To preserve the delicacy and beauty of the hands, some little care, and more than that which is ordinarily bestowed on them, is required. Foremost in consideration must be the subject of cleanliness. Dirty and coarse hands are no less marks of slothfulness and lowbreeding than clean and delicate hands are of refinement and gentility. To promote softness and whiteness of the skin, mild emollient soaps, or those abounding in oil or fat, should alone be adopted for common use; by which means the tendency to contract chaps and chilblains, and roughness from drying winds, will also be lessened.
The coarse, strong kinds of soap, those abounding in alkali, should be rejected, as they tend to render the skin rough, dry and brittle. Rain, or soft, water is the best natural water for washing the hands, as it cleanses them more rapidly and completely than ordinary hard water, and with the use of less soap. It may be advantageously used tepid, or even warm; but hot water should be avoided. Distilled water, when obtainable, is preferable to even rain water. In the absence of these, water that has been boiled and allowed to settle and cool may be employed. With hard water the hands are cleansed with difficulty, and though it may be readily softened by the addition of a little soda, such an addition tends to make the skin of a delicate hand somewhat hard and rough.
If hard water must be used to wash with, the only harmless substance that can be conveniently added to it is a little good powdered borax. This will also cause it to exert a genial action on the skin. Oatmeal and warm water used every night and morning as a wash will whiten and soften the roughest and darkest hands.
Coarse, Red, Dark-Skinned Hands may be whitened by the occasional use of a few grains of chloride of lime, with warm water, in the manner mentioned above.
Roughness of the Hands, induced by exposure to cold and drying winds, may, in general, be removed by the use of a little powdered pumice stone with the soap in washing them. The subsequent application, particularly at night, of the above lotions, or of two or three drops of almond or olive oil, well rubbed in, will usually effect the object completely.
The hands may be preserved dry for delicate work by rubbing a little club moss (lycopodium), in fine powder, over them. So repellent is this substance of moisture, that if a small quantity of it be sprinkled on the surface of a basin of water, the hand, by a little adroitness, may be plunged to the bottom of the basin without becoming wet.
Excessive moisture or perspiration of the hands without obvious cause is generally indicative of debility, or disordered stomach, and requires corresponding treatment. Frequently washing the hands in moderately cold water often proves a local remedy for the inconvenience. The addition of a few grains of alum, sal ammoniac, or sulphate of zinc, or of a teaspoonful of vinegar, to the water greatly increases its efficacy. Extremely delicate and susceptible persons cannot always bear the excessive perspiration of their hands to be thus suddenly lessened, and therefore some discretion should be exercised by them in their attempts to check it.
The Finger Nails require special attention if we desire to preserve them in their highest condition of beauty and usefulness. To keep them clean, the nailbrush and soap and water should be used once or oftener daily, as circumstances demand. Once a day at least, on wiping the hands after washing them, and whilst they are still soft from the action of the water, the free edge of the scarfskin, which, if not attended to, is apt to grow upward over the nails, should be gently loosened and pressed back in a neatly rounded form, by which the occurrence of cracks and sores about their roots (agnails, nail springs, etc.)
will be prevented, and a graceful, oval form, ending in a crescentlike space of white, will be ensured. The skin, as a rule, should never be cut, pared, picked or torn off, as is commonly done, and the less it is meddled with, otherwise than in the way just mentioned, the better. The ends or points of the nails should be pared once every week or ten days, according to the rapidity of their growth, which somewhat varies with the season of the year and the habit of the individual. This is best done with a sharp penknife or nail-knife. Scissors are less convenient for the purpose, and have the disadvantage of straining and distorting the nails during the process.
The length and shape of the nails, both for beauty and use, should exactly correspond with the tips of the fingers. Nails extending beyond the ends of the fingers are vulgar, clawlike, and inconvenient; whilst if shorter, particularly much shorter than the fingers, they are unsightly and of little use, and cause the tips of the fingers to become thick and clumsy. Biting the nails should be avoided as a dirty and disagreeable habit, and one utterly destructive to their beauty, strength, and usefulness.
To remove stains and discolorations of the nails, a little lemon juice or vinegar and water is the best application. Should this fail, a few grains of salt of sorrel, oxalic acid, or chloride of lime, each diluted with warm water, may be applied, care being taken to thoroughly rinse the hands in clean water, without soap, afterwards. Occasionally a little pumice stone, in impalpable powder, or powdered cuttlefish bone, putty powder (polisher's peroxide of tin), may be used along with water and a piece of wash-leather, flannel, or the nailbrush, for the same purpose. The frequent use of any of these substances is, however, injurious to the healthy growth, strength, and permanent beauty of the nails.
The common practice of scraping the surface of the nails cannot be too strongly censured, as it causes them to become weak and distorted. Blows on the nails, and, indeed, violence to them in any form, also distorts and marks them.
The coarse, strong kinds of soap, those abounding in alkali, should be rejected, as they tend to render the skin rough, dry and brittle. Rain, or soft, water is the best natural water for washing the hands, as it cleanses them more rapidly and completely than ordinary hard water, and with the use of less soap. It may be advantageously used tepid, or even warm; but hot water should be avoided. Distilled water, when obtainable, is preferable to even rain water. In the absence of these, water that has been boiled and allowed to settle and cool may be employed. With hard water the hands are cleansed with difficulty, and though it may be readily softened by the addition of a little soda, such an addition tends to make the skin of a delicate hand somewhat hard and rough.
If hard water must be used to wash with, the only harmless substance that can be conveniently added to it is a little good powdered borax. This will also cause it to exert a genial action on the skin. Oatmeal and warm water used every night and morning as a wash will whiten and soften the roughest and darkest hands.
Coarse, Red, Dark-Skinned Hands may be whitened by the occasional use of a few grains of chloride of lime, with warm water, in the manner mentioned above.
Roughness of the Hands, induced by exposure to cold and drying winds, may, in general, be removed by the use of a little powdered pumice stone with the soap in washing them. The subsequent application, particularly at night, of the above lotions, or of two or three drops of almond or olive oil, well rubbed in, will usually effect the object completely.
The hands may be preserved dry for delicate work by rubbing a little club moss (lycopodium), in fine powder, over them. So repellent is this substance of moisture, that if a small quantity of it be sprinkled on the surface of a basin of water, the hand, by a little adroitness, may be plunged to the bottom of the basin without becoming wet.
Excessive moisture or perspiration of the hands without obvious cause is generally indicative of debility, or disordered stomach, and requires corresponding treatment. Frequently washing the hands in moderately cold water often proves a local remedy for the inconvenience. The addition of a few grains of alum, sal ammoniac, or sulphate of zinc, or of a teaspoonful of vinegar, to the water greatly increases its efficacy. Extremely delicate and susceptible persons cannot always bear the excessive perspiration of their hands to be thus suddenly lessened, and therefore some discretion should be exercised by them in their attempts to check it.
The Finger Nails require special attention if we desire to preserve them in their highest condition of beauty and usefulness. To keep them clean, the nailbrush and soap and water should be used once or oftener daily, as circumstances demand. Once a day at least, on wiping the hands after washing them, and whilst they are still soft from the action of the water, the free edge of the scarfskin, which, if not attended to, is apt to grow upward over the nails, should be gently loosened and pressed back in a neatly rounded form, by which the occurrence of cracks and sores about their roots (agnails, nail springs, etc.)
will be prevented, and a graceful, oval form, ending in a crescentlike space of white, will be ensured. The skin, as a rule, should never be cut, pared, picked or torn off, as is commonly done, and the less it is meddled with, otherwise than in the way just mentioned, the better. The ends or points of the nails should be pared once every week or ten days, according to the rapidity of their growth, which somewhat varies with the season of the year and the habit of the individual. This is best done with a sharp penknife or nail-knife. Scissors are less convenient for the purpose, and have the disadvantage of straining and distorting the nails during the process.
The length and shape of the nails, both for beauty and use, should exactly correspond with the tips of the fingers. Nails extending beyond the ends of the fingers are vulgar, clawlike, and inconvenient; whilst if shorter, particularly much shorter than the fingers, they are unsightly and of little use, and cause the tips of the fingers to become thick and clumsy. Biting the nails should be avoided as a dirty and disagreeable habit, and one utterly destructive to their beauty, strength, and usefulness.
To remove stains and discolorations of the nails, a little lemon juice or vinegar and water is the best application. Should this fail, a few grains of salt of sorrel, oxalic acid, or chloride of lime, each diluted with warm water, may be applied, care being taken to thoroughly rinse the hands in clean water, without soap, afterwards. Occasionally a little pumice stone, in impalpable powder, or powdered cuttlefish bone, putty powder (polisher's peroxide of tin), may be used along with water and a piece of wash-leather, flannel, or the nailbrush, for the same purpose. The frequent use of any of these substances is, however, injurious to the healthy growth, strength, and permanent beauty of the nails.
The common practice of scraping the surface of the nails cannot be too strongly censured, as it causes them to become weak and distorted. Blows on the nails, and, indeed, violence to them in any form, also distorts and marks them.
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