Health comes first as a good skin requisite, health born of exercise, wholesome food, plenty of soap and water. Take care of the skin locally. Avoid the direct rays of the sun; avoid exposure to wind, and dirt, lest your skin turn coarse and rough. Water does not injure the skin, nor dry out its natural oils. Use soft water for cleaning face and hands. If the water you have available is hard, soften with salt, borax or baking soda, add bran or a quarter cup of almond meal to make water more soothing to a tender skin.

If chapping, warm a bath, tepid water, a soft soap, plus olive oil massage or toilet powder will remedy it. Cold water in the morning (it stimulates) and warm water at night is a good washing rule. Never use a cheap, but always a good soap, Castile preferably. Green soap (potash soap) is meant for oily scalps and only irritates dry skins. Though medicated soaps are useful for some skin diseases, they should be used only on a doctor's orders.

Thorough, careful drying lends color to the cheeks and increases circulation, and cream and powder are good skin protectors if rightly used and removed. If the skin has been exposed to sun or wind, rub cold cream well into it. Then remove with a damp cloth, and follow by washing in cold water.

Vanishing cream, greaseless, is a good face powder foundation, and a skin protector. Always remove cream from the face before going to bed, and in general use it only every alternate day. No complexion stands cream day in, day out, nor does cream take the place of soap and water. Cream, if not removed, clogs the skin pores. Clogged pores mean black heads, and black heads cause other skin affections. Clogged pores, too, are responsible for yellow, sallow complexions.

Oily skin, often accompanied by enlarged pores, black heads and pimples, should be treated before worse ensues. Use a soap made of a cup of oatmeal or boiled oats, a pinch of sulphur, a pinch of powdered benzoin, and a teaspoonful of Castile soap, shaved fine, mixed, in a small cheesecloth bag. An application in warm water twice a day, should correct the oily tendency.

Sunburn and Freckles.