My mini beauty hint – Margaret Lindsay

This is a 1932 beauty hint by actress Margaret Lindsay. Enjoy!

Good teeth are of utmost importance from the standpoint of health for beauty, they are vital. My beauty hint, therefore, has to do with their daily care. I keep a supply of tooth brushes on hand, and never use one too long. I use a mouth wash frequently, and find that dental floss is as essential as a tooth brush. One of the simplest aids in keeping the teeth in order is massage of the gums, I find. A soft tooth brush will serve for this.

Maggie McNamara

This is a 1954 Lydia Lane article where actress Maggie McNamara talks about a bunch of beauty stuff, including how to pose for photos. Enjoy!

Maggie McNamara shot up from an unknown to one of Hollywood’s most important actresses. Her first picture, “The Moon is Blue,” won her an Academy Award nomination. In that picture she played the part of an individualistic, frank girl. When I lunched with Maggie recently at 20th Century-Fox I found her exactly as she was on the screen. “It’s almost a fetish with me to want to stay the way I am to be the way I want to be,” Miss McNamara explained. “I wouldn’t let them change a thing, not even my hair which I cut  myself so’ that it’s long in the back but short around my face.”

“My hair is naturally lighter than it is now,” Maggie added. “But I love black hair so I’ve darkened mine with a rinse. I was afraid that in Hollywood they would try to make me over but they’ve been wonderful. I am so grateful because I couldn’t be happy going around with an appearance which was sponsored by someone else which didn’t represent me.” It is surprising to find one so young who is so sure that she has discovered the right type. “I was a model,” Maggie explained, “mostly for fashions. When I posed I had to dress exactly as they wanted me to. After three years of this I had to know which was my working self and which my real self.”

Maggie was one of Powers’ most successful models before she went into the theater. “It’s funny the way one’s life is shaped. I started out to be a fashion designer and attended a textile school in New York. In to my art courses I modeled as everyone thought I photographed well I went to Powers. I was terribly shy and I used to have to work on myself to keep from showing it. When I was facing a camera I pretended that neither it nor the photographer were there. I played a game with myself according to the clothes I was wearing. If it was a teen-age costume I imagined that I was sitting in the park watching children sail a boat in a pond. “You have to feel right in what you are wearing,” Maggie added, “to have it look right. “Just as each period has its own fashion, each person has his own style.”

“When you find it I think you should stay with it. When I was modeling I had to dress exactly as Vogue wanted the picture to be. But any good quality becomes something else when it is overdone and I feel that this applies to being too clothes conscious. “I don’t care what the fashion dictator says. I will not follow if it’s not right for me. But your over-all impression consists of more than clothes. Your grooming, posture, the sound of your voice and your perfume play a part in the total picture you create.”

Maggie has a very distinctive way of talking and I mentioned this. “I never realized that I had a curious speech pattern,” Maggie confessed, “until I went into the theater. Mother talks exactly the way I do but I suppose it is not one hundred percent American because she was born in England of Irish parents.” Maggie had eaten a very little lunch She just nibbled at the broiled liver and drank little of her milk. “I don’t have much of an appetite so it s a struggle for me to keep at 92. At the moment I’m eight pounds underweight.” she told me. ‘ Maggie commented that being underweight was a real problem and I told her I would send a diet that would help to increase her weight.

Maggie was sitting there so shy and quiet, that I remarked: “I’m sure” one problem you don’t have is how to relax.” “You can’t always tell by the exterior,” she answered. “But I, personally, don’t have trouble sleeping because I read until I am drowsy. “But when I am on the verge of stage fright, or very keyed up, I find breathing exercises the most effective way of breaking tension for me. Very few people know how to breathe properly and this not only affects your vitality but the quality of your voice. I think it is a good idea if you can afford to take singing lessons, to work with a teacher, even if you don’t have a desire to sing professionally, you will learn the proper way to control your breath.”

My mini beauty hint – Marian Nixon

This is a 1932 beauty hint by Marian Nixon.

A good posture is vitally important to beauty. A woman may have a beautiful face, but if her body Is not in harmony with it the world will not notice her face. My beauty hint is that you try to become posture-conscious. A poor posture is the shortest way to a sagging chin-line. When walking, I hold my head up and keep my shoulders in line with my hips. If you walk as thought you were carrying a weight on your head, it will assume the natural position in regard to your spine, I find.

Mercedes McCambridge – Take two

This is a 1954 Lydia Lane article where actress Mercedes mcCambridge alks about about skin care. Enjoy!

Mercedes McCambridge won an Academy Award for her first role on the screen and has been called the queen of radio because she’s been n so many serials. She is not beautiful yet this is a fact that does not bother her at all. “When I am on a picture the make-up men fuss for hours with the glamour girls,” she told me recently. “But I can sleep an hour later because the director is sure o say, pointing to me, ‘Don’t touch her face, I want it just as it is.’ ” Speaking of glamour girls, Mercedes quoted the famous photographer Cecil Beaton, who said he’d rather not photograph professional beauties because things are too easy for them and never having to strive very hard for anything takes something away from their faces. When not at work Miss McCambridge wears no make-up.

“I love a face that is shining and clean,” she told me. You have to have a lovely complexion,” I commented. ‘If you have a reasonably good diet and keep your face clean there’s no trick to having a good skin,” Mercedes explained. “You make it sound so simile.” I insisted, “Isn’t there more?” “I’m a great believer in steam,” was her answer. “I think it is a great way to open your pores and deep blackheads away. I scrub ray face with soap using my finger tips, and then steam it to be sure there is no stale make-up left. Then check my skin with a Turkish towel and close my pores with old water.”

“I put on a little cream o my skin won’t get dry, and that’s it. “My hair is naturally wavy so while I’m steaming my face my air gets curly. And I’m lucky Because I never need more than half hour to get ready to go out. “But,” Miss McCambridge warned, “I don’t like steam when I take a bath. I think tepid heat is more healthy and relaxing. In fact, my favorite way of letting down to lie in a hike-warm tub.” You can’t talk to Mercedes very long without feeling that she knows what she wants and is equipped o get it. “The difference between success and failure often lies in the ability to retain confidence in the ace of disappointment,” she explained. “You have to learn how build up defense against bruising ego. And when you learn not to become discouraged you are then to go ahead to reach your goal.”

My mini beauty hint – ELeanor Post

This is a Beauty Hint by actress-socialite ELEANOR POST. Enjoy!

The thin, straight line for eyebrows, so popular last year, seems to be entirely “out” now. Groom your eyebrows along the lines that nature intended them to grow, is my beauty hint. The eyes and the lips are the most important features of makeup this year. Rouge and powder carefully and be sure that your eyes are properly made up. By that I mean not with the heavy shadow which is attractive only under electric light, but with care and good taste to meet any condition of lighting for gardens, indoors, as well as Outdoors.

Phyllis Coates

This is a 1954 Lydia Lane article where actress Phyllis Coates talks about dieting and exercise. Enjoy!

Shapely Phyllis Coates says now is the time to get your body into condition for summer and stresses the importance of exercise and diet. a bathing suit,” Phyllis added. “She was forever talking about reducing but the starting date was always tomorrow. Her husband made a few wise cracks about her being out of shape but she laughed this off until he became interested in someone else.

“Well, within two months she was wearing a size 12 and her figure could match anyone’s.” “What did she do?” I asked. “What does anyone do who wants to reduce?” Phyllis replied. “Diet and exercise is the only way. “She is one of my good friends so when she told me her sad story I gave her my favorite diet. Incidentally, I originally got the diet from you, Lydia. It’s a 14 day high protein routine and it works like a charm.” “What did she do about exercise?”

“Her figure was pretty good,” Phyllis remarked, “but she did need some work on her thighs. So I gave her an exercise that is an old favorite of mine. “You lie on the floor stretched out on one side with your head resting on the arm nearest the floor and your other arm bent with palm on the floor for balance. They you bend both knees up almost chest high and sharply extend your legs straight forward so that they make a right angle with your body. Hold and then swing them back into the first position which makes a straight line with your body. This may seem awkward at first but with practice it Becomes a one, two, three routine. One up to your chest, two straight out and three down. When done correctly the full weight rests on the thigh pressing against the floor. This stimulates the circulation and nature does the rest.”

“That’s a very good exercise,” I commented, “because it has the maximum of effect in the very spot you want to take down. How many times do you do it?” “I go 20 a side but I would not advise that as a starter. I think hi exercising,” Phyllis wisely commented, “you have to feel your way. The goal can be 40 at one period–20 each side–but it may take a long time before you feel like working that hard or long.”

My mini beauty hint – June Lang

This is a 1932 June Lang beauty hint. Enjoy!

So many impurities work out through the skin that, if not cleared away, they are apt to mar the appearance. Frequent baths say twice a day are my beauty hint. There is one thing I would have you remember, though. Whether you prefer tub or shower, a cold soapy scrubbing should precede the bath. The soaping and scrubbing with a brush cleanses the pores, I find, and increasing the circulation, which lays the foundation for a healthy skin.

Lucy Marlow

This is a 1954 Lydia Lane article where acress Lucy Marlow talks about grooming for summer. Enjoy!

Lucy Marlow recently won a contract at Warners, and for her first part she was chosen to play a starlet in Judy Garland’s “A Star is Born.” “I’ve always had a dream of being in pictures,” Lucy told me as we lunched in Warner’s Green room. “But it’s turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. Lots of girls have studied for years without having anything happen. I guess I was just lucky that the right man happened to see me when was at the Playhouse in Pasadena.” It was a hot day in the valley and Lucy was wearing a strapless sun dress which showed off a smooth, even tan.

“We have a house at Malibu,” she confided, “and I spend a lot of time in the sun. But I’ve leaned the hard way that your skin looks awful if you don’t do something to protect it. I used sit on the beach and try to see how dark I could get but after a summer of this I was shock ed the way I looked.” I told Lucy, who is just out of her teens, that she was lucky to have discovered this when she was still young. We chatted about sun tan preparations and Lucy confided that she liked a lotion better that oil. “Lotion not greasy and doesn’t get all over the place but it does keep you from burning or getting all dried out,” she said. “Then before I take my shower,” Lucy continued, “I like to rub my whole body with cold cream. Just enough of this stays on afterwards so that you don’t feel itchy or dry. And my legs don’t get that ugly white scale anymore.

“One thing I hate to see,” Lucy added, “is a girl in a bathing suit when her body should be covered up instead of displayed. I think one who likes to enjoy beaches or pools should have enough pride to be well groomed. A girl should see that her legs and under arms are nicely shaved, that her toes and  fingernails are well manicured, and she should make sure that she is not bunging out of her suit.” “I asked Lucy if she had ever had a weight problem. “I wouldn’t call it a problem because as soon as I get heavier than I like to cut down,” Lucy confessed. “But I think the easiest thing in the world to do is to eat yourself out of shape.” “I take it that you like fattening things,” I commented. “Who doesn’t,” she said. “Put if you are going to eat your cake you should stay away from abbreviated bathing suits.”

My mini beauty hint – Dorothy Jordan

This is a 1932 beauty hint by actress Dorothy Jordan.

We turn to exercises for body limberness,  and to bridge playing for our mental stimulus, but there is a sport that brings about quickness of body and mind together. This International sport Is fencing. Here one is trained from the tips of one’s fingers to one’s toes. The wrists must be limber to properly handle the foils, and the steps must be quick to protect oneself from one’s opponent. Along with this body training comes one of the mind, for decisions must be quickly mad.

 

Peggy Maley

This is a 1954 Lydia Lane article where actress Peggy Male talks about perfume. Enjoy!

Peggy Maley has been acting since she was in her teens and is familiar with every phase of the entertainment field. ,But when I saw her the other day at Columbia where she had just finished Drive a Crooked Road she was enthusiastic about concentrating on pictures for a while. I’ve done my share of globe trotting, Peggy confessed as we chatted in her dressing room, but you can’t beat California for climate and fun.

On Peggy’s dressing table was  an array of perfume bottles, all in small sizes. I LOVE PERFUME, Peggy confessed, and I’ve had to learn about it the hard way – When I think of the perfume I’ve wasted; I’ve let great big bottles spoil because I didn’t know enough to keep them out of the sun. Perfume changes its character after it is open, and the scent spoils the same way milk goes sour. One of my favorite bottles went bad, and when I took it back the girl in the perfume store gave me a little folder on perfume. It was very interesting. It seems that you should never keep a large bottle open because the alcohol evaporates and the formula is altered.

“SO NOW,” Peggy continued, “when I am given a great big bottle I put some of it into an atomizer or a smaller bottle and seal up the rest. The best way is to melt a candle around the place where the stopper fits into the bottle. This way you are sure to keep it air tight. Don’t you find that you often waste perfume in pouring it from one bottle to another? I asked. Yes I did until I bought a perfume funnel. Its just a little plastic thing which came in a box with a perfume flagon but its been very useful.”

I like to carry perfume with me, and the only way you can fill these little bottles is with a tiny funnel. Do you always wear perfume?” “YES,” PEGGY SAID. “I don’t feel dressed for the day until I’ve chosen my lipstick and my scent. I crossed over to examine the array of perfume which Peggy had on her dresser. The more you use perfume,” she explained, “the more you enjoy it. At first I wore perfume because I wanted to smell sweet for others. Now I like to smell sweet to myself and I find unless I keep clanging my scents I can’t smell them. And there is no doubt about it–the right perfume worn at the right time can give you a big lift.”