Health: The Secret to Eternal Beauty
There exists an undeniable correlation between physical attractiveness and overall health. A lady’s appearance can often serve as a reflection of her internal well-being, and health practices can positively impact her perceived beauty. This bidirectional relationship extends to mental health, as positive body image can contribute to increased self-esteem and confidence, therefore encouraging healthier behaviors. Beauty and health exist in a sort of positive feedback loop that, once engaged, can help us maintain our beauty throughout our life. If this seems too obvious, step back and look at the amount of artifice that we, as women, are encouraged to purchase in order to modify our appearance. There is no amount of cosmetic addition that can replace the beauty of good health, vitality, and inner peace.
The 1907 guide Beauty and the Preservation of Youth explains this concept in the following manner:
A hundred other instances could be adduced if necessary to show that beauty is dependent upon health, and that even the most lovely person will lose her attractions if she neglects her general health. Happily, however, this fact is being recognised, and it is no longer necessary to labour the point. I will assume, therefore, that all my readers who wish to be beautiful realise that they must care for the health, and secure prompt treatment of any illness or disorder which may attack them, and that they must employ every legitimate means of preserving the integrity of the bodily functions, such as exercise of care in the matter of diet, as to which a special chapter is provided in this volume, and by breathing fresh air night and day, and by taking proper physical exercise.
It is quite true that beauty and health do not necessarily co-exist, since it is possible to enjoy good health and yet to be plain and homely in appearance, but a really healthy person will always have a clear complexion, bright eyes, abundant hair, sound white teeth, and a bright expression; and, if we add to these a good figure, their possessor will be worthy of envy, and it is not an exaggeration to say that every woman can do something to improve her own possessions in these respects.
Health of mind is as important as that of the body. An anxious worrying disposition will soon wear out the beauty of a lovely face, which will be disfigured by wrinkles, and robbed of its soft curves owing to the gradual loss of subcutaneous fat.
A happy disposition not only gives a beautiful expression to the face, but it positively modifies the features, rendering them more attractive and comely. The effect of emotional states upon the hair is well known. Anxiety and worry cause thinness and premature greyness, and sudden shocks or periods of intense fear have been known to blanche the hair in a few hours. Happiness is conducive to beauty of the hair as of the face and figure. It is of more importance than one might suppose that these facts should be realised.
This explanation rests on the strong connection between beauty and health, and the notion that a healthy person, with bright eyes and a positive disposition, is more likely to be perceived as beautiful. The author, an anonymous MD, doesn’t ignore the importance of mental health either, noting that anxiety and worry negatively impact our appearance, while happiness enhances it.