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.”