Cucumbers, lettuce, and lemons were commonly used to soften and whiten the skin back in the early 1900s. Here is how women used these three items for beauty back in 1914.
Nature’s Complexion Cure
Nature has supplied many cures for bad complexions, and one of the simplest of them is the cucumber. Rubbing the inside of the rind over face and hands whitens and smoothes the skin. Excellent cucumber creams and soaps are on the market, but the good homemade preparation is really effective.
It is made as follows: Cut and chop fine a dozen cucumbers. Pound to a paste and squeeze the juice through a jelly bag. Perfume with half a teaspoon of violet extract. Mix with twice the quantity of almond oil and one-half the number of ounces of spermaceti and white wax. Melt the oils in a double boiler then add the cucumber juice, drop by drop, stirring steadily with a silver spoon or egg beater.
Lettuce makes a good whitening wash for the face. Scald with boiling water, let it stand five minutes, pour off water and pound the leaves to a paste and then strain through a cloth. Keep this lettuce was by mixing it with equal parts of alcohol.
Probably the most useful of all nature’s cosmetics is the lemon. One should always be kept on the washstand. The lemon smoothes and whitens rough skin, removes stains and makes a cleansing shampoo for white hair. It should be used sparingly, as it is liable to bleach the hair.
Source: Burlington weekly free press. (Burlington, Vt.), 07 May 1914.
