Well-shaped ears should be a size proportionate to the size
of the head. If they are well set into the head,
being neither too prominent nor too
obscure, nature has done her part
in giving you good-looking ears,
and you must by care supplement her gifts.
You must keep your ear properly cleansed. Guard your
hearing carefully and see that it is kept as
acute as possible. The ears must also be of wholesome color,
and as fine texture as possible. If nature has not done her
share in your case, then you must do more than your own.
If the ears are too large, little can be done, though a
well-known beauty specialist once had some success in what
he called the crumpling process. He taught his patients to
squeeze the ears into smaller compass by gently crushing or
crumpling the outer rims of cartilage between the fingers.
But for the ear that stands out
too prominently from the head, the
ear hood or harness is a good and
scientific aid. Made of strong tape
and fastened with transverse lines
so that the pressure upon the ear
is not only lengthwise, but crosswise,
horizontal and diagonal, the
close-fitting cap fits tightly over the
scalp and hair, and yet the large
spaces between the tape and the
hair afford plenty of free ventilation
for the scalp.
If the ear is not prominent
enough, lying too close to the
head, it can be much improved,
especially in youth, by gentle pulling
with the fingers dipped into a
mixture of glycerine and rose
water. Begin at the top of the ear
and pull the ear slowly upward.
Repeat the same process backward.
And pull the lobe downward.
Place the first two fingers of the
hand behind the ear and with the
thumb roll the cartilage over the
two fingers, then reverse and roll
it over the thumb, at the same
time gently stretching it. In a few
weeks this treatment will cause a decided
improvement in the general appearance of the ear.
The ivory swabs, with a tiney spoon
at one end and a small sponge at the other end
are good ear cleansers, if carefully used, but
you must remember that the
ear is as delicate an organ as the
eye and must be gently handled.
If the wax in the ears has become hardened pour into them a
few drops of warm, never cold or hot, olive oil.
After a few minutes turn the head over and allow
that which has not been absorbed by the wax to run out.
Follow this step of the treatment by syringing the ear gently
with tepid water. Be careful to
use only slight force, for instance as much as is used in an ordinary
perfume atomizer or small nasal
douche, for the menace of bursting ear drums is a serious one.
Let the water remain in a few minutes, then, turning the head, allow it to run out. This time the ear
pick can be used again and generally
with success. If you fail, then go to a good ear specialist and put
yourself entirely in his hands.
Sometimes there is an unpleasant discharge from the ear. This
usually indicates an infection and
shows your immediate need of the services of an ear specialist. The
most unpleasant results can be avoided by "syringing the ear carefully
with an ear syringe filled with half a cup of warm water, to which
a few drops of carbolic acid have been added.
Never use a sharp instrument like a pin or a hairpin in the ear
or, if you feel you must use something to allay the intolerable itching,
then use the closed end of a hair pin that has been well wrapped
around with cotton.
Occasionally we see ears that are otherwise well kept and wholesome
disfigured at the orifice by a few bristling stiff hairs. This is
usually found among men. Such hairs, unless very strong and stiff
may be removed by the use of tweezers, without pain, if the outer
part of the ear is first prepared by an ether spray. However, this,
though often done, is too difficult an operation to be safely
performed by one's self, in my opinion. I should advise going to a
physician and paying for his skilled touch and his knowledge of antiseptic remedies.
The normal color of the ear is a delicate pink. When the ears are
chronically red, they may have been rudely handled, or there may
be an irritation caused by extreme cold or excessive steam heat.
This article was written by Lina Cavalieri, the "Most Famous Living Beauty" in 1919. Although the
ear cosmetics techniques described by her are almost a century old, they are as
actual as ever.
