The years between a little girl's first toothbrush and her first lipstick can set her on the road to loveliness. Here is a program of beauty habits to help.

YOUR daughter does not need classical features to be a beauty (though they are no hindrance). More important are poise and grace, cleanliness, good health, grooming, and a pleasing expression and personality.

In the baby and toddler stages, mother does the '"beauty" treatments by keeping her daughter clean and healthy with well-tended hair, neat clothes, and a good diet plan. But very soon daughter can be trained in beauty habits that will last her all her life.

From 6 To 9 - Beauty is Health

Proper nutrition in this age-group has a lot to do with your child's attractiveness in years to come. Good food makes for a well formed body, smooth, radiant skin, mental and physical vitality. So keep her diet good. Carefully guard your child's first teeth.

Begin her six monthly dental check-ups at the age of two and a half. With cavities filled, baby teeth will last until permanent teeth replace them. This gives her second teeth a better chance to grow in straight and strong.

One of the most important things you can do for your daughter is to start establishing habits of good grooming. Help her choose a simple hairdo she can keep tidy herself.

If your child's hair is fine, have it cut bluntly at the ends. On the other hand, heavy hair is best in a pixie cut with uneven tips. Never fasten a child's ponytail with elastics; they break fine hair. Hair doesn't reach its full thickness until the age of eleven or twelve.

One last and most important point - try to establish confidence about her appearance. Praise her good points and help her to be optimistic about them without being vain.

From 10 To 12 - Beauty is Grooming

At this stage a girl starts to be an inveterate snacker. So get your daughter into sensible nibbling habits.

Have apples, celery, and carrots available for after school snacks. Substitute fruit juices for a soft drink. Later on she'll thank you; her teeth will be better for it and so will her figure.

Where good posture is concerned, seeing is believing.

Ask her to slump in front of a mirror, then pull in her stomach and straighten her shoulders. She'll see the improvement herself. Let her arrange her hair to see whether she prefers it short, if she wants a side or center part. She can be sold on day-by-day grooming habits if you present them as privileges, such as: "You can use my hand lotion if your fingernails are clean."

Girls are mimics, so let her watch you brush your hair or do your nails.

Keep up her visits to the dentist.

Insist on clean ears, neck, elbows, knees, heels, and toes. At all ages, buy shoes that will not harm foot development.

When She Enters Her Teens - Beauty is Confidence

Any young girl in her early teens is likely to experiment with her looks. So step in now and help her.

When the time comes, introduce her to a lip brush and show her how to manipulate it from corners of her mouth toward the center. If her eyebrows: are ragged, show her how to tweeze in the direction the hair grows. A little baby oil on a brush will train brows to lie flat.

Stress soap-and-water face washings three times a day using hot water for soaping. Then, when every trace of soap is rinsed away, rinse again with cold water to close the pores.

Blemishes may still appear. If they are very bad, consult a skin specialist. To help, there are medicated soaps, lotions to blot up excess oil, and instruments to loosen blackheads.

Most important, see that your daughter stays in good health, gets plenty of sleep and fresh air.

Keep her diet nutritionally sound. Remind her not to snack on chocolates and cake.

For lustrous hair and healthy scalp, encourage regular daily brushing. Set aside one night a week for shampoos. While she's at it, have her shampoo her brush and comb.

Simplest hairdos are prettiest and will require a trip to a hairdresser for a good hair cutting. Your daughter may forget about good posture, so remind her about it.