I was looking hopelessly at my numerous beauty preparations the other day.

There are countless lotions, unctions and embrocations, festooning my dressing table, too many to name!!

Amongst them I have my now infamous'Instantly Ageless' , I have 'Revitalift' by L'Oreal and I have Macro Vitamin E cream advocated by my friend Merle, in Brisbane, who has never had a wrinkle in her life!!

And then I remembered that dearest Mother, 'Who Art in Heaven', used only Ponds Cold Cream!!

Yes, for her entire life she only ever used Ponds Cold Cream!! Nothing else, no cleansers, toners and moisturizers as the experts remind us. No lotions, unguents and embrocations. No fomentations, lavatures and liniments. Just plain old Ponds Cold Cream.

It came in a large squat bottle, white with an aqua colored lid, and was always cool and soothing. Whatever it did for her complexion, only heaven knows!!!! In addition to the Ponds, there was the odd reference to Rose Water and Witch hazel, but Gavin and I never questioned that one!!!

And as for Goulards Extract, well that might have been something the Witch Doctor prescribed I am sure. Witch Doctor's name was Johnny Strong, Mum's Doctor, and he had powers beyond belief!!

Mum solved everything- beauty wise - with Ponds Cold Cream, it went on the face, the arms, the legs, and the torso and very little else was ever entertained.

Not for Mum were pomades, ointments and jellies although she was quite partial to the occasional application of Vaseline Pretoleum Jelly if I remember rightly.

Oh yes, and Ingrams Camphor Cream in winter, that was a family legacy indeed, never quite sure what it was used for though, dry skin maybe.....although it was always called 'The Skin Doctor'!!

However I remember the TV Commercial vividly-
Ingrams Camphor Cream
Protects the family skin,
Your whole families skin
Healthy pure and .....

I am prepared to sing it to you if you have nerves of steel!!

Women demobbed from the Second World War were not extravagant, there was very little money in those days, and certainly not the plethora of products available post war.

Mom had few beauty indulgences, one of which was her finger nails and the other her glorious auburn hair.Hairdos with Sheena took place every Friday come rain or shine. For the princely sum of ten shillings, she could spend a glorious hour of total self indulgence, that magnificent Morton hair was wound tightly in green plastic rollers, those horrifying plastic spikes were forced into the scalp to hold the rollers and she was popped under one ofthose popular 'hood' hair dryers, where she read much coveted ladies magazines just like every other woman loves too!

Her nail painting was an art and a ritual, Gavin and I knew never to disturb her at this time. On Fridays at 6 pm precisely, bright red Cutex nail polish was applied to those lovely filbert nails at the end of those graceful long fingers!!

And then of course there was Mum's own special fragrance, she only ever wore that world famous cologne called 4711!!

Her dressing table was always very uncluttered, it contained a silver backed hairbrush, an old silver backed hand mirror, a bottle of 4711 and a bottle of Pond's Cold Cream ......

Life was so simple in those days gone by......