Vintage Beauty Tips: Nectarine complexions and the ‘dandruff germ’

Two tips from the Irish Times archive

Nectarine: the desired skin complextion colour in the summer of 1939. Photograph: Thinkstock
Nectarine: the desired skin complextion colour in the summer of 1939. Photograph: Thinkstock

A note on nectarine from The Irish Times of July 10th, 1939 

A new summer complexion colour is nectarine. This can either be acquired by the sun – or more easily smoothed on to the skin out of a jar. Vivid coloured lipsticks and clothes such as shades of deep crimson, red currant and flame are worn with this make-up.

Jewels to tone with a nectarine complexion are platinum and white gold bracelets and necklaces as well as rich-coloured stones such as rubies and emeralds.

A necklace consisting of large cubes of white gold hitched together by a slender gold chain is studded with ruby stars. Highly polished ruby earrings set in carved gold that reach almost to the shoulders are worn to match.

From The Irish Times of January 21st, 1911: How to get thick glossy hair (it's probably best not to try this one at home) 

Frequent brushing of the hair and a shampoo once every two or three weeks are both valuable aids to gaining hair beauty but they cannot destroy the dandruff germ. So far as we know, the only way to destroy the germs is to rub into the scalp twice a day a mixture prepared by mixing 3oz Bay Rum into ¼ dram menthol crystals and 1oz lavona de composee. As this preparation not only destroys the dandruff germ but is a truly marvellous hair-grower, it should be applied only where hair is desired.

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