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Here are some of my favorite bits:
- Joan Crawford's instructions in My Way of Life included these tips: Avoid sitting in soft chairs, which "spread the hips." Walk around the house with toes pointed inward, for crucial extra leg toning. If your hair is oily, try "cologne massaged into the scalp." For dry hair, slather on a mayonnaise 'masque' for 15 minutes. (Many years ago I tried this: the mayo doesn't wash out for days, and my greasy head smelled disconcertingly like potato salad.)
- In The Way to Natural Beauty, Cheryl Tiegs suggested that one substitute that calorie-laden morning doughnut with "CT's Oriental Pudding," a shake made with honey, skim milk, and…a block of tofu. ("This breakfast sweet is guaranteed to keep you satisfied till lunch.")
- Christie Brinkley shared a novel use for flat beer in her Outdoor Beauty and Fitness Book: Comb it through your hair to use as a makeshift setting lotion. She was also fond of rubbing cut lemons on her elbows (after 10 minutes, they'll be "bleached white!") I phoned Mary Gail Mercurio, M.D., associate professor of dermatology at University of Rochester Medical Center, to see if this assertion had any weight. "Lemons contain citric acid, which exfoliates the skin," she says, "and lemons do have some bleaching properties. You're not going to get bleaching after 10 minutes, but some dead skin will come off." A moisturizing cream that exfoliates is more efficient, she says.
- In On Your Own, Brooke Shields' handbook for looking good during the college years, she told readers she combated stress by listening to a tape of "wonderful old accordion music," and battled temptation in the campus dining hall by picturing her mother next to a giant scale, watching her daughter's every bite.
