Never before told beauty secrets from Hollywood in 1934 –
They’ve got to “keep young and beautiful” if they want to be stars – and here’s the way they do it. Dorothy Spensley reports for Glamourdaze.
HOLLYWOOD is America’s Fountain of Youth – the place where men and women alike have discovered the secret to eternal youth – where advancing years leave no apparent trace – at least for a while!
Consider the number of years you have admired women like Carole Lombard, Anna Sten, Greta Garbo .
Some of these lovely ladies are approaching their fourth decade, yet today they retain their youthful flush, their supple figures, their smooth, wrinkle-less skin, their soft luxuriant hair. How?
The answer ladies is: Hollywood wizardry!
Where does a woman first show her age I asked Cosmetician – Mala Rubinstein, Plastic Surgeon – Dr Proctor McGee, Corsetiere – Beverly Bouvet, Scalp Stimulator – Helen Clark – all catering to a Hollywood clientèle.
” In the backs of hands, the throat, and of course the eyes,” answered Mlle. Rubinstein, at the moment holding a skin revival in Hollywood.
“In the axillary muscles,” said Dr Mcgee. “That is, the fleshy portion back of the armpits. There is no way, other than by surgery, to disguise the attack of old age when it strikes a woman there!”
“The breasts. They sag, and add ten or fifteen years to a woman’s appearance,” responded Miss Bouvet.
“In the hair – which gets thin and loses its vitality,” said Miss Clark.
Very well, the answer to my question is hands, throat, eyes, armpits, breasts, hair, posture!
The Battle for Beauty – 1934
It means that Hollywood, capital of loveliness and beauty, is the world’s greatest battlefield. behind Venetian blinds, ruffled taffeta curtains, in back of chromium and white enamel waiting rooms, there is going on in Hollywood, day and night, the biggest battle ever waged against advancing age!
To you or me, a wrinkle on our forehead causes a momentary fret. To the film star, it is a “catastrophe!” Crows feet about the eyes, “dowagers hump”; fat at the back of the neck, sagging muscles, puffed eyelids, baldness, fallen bosoms – all spell professional suicide.
All artistic training and professional experience that have gone to making them world famous are for naught when old age begins its encroachment – most especially for women!
The Eternal Youth Industry – 1934
There are reductionists, cosmeticians, scalp treatment parlours, beauty studios, corset and brassiere shops, plastic surgeons, peopled with earnest, conscientious craftsmen, all seeking the answer to the world’s most baffling problem – How to Stay Young!
The Cosmetician’s Solution – 1934 Beauty
“Save the surface and save all” is one theory, and Mlle Rubinstein is naturally a desciple.”Forty is the danger zone for a woman,” Mlle Rubinstein finds. It is the time for action! Ten minutes daily of intensive beauty attention should do wonders. An eye lotion to restore tired lids. Herbal compresses for puffed up eyes. The backs of hands need rich oily creams. Daily bust exercise as well as applying firming creams to your breasts are a must!
The Corsetiere’s Solution – 1934 Beauty
“It’s the torso that betrays a woman’s years,” counters Miss Bouvet. she instructs many stars on abdominal support. Wrong fitting corsets or brassieres can make you look like your grandmother.You can reduce demon hips by three inches by correctly encasing the figure. Flabby fallen bosoms are her speciality.
“The boyish figure craze did more to ruin American women’s figures than any other fad,” she declares.” If you are an ex flapper whose breast tissue is torn down because of tight binding – then an uplift bra is in order!” Made of double satin, these spherical containers are an inspiration. Ten years drops off you the moment you put one on.
The Plastic Surgeon’s Solution – 1934 Beauty
Behind closed doors and on white operating tables under carefully sterilized hands, the motion picture people have latter day miracles performed on them. New satiny eyelids, to replace crinkled ones. “Body and Face lifts” – many different types – the forehead, eyelid, neck, chin, breasts, nose, hips. The most amazing one is the re-arching of the neck.
The Scalp Stimulator’s Solution – 1934 Beauty
Helen Clark prevents baldness, grows hair, keeps hair looking young. All the greatest and most beautiful of Hollywood’s studios pay weekly – nay twice weekly visits to her salon. Her formula’s like Rubinstein’s are a secret, but I get the distinct and pungent aroma of “oil of pine” in the Clark suite. ” If you don’t want to go bald – wear a head covering that has green in it. Green is Mother Nature’s protective coloring” declares Miss Clark.
Well my father has worn a green cloth cap for most of his years and he’s quite bald – so I guess not for everybody!
With thanks to The Media History Project.