Helena Rubinstein was born Chaya Rubinstein on December 25, 1870 and died April 1, 1965, a Polish born American business magnate.  She was the founder of Helena Rubinstein, Incorporated, which made her one of the world’s richest women.  She emigrated from Poland to Australia in 1902, with no money and little English.  She was known and did not pass unnoticed by the town’s ladies because of her look and style.

 When she emigrated she brought many jars of beauty cream and spotting a market she began to make her own.  A key ingredient in Australia were sheep which are known for the lanolin grease.  In order to disguise the odor of lanolin she experimented with water lilies, pine bark, and lavender.  In the meantime, she was a bush governess for a short period and then got a  job as a waitress in Melbourne.  She launched her Creme Valaze, which included herbs from the Carpathian Mountains with the help of an admirer who was willing to furnish the funds.  This pot of grease walked off the shelf as fast it could be placed.

 At this time she started calling herself, “Helena” and opened a salon on the fashionable Collins Street.  This was a first whereby your skin was analyzed and a special treatment was given.  In five years her operations were profitable enough to finance a shop in London.

When World War I started, she moved to New York City where she opened a salon in 1915 and the rest was her gain to fame in 1917 when she started manufacturing and the wholesale distribution of her products, “Day of Beauty.”  She had her own general rules for weight control:

Make up your mind you’re going to lose weight.  Think of it as the most important job you have to accomplish.  Don’t talk about your diet.  It bores others and soon it will bore you.  

Start each day with a glass of hot  water into which has been squeezed the juice of one fresh lemon.  No sugar.  Eat bulky foods – spinach, cabbage, salad greens, and lean meat, so that you won’t feel hungry.  Before lunch and dinner drink a glass of cold water with the juice of a half a lemon.  It helps to overcome hunger.  Bus don’t drink while eating.  Eat slowly.  Chew your food thoroughly to aid digestion and to satisfy your appetite with less food.  If you like milk, drink only skim milk.  It’s rich in proteins and free from fat.  If you must have bread, eat very little – dark, rye, thin unbuttered toast.  Keep salt off the table.  And use it sparingly  in the kitchen (preferably not at all).

 Never look at a menu.  It’s maddening.  Don’t think about rich foods.  But if you crave a certain one, eat a tiny portion.  Don’t let a craving mount so that you eat a pint of ice cream when a tablespoonful would do.  

Begin breakfast with fresh fruit.  Luncheon should be salad time – fresh fruit or raw vegetables and simple dressing.  Instead of tea or coffee drink skim milk.  Hungry between meals?  Have an apple section, a small piece of dry cheese, a celery or carrot stick,  fresh orange juice.  At dinner eat a small salad before the meat course.  It cuts down the appetite.  Limit bread and potatoes.  Avoid fat rich foods.  Leave the table while you still feel you could eat a little more.

 Prepare and serve  your diet foods as attractively as possible, so that sensible eating becomes enjoyable.  I recommend a way of eating that will,  in time, establish new eating habits – habits that will stay with you.

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