauty." And after she had
ceased to sing and act for the public
I the compelling charms that had lifted
I her to the stage's topmost pinnacle per
il sisted and made her up to the very day
of her death one of the most admired
I of women.
I Other women marveled to see how
I Lillian Russell, as she neared sixty years
I of age, still retained the clear complex
ly ion, soft skin, unwrinkled face, youth-
ful expression and all the vivacity of
I earlier life.
I How did she achieve this modern
miracles? What was the secret of her
B unfading beauty?
I Lillian Russell made no secret of
H some of the measures and means she
I employed to retain her extraordinary
I good looks, but she did not tell the
I whole story. She did not say that in ad-
I dition to the baths, cold creams, cos-
metics, exercise and wholesome living
she also made liberal use of common
W sense, self-control, persistence, energy
WM and cheerfulness factors neglected by
I many women who faithfully follow her
m other formulas.
She employed the combination of
I mental qualities and drug store and
Ik beauty parlor accessories not only dur
H ing her whole stage career, but long
H after the time when most women realize
that they are growing old and believing
H that they have become passe and unat-
tractive, make no effort to improve their
H appearance. At sixty Lillian Russell was
H even more careful of her appearance,
H her face and figure, than she was at
twenty or thirty.
H At an age when most chorus girls
think more of the pleasures of the mo
H ment than of the prospects of to-mor-H
row, Lillian Russell exhibited the com
H mon sense and self-control that distin
H guished her through life. She knew
H that early morning dancing after a
H night's carousing following an evening's
H work, would soon destroy the shapeliness
H of her limbs; that the hot bird and cold
B bottle of a night's feasting would give
H a dull, blotchy face, a husky voice and
H a headache in the morning.
H She loved Broadway's sensuous pleas-
H tires, the bright lights, the lilting music,
H the fragrance of flowers, the dainties
H of the table, but she had the strength
Hi of character to sacrifice those pleasures
that might injure her voice or physical
H charms. She adopted rules of health
H which she observed religiously until they
became a part of her life.
H One of these rules was to get suffi-
J
son doing no mental J The last
or physical work needs EZbp "'kt '- "y studio pho-
very little sleep. Mental Vfr tograph of
or physcial labor needs A photograph of her as she looked V jHPV ' Lillian" Russell,
enough sleep for com- forty years ago, when she was jusl .... ' - . ' taken in London
plete reparation and beginning to become celebrated for ' durlnf the visit she j
the amount depends the beauty which strength of character j and her husband Alex-
partly upon the amount and intelligent application of scientific JF anjer p. Moore, made j r A
of waste and partly principles enabled her to preserve to the there last winter and fur- St
upon the rapidity of day of her death Bfc-) ' nishing convincing proof CH
repair. nf the wav this remark- HI
During youth repair goes on much
more rapidly than in later life, and as
the waste is much greater in later life,
the older one grows, the more sleep
he requires if he does not cut down the
amount of his work. Insufficient sleep
means insufficient repair and a longing
for more sleep to make up the deficiency.
When a person has had enough sleep to
complete the repair process the person
awakes naturally.
Lillian Russell did not regulate her
sleep by the clock but let nature regu
late the amount she required. When she
awoke she was completely refreshed,
her mind was clear and receptive, and
she could learn her lines with but little
effort. There were never the dark
circler under the eyes, the dull eyes,
the strained expression that comes from
insufficient sleep.
Another of her health hobbies was ex
ercise. She was a close observer and
she saw girl after girl become fat and
clumsy and worthless on the stage after
a short period of inactivity and high
living. She found that she began to gain
in weight and show it when she was not
working, took no exercise and indulged
in rich foods. She realized that she must
regulate her diet and mode of life and
take proper exercise if she would re
tain her admired figure, and she had the
strength of character to earn,' out her
purpose.
Most persons when they take up ex
ercise to reduce, soon become fatigued,
the exercise becomes irksome and they
give it up. When Lillian Russell became
fatigued she rested and when thetired
feeling passed away she took up the ex
ercise again. Systematic exercise be
came part of her daily routine.
In later years she occasionally sub
stituted tennis for the usual gymnastic
and calisthenic work. For the middle
aged woman, especially the one inclined
to stoutness, tennis is probably the best
of all recreation exercises. Like base
ball, it involves the muscles of the arms,
legs, necU, back, chest and abdomen,
stimulates the circulation, and if not too
strenuous it helps digestion and elimina
tion. While active exercise wears away fat
and if excessive, muscle too it also
causes perspiration, the water being
drawn from the blood through the
agency of the sweat glands. There is
then a natural longing for food and
drink to make up for this loss, and many
persons who try to reduce through ex
ercise eat and dnnk enough to make up
the entire waste. But Lillian Russell
learned to take little refreshment after
the strenuous exercise and thus kept
down her weight.
In the matter of food and drink she
was as careful as in other habits of life.
She had i en many a girl's face become
bloated, blotchy and pimply, many a
figure become coarse, many a voice be
come husky and many a constitution
wrecked after too many midnight sup
pers. So she had the good sense to
draw the line at excesses in food and
drink. She knew that a single night's
carousing would have such a disastrous
effect upon her complexion that it would
take several days' work to restore it to
its ante-prandial condition, and she had
the will power to resist temptation.
When questioned about her secret ojf
keeping young and looking young while
growing old Lillian Russell gavo the
usual rules of health regular hour,
proper food, plenty of sleep, exercise,
frequent baths and added, "lots of
cold cream." "Plenty of baths in tepid
water" was her advice in later years,
but in her earlier days she was a fre
quent patron of Turkish baths.
It may be that her use of lots of cold
cream began when she was a frequenter
of these bnths. It is the common ex
perience of all who work in or go fre
quently to Turkish baths that the skin
becomes excessively dry through the
- ' - I
SKF
...
drying out of the sebaceous, or fat,
glands in the skin. Frequent and pro
longed heat will dry out these glands
and the skin will become hard and dry
Unless the fat they have lost is replaced.
This is usually done in Turkish bath.-, by
oil or cold cream inunctions. The so
called Roman bath is virtually an oil
inunction after the ordinary Turkish
bath. To these baths are ascribed the
beauty of the ancient Roman woman
and the softness of her skin.
In Lillian Russell's ttage days the
grease paints, cosmetics, face powders
and other make-up paraphernalia were
frequently composed of substance harm
ful to the skin and unless thoroughly
removed, caused irritation, a muddy,
pasty or sickly pale complexion and
sometimes a decided disease of the skin.
Lillian Russell, always careful of her
complexion, was not satisfied with the
wash bowl in the dressing room, but
took a daily bath and frequently a
Turkish bath to clear away the effects
of the make-up box.
There is no question about the health
fulncss of the tepid bath or of its
cleansing properties, especially when a
mild alkali like borax or a small piece
of sal soda or a small quantity of am
monia is added or a mild alkaline soap
is used. If any rubbing is necessary it
should be done with a wash cloth, never
with a brush except in locations where
dirt might accumulate and it cannot be
reached with the cloth, as under the
nails.
The brush is especially injurious on
the face, where the skin becomes tough
from exposure to the wind, and the
brush causes innumerable fine scratches
which may not show to the naked eye
but can be seen under a magnifying
.'lass, and furnish an entrance to dirt
and germs. A brisk rub to stimulate
the surface circulation and a cold cream
rub afterwards will put the skin in as
healtlij a condition as possible, provid
ing, of course there is no skin disease.
Lillian Russell recommended from
time to time various kinds of cold cream,
but basically all except the greaseless
cold creams are alike. They all con
tain animal and vegetable qils and fats.
The former nourish the skin or replace
the sebum and the latter keep the skin
oily and soft.
The greaseless cold creams soften
temporarily but if they arc allowed to
remain onthe skin they dry up like
paste and make the skin dry. The ani
mal fats encourage the growth of hair
and are therefore objectionable on skins
on which the hair grows profusely, but
this can be obviated by the use of
peroxide of hydrogen which first bleaches
the hair and finally destroys the roots.
It is known that Lillian Russell used
from time to time other measures to
maintain and enhance her beauty
Various face fhassages, manual and
mechanical, were tried, various sub
stances were used for massaging, hun
dreds of local applications to whiten
and soften the skin were used. But aftax
a few trials she always went back to
the old reliable measures. She believed
a woman was justified in making use of
every art to render herself more beauti
ful and attractive, and she lived up to
her belief.
The real secret of Lillian Russell's
perennial youth lay in her temperament.
She did not worry. Advancing age
brings fine wrinkles due to the waste
able woman defied old age mL
through more than sixty years of life j Jpj
of underlying fat and those can be ?'
"ironed out" through massage and ani- i k
mal fat cold cream. Worry makes D
coarse wrinkles that cannot he removed. W
It was her nature to be jolly, and her
pleasant, smiling face therefore did not 1
show the drawn lines which give the
appearance of age.
She was dignified in her bearing, but
it was a gracious dignity, free from the
artificial poses that some women as
sume to impress their friends. At an j
age when most women think only of
themselves and their own comfort, she :
thought how she could please others by
her appearance and her work in their
behalf.
She associated with the young and!
those whose thoughts were of youth,
and thus she kept up the youthful spirit
that was so long the marvel of other j j
women of her own age. She had many
competitors, but none who combined j 1
physical charms with personality and I'f
mental charms as she did She remained litf
young because she kept her mind young j Mj
and made her appearance correspond lM
with her mind.
And how well worth while were all W
the time and thought and painstaking fjj
care Lillian Russell devoted to the pros- W
ervation of her beauty. Through her fl
success in preserving her youthful charm X
she not only contributed enormously to
her own happiness and that of her fam- j
ily and friends, but also she was able
to assume in public affairs a place which
would have been impossible for a woman
old, wrinkled and ugly.
The beauty of Lillian Russell which
will long be held in such pleasant mem
ory helped win the war, and later itj
played an important part in the election!
of President Harding and the solving
of the nation's immigration problems. J