THE HOSPITAL BEAUTY SCHEME 251 was working in Goodmayes, she actually trained two nurses on the spot. With the other hospitals we had to select nurses who had the right kind of basic qualities and train them also in beauty techniques. This we did, and I think in the first course we had seven nurses. There has never been any charge to the hospitals. The nurses were selected either by myself or Miss Jeffree from the hospital staff. We felt that if we were going to give this very concentrated two-week course, then we must have the right kind of material to work on. In other words, mobile hands, really quick perception and sympathetic minds were essential if the nurses were to return to the hospitals and work effectively on their own. The courses were a tremendous success. Miss Jeffree devised the programme and we covered the whole of a normal beauty course very briefly. The nurses had to work very hard and we found that, being trained nurses, they were very swift with their hands and therefore the massage techniques came easily to them. They were also in the habit of listening to lectures and taking notes, and here again they were quick and receptive. They were far better than the average trainees who come to us to take a course. These nurses did the course in about a third of the time that an ordinary student would have done. On that first course we invited Dr. Somerville to spare a few minutes to come a•d talk to the girls. This he willingly did, and he made some interest- ing points. The effect, particularly on the schizophrenic, who finds herself isolated from normal conduct in spite of great personal efforts, was remark- able. Her personality is such that it is difficult for her to be like other people, which results in a withdrawal from normal conduct and a retreat into the citadel of her own mind. This in turn very frequently produces a neglect of personal appearance, because it has ceased to have any significance for the patient. This in turn reacts further and redoubles the sense of difference and isolation. Further, it has been shown that with beauty care a person can be made aware again. An improved appearance could form a bridge which leads back to normality and a breakdown of the sense of isolation. Depres- sives also, particularly of the middle-aged type, who have a purposeless outlook frequently occasioning personal neglect, had been helped in just this way. Their sense of well-being had been regenerated by beauty care. Dr. Somerville stressed that the nurses were going to undertake some of the most important work of tlmir whole career, and very rewarding work too. He urged them not to treat beauty work as an ephemeral fad, but as a really important part of therapeutic treatment. He added that this was becoming more generally recognized, and when he recently attended a Medical Confer- ence with other psychiatrists, anticipating a certain amount of good- humoured scepticism, he was agreeably surprised at the wide interest which the scheme had aroused and the measure of agreement that existed as to its significance.

252 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Dr. Somerville summarized the benefits of the Beauty Scheme to his hospital under four headings: 1. It had improved the whole atmosphere of the hospital, since something gay and stimulating had been added to the organization. It was his view that quite small additions to hospital routine which had this general effect frequently had an impact with patients which was much greater than the main part of the routine. 2. The nurses had improved in appearance and had, to a degree, gained in confidence and self-assurance, which was most encouraging. 3. The patients themselves had benefited in the ways described, the beauty treatments creating common ground and so forming a link with normality through the nurses. 4. Relatives, whose co-operation plays such a vital part in rehabilitation, were pleased that these treatments were available for their relatives and they also viewed their wives' or sisters' needs in this direction with greater sympathy and understanding. This is of great importance after the patient leaves the hospital. I would now like to give you some precise case histories, without revealing names of patients or hospitals. J. S.: 30 to 35. A depressive who could at times be very difficult. She had a heavy growth of superfluous hair, which had the effect of making her stoop her head. She never looked anyone in the face. At first, she was most reluctant to come to the Beauty Salon, thinking her case was hopeless, but after a depilatory, her attitude changed completely. She would come to the Salon laughing, when previously she had not even smiled, and eventu- ally she learned to apply her own make-up with great pleasure. Mrs. P.: A neurotic whose breakdown had taken the form of utter rest-- lesshess and who was quite unable to sit still either during the day or in bed at night. At first, when she came to the Beauty Room, she did not pay any attention to what was being said to her or done for her. She continued dithering and fidgeting and would not sit in the beauty chair without a great deal of persuasion. Gradually, however, from a five minute massage, she reacted to the point where she sat in the beauty chair completely relaxed for up to half an hour, taking pleasure in the massage and ultimately the make-up that was applied. The massage had induced relaxation and succeeded in breaking a deeply ingrained habit of restlessness which no other treatment had touched. M. J.: 28 years of age. Depressive. Was extremely untidy and lacked any interest in her appearance or surroundings. Would not attend any entertainment and was most reluctant to go to the Occupational Therapy Department. When first approached about the Beauty Salon she refused.