This section is from the book "Three Meals A Day", by Maud C. Cooke. Also available from Amazon: Three Meals a Day.
This will also whiten the face. Take ½ pint of rain water, 1 small cupful of real cider vinegar, 1 cupful of milk. Mix and bottle. Apply to the face at night. Let dry on. In the morning wash off with warm water. It will remove tan.
Lettuce is useful to refine the skin. Break the stems and stalks of coarse garden lettuce and rub the milky juice over the face at night. In the morning wash off with warm water containing a few drops of ammonia. The opium is the refining medium.
Lemon juice will usually remove any transient stains on the hands.
The wash given for an Oily Skin is also good for pimples. Apply several times a day and allow it to dry on.
Glycerine half and half with water. Stir into this powdered sulphur (flower of sulphur). Rub this on the face at night and wash off in the morning with soap and water, adding a few drops of ammonia. This will also whiten the skin, remove the oiliness that troubles some complexions, and has the commendation of a celebrated physician.
The French recommend this for refining and purifying the skin. Prepare as follows: Express the juice of fresh cucumbers, bring to the boiling point, skim and bottle. Take 1 teaspoonful of the juice to 2 teaspoonfuls of water, and apply to the face night and morning, letting dry on.
2½ drachms of essence of turpentine, 1 drachm of gum-mastic, pulverized; 2 ounces fresh unsalted butter. Mix; apply at night and let dry on the face. Wash off in the morning with a little warm soap and water.
Bathe the face every night in water as hot as can be borne, with a little bi-carbonate of soda dissolved therein. Dry the face carefully and anoint it with cold cream, sweet cream or sweet oil. This has the recommendation of a well-known physician.
36 grains of sub-carbonate of soda, 8 ounces of distilled water, 6 drachms of essence of roses. Mix and apply with a small sponge after each ablution, using gentle friction, always upward.
A physician may effectually destroy them by touching each one with acetic acid. A hair pencil must be used and the acid only allowed to touch the black spot.
Apply a saturated solution of borax in rose-water five or six times a day and allow to dry upon the face. This will be successful in mild cases.
Moisten the finger tips and dip in finely powdered saltpeter and apply to the freckles. Repeat until freckles are gone.
Poultice the face lightly, or soften with almond paste and rub a freshly cut lemon over the surface.
Make a thick mixture of magnesia and soft rain water. Spread all over the face. Let remain on three or four minutes, then wash off with Castile soap and tepid water. Rinse the face and dry thoroughly. The face should always be dried thoroughly.
Domestic suggestions, such as bathing hands and face in buttermilk, or using vinegar in which grated horse-radish has been soaked, or lemon juice, any and all of them frequently prove successful after several applications.
 
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