My Beauty and Charm Course

It was over a year ago that I found a book called Anita Colby's Beauty Book on Etsy and jumped at ordering it. The book, which had its first printing in 1952, was written by model and actress Anita Colby.  Early in her career Anita was dubbed "The Face" and was one of the highest paid models of the time. She was hired by David O. Selznick as Feminine Director of Selznick Studios, and was charged with teaching young actresses such as Joan Fontaine, Jennifer Jones, and Rita Hayworth beauty, poise, and publicity. 

                                                                          Anita Colby

She wrote her Beauty Book to include all her tips, tricks, and secrets that she taught her famous starlets.  The book includes a 14-day reducing diet and a 4-week beauty and charm course.  I've read this book practically cover to cover in the time that I've had it, but never attempted the diet and beauty/charm course.  Now with the start of a new year, I figured why the hell not? And I'll blog about my experience too!  So, this outta be fun...

I'll be the first to admit- I HATE exercise. I HATE having to eat "healthy" or diet.  So, I generally don't. But I'm not getting any younger and my body is starting to tell me that I can't eat whatever I want anymore or do whatever I want and always have the strength and flexibility to do it. Add to it that I know I'm not the best at, say, washing my face after a long gig.  Nope, I just normally pull the false eyelashes off, wipe off the lipstick and fall into bed.  I'm also a stay-at-home mom and housewife, so I generally don't look like Cherie when I'm at home. But I'd like to look, and most importantly feel like Cherie all the time. Beyond that, it's just fun to run through the steps that famous stars such as Ingrid Bergman and Ginger Rogers did when trying to look, feel, and act their best. So this shall be a fun little exercise for the next month, and who knows? Maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

Anita believes that eating healthy foods, exercise, good posture, regular skin maintenance, and lots of fresh air are CRUCIAL for wellness and beauty.  Now this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has ever read a diet book or health and beauty magazine, and it's certainly no surprise to me.  First, she wants you to take your measurements and record them. She gives an example of what a young movie star's (in the 40s and 50s, mind you) ideal measurements are:

Height- 5'6" (Check)
Wrist- 6 1/4" (Check)
Bust- 35" (I'm a bit bigger than this)
Waist- 10 inches smaller- 25, not over 26 (Uh... not even close. But I believe it with the tiny tiny waist these actresses had back then.)
Hips- 35", not over 36" (Just measured, and I'm a little over this number. When did that happen? Geesh.)
Calf is 4 or 5 inches larger than ankle
Ankle- 8 1/4" (My calf would be just a touch bit bigger, but my ankle measurement is spot on.)

Looks like I may have some work to do...

She also includes a weight table by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in the book to determine your type of body frame- small, medium, or large (mine is small, who knew?). From there you're able to determine your ideal weight for your frame and height. Mine should be anywhere between 123 and 132lbs. I'd like to be somewhere in the middle of that, but currently, am not. Bummer.

I'm excited to start this beauty course, which begins on a Sunday (yes, the days are set in the book), so I will be starting tomorrow morning! The diet starts on a Monday, so I will be starting that in a couple of days. I hope you have fun reading up on my little experiment!

xoxo
Cherie