Vintage Hygiene: Body

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This is the fourth and last post in my Vintage Hygiene series. (Click on links to read previous posts: HANDS, FACE, HAIR, or click HERE for all the posts at one time.)

Today's topic is the body.  One product came immediately to mind:  dusting powder.  Back in my youth (I refuse to call it "the old days"), my grandmother had these wonderful smelling round boxes of talcum powder--with the big giant puff!  I LOVED that stuff.  After a bath (not a shower at her house), we'd puff all over and dressed in our summer dresses.  With no air conditioning, it helped to keep you feeling clean and dry. They always came in pretty boxes and the smell was heavenly!

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The talc would also come in shaker containers.  I see those around a lot today.  Shower to Shower comes to mind.  Fun name, boring bottle.  The commercial I remember said, "A sprinkle a day helps keep odor away...have you had your sprinkle today?" 

Lovely containers are still being made.  I just haven't thought about it in a long time.  Now that I've done some research for this post, I'm starting to think that I need to add some body powder into my arsenal.  I imagine I could get some modern ones that look as pretty as these vintage ones do:

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Apparently, talcum is actually a bad guy.  Read this report that echoes several that I read.  I generally knew that I shouldn't buy anything with talcum any more, but I had no idea how really bad it is!

Talcum Powder: The Hidden Dangers

Pretty scary stuff!  The article mentions corn starch as a homemade alternative.  That doesn't sound as soft and pretty as the stuff my grandmother had.  Maybe it wasn't "the stuff" that intrigued me.  MAYBE it was


"the PUFF!"

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Now that's what I'm talkin' about!  Just put together Cornstarch + a few drops of lemon or rose essential oil + The Puff and we might be onto something!   Yep, I think it's really all about the puff.  Very feminine, very pampering.

(Off to order a puff.  A big, pink puff.)

Vintage Hygiene: Hair

This is the third post in my Vintage Hygiene series. (Click HERE for the first post and HERE for the second.)

Hair care has changed so much in just my lifetime. When I was born, the popular styles involved lots of teasing and hairspray.  A woman always had a "standing" appointment with the hairdresser who would shampoo and set the hair for the rest of the week. I remember my mother doing that and sleeping on a satin pillowcase to keep the style intact. 

When I was a kid/preteen, the styles changed to parted in the middle and straight. That worked out well for me! There was ONE perm situation when I was in 7th grade that I'd just as soon forget, though. My mother hated my "long, stringy hair" as she so nicely put it.  The humiliation I endured in my homeroom class the next day is with me to this day.  I thought I was off perms forever after that.

THEN came the 80s and early 90s--the era of serious perm-dom. I embraced the perm again, for several years.  About 15 years ago I got tired of all the fuss and went back to my naturally straight hair. I cut my own hair and I make it look as decent as I can, but I'm starting to get bored with it.

A year or so ago, I started reminiscing about how women used to work on their hair to try to achieve a certain style. I came across a blog called Bobby Pin Blog where a wonderful lady named Lauren specializes in vintage hairstyles. She even wrote a book (click the source link to see the information):

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I've owned that book for a while now. Every few months I get out my hot curlers and attempt one of the hairstyles. So far they haven't come out quite as they should, but it's fun to try.

Speaking of hot curlers, Lauren found a set on Ebay back in 2010 that was EXACTLY like my sister's. My sister is 10 years older than I am. She graduated in 1972 and she STILL uses the same set of hot rollers she bought as a teenager. Here's a picture of the case:

And the inside:

Have any of you tried a vintage hairstyle? Have any of you seen a hairstyle that you used to wear "back in the day" and you're a little miffed that it gets the name "vintage?" (HA!)

Personally, I would LOVE to be able to have Samantha's hairstyle from the first season of Bewitched. I know she got it with hot rollers because in one episode she was wearing the rollers.  In the scene you could actually see the front and back of the roller formation.  I kept pausing to try to see the way she rolled it. I tried it out. I did not succeed. The one word that came to mind was "FRIZZ!" I still want to make it happen, though. Maybe one day! 

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Vintage Hygiene: Face

"To be beautiful and natural is the birthright of every woman." ~ Constance Bennett, 1937

This post is part two of four.  The first post can be seen HERE.  This week's topic is skincare for your face.  I'm definitely not one who has flawless skin.  FAR from it.  I have second stage Rosacea, which means that I'm 48 and still break out!  It's not actually acne like the teenage years, so it doesn't respond to normal care.  It is definitely frustrating.  On top of that, my skin is very dry.  If I try to exfoliate, my skin gets bright red and is painful.  Fun, fun, fun.

I know that the biggest factor that I could change to improve the condition of my skin is to completely stop eating sugar and instead fill up on whole foods, especially veggies.  Also, water, lots of water.  I'm working on that.

Meanwhile, I've actually been using a product that was invented 150 years ago:  Pond's Cold Cream.  I love it!  I use it to remove my makeup at night.  After I remove all the residue, I put on a another thin layer for the night during the winter.  I don't need the extra layer in the summer. 

My favorite vintage tip for my morning routine came from the Vintage Notions book.  The advice is to use COLD water to splash on your face.  After that, dab up the excess water but leave some.  Then, take a little of the cold cream and smooth it around, letting it soak in before applying makeup.  I've seen a major difference in the smoothness.  Winter is still a challenge, so I'm working on the food and water to aid that!

For fun I came across a You Tube video from 1937.  Constance Bennett goes through her morning routine after waking up in a bed that I am now coveting.  Her maid is a pest, though.  I wasn't quite sure WHAT Constance would do if she bothered her one more time!

Oh, and if you're lazy like I am and wear powder "rouge," don't be offended.  Maybe she's right and we should try cream rouge?  Constance would know.

Next Week: Vintage Tips for the Hair

Vintage Hygiene: Hands

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There are four areas that receive our regular attention, our daily ablutions.  They are: Hands, Face, Hair, and Body.   Well, they are four areas that SHOULD receive proper attention!

This post is one of four in which I will share vintage advice regarding these areas.  This was prompted by my walk down the aisles of the makeup and toiletries department of Walmart recently.  There. Were. Too. Many. Choices!  It made me want to run away.  I bought an eyeliner and a bottle of makeup because I was out of both, but then I was out of there!

In the past it was harder for the companies to promote their products than it is now.  The choices were limited.  In fact, in one of my cookbooks from the late 70s, there is a picture of a pantry with labels of blank construction paper on the cans!  Now when I go shopping, I feel overwhelmed and, frankly, annoyed.

When I saw an article from 1920 in the Vintage Notions book about care of hands, I thought it was refreshing and informative:

1. Try to feel pride in hands.  A woman's hands are an expression of herself...they say..., "I am strong and useful and you can depend on me," [and] she has reason to be proud of them.
2. Gloves are your friend: rubber gloves for hot water, work gloves for rough things, warm gloves for winter.
3. To wash hands:  use warm, not hot water and soften with a pinch of borax.  (Really?  I'll have to look into that.)
4. Apply soothing lotion after washing.  (The book recommends using almond or olive oil, glycerin with lemon juice, or glycerin with rose water.)
5. Using an orange stick wrapped with cotton, dip in cuticle remover and run around the base of and underneath the nails, pushing the cuticle back and cleansing.  Then rub on a little Vaseline to make them smooth and shiny.

Vintage Notions, page 26 and 75



I love that the first thing mentioned by the author is seeing our hands as something we need to care for because we depend so much on them.  I also laughed about the gloves.  I am the WORST about wearing none of the gloves mentioned.  I have them, I just don't wear them!

I think I will fill bottles with some olive oil laced with lavender essential oil and put one at each sink.  That sounds so soothing to my winter chapped hands.  (I know, they wouldn't be that way if I would wear gloves!)

Next week: Vintage tips for the face.