5 Minutes For Books

Get Positively Beautiful

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This giveaway is now closed. The winners are…

1. Tiff from Three Peas in a Pod who said, “My eyes!! I love to watch What Not to Wear! Great giveaway!”

and

2. Kristy who said, “My best feature is my eyes and would love to learn how to do a smokey eye.”

Congrats! And thanks to the folks at Hachette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway.

I’ve been a fan of What Not To Wear since the very first episode aired in 2003 with Stacy London and Wayne Scott Lukas.

That’s right, I did NOT say Clinton Kelly. Wayne Scott Lukas was the first male co-host of What Not To Wear. I was hooked on the show immediately and have been a loyal fan ever since.

So when I was asked to review Carmindy’s latest book, get positively beautiful, I tripped over my two left feet zapping back an enthusiastic email. I did have the wherewithal to also request a giveaway, and the publishers were so generous they are giving me FIVE copies to give away! YES, FIVE! Two here and three on Chic Critique!

But before we get to that, let me tell you about the book. I have read it cover to cover. Her overriding theory of beauty is that “a confident face knows its finest features and plays them up.” Carmindy starts by demanding that her reader turns off negative thoughts about her appearance and focuses on the fantastic. I love how she encourages us not to compare ourselves to other women, particularly movie stars and supermodels. Throughout the book she emphasizes the belief that there is no set beauty ideal and every woman has unique beauty.

As a Christian woman, I believe that God has made each of us unique and beautiful in our own way. It is not wrong to focus on our assets as long as we don’t allow them to become a point of pride. It IS wrong to tear down what God has created. So while Carmindy may go a bit overboard with her “mirror mantras”, I think her overall point is valuable. We will be much happier and more productive if we focus on the good and not the bad. And this book helps us do just that.

I particularly liked it when she said that our pore obsession has become “utterly insane and is a poor use of our energies”. I have certainly spent too much time bemoaning the craters pores that have appeared on my post-35-year-old face. Carmindy encourages her readers to embrace their complexion and focus on finding products to showcase it. In fact, she goes through every facial feature and explains in detail how to make the most of it with makeup and skincare. She breaks it down into several different categories (for example, for the eyes she describes makeup techniques for each eye color and shape) and gives specific instructions for maximizing your assets. She encourages her reader to determine her “feature focus” and start there.

There is a chapter describing the tools you need to optimize your makeup application. Carmindy’s advice is to start collecting the tools that help enhance your feature focus and then build your toolbox as you experiment. I have already added a few new tools for my collection on her advice.

At the end there is a section with before and after shots and descriptions of how Carmindy achieved their dramatic makeovers. I pored over these pages, studying the makeup techniques she used.

This is a book for every woman who wants to make the most of her assets. The advice is practical and affordable. There are even product recommendations in the back.

WIN IT! For your chance to win one of two copies of Carmindy’s get positively beautiful, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me your “feature focus” – your best feature, the one you want to maximize with Carmindy’s beauty techniques. The winner will be selected on Friday. Good luck!

If you’re visiting from the Bloggy Giveaways carnival, please check out our weekly Tuesday community carnivals and how you can Join In! If you aren’t, check out more giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!

Jo-Lynne blogs daily at Musings of a Housewife, and she runs a beauty product review blog, Chic Critique

Comments

  1. My best feature is my skin, I really have good skin, and I’d like to play it up with Carmindy’s tips.

  3. I think my smile is my best feature. In pictures taken of me, that is the first thing I notice.

  4. My husband tells me my best feature is my smile. 🙂

    I’d like to use this book as a part of our Girlie’s transition to young womanhood… she’s about to be 13, and it would be great to have a resource that could help me teach her how to have a healthy self-image.

  5. Great review! I’m interested in reading this. My best feature is my mouth, but sometimes I can’t see it because I’m too focused on the wrinkles that have been popping up over the last couple of years. LOL

  6. I think my best feature is my skin, although it has become more of a challenge in the “post-35” years! I’d love to read this!

  7. My fiance thinks my best feature is my eyes. I’d like to learn how to play them up with Carmindy’s tips!

  10. I’ve always been very fond of my hair. Its a gorgeous medium brown that grows more auburn in the sunlight and is very curly.

  13. I get lots of compliments on my skin. I also have good bone structure and profile. I’d love to utilize Carmindy’s tips.

  19. Carmindy could teach me how to focus on my eyes..I watch What not to wear religiously and love her style! Thanks for the chance to win this book!

  20. Please enter me, thanks!
    Sararush at hotmail dot com

    My favorite feature is my eyes. My mom and sister both have them, and they are what I always focus on.

  24. I want to show off my eyes. They are my favorite facial feature.

    I couldn’t agree more that God made us all individually, and we shouldn’t want to change what God gave us, only accentuate the positive features to look even more readiant 🙂

  26. I have large deep set eyes but my legs arn’t bad either for a mature gal.

    southrngal(at)gmail(dot)com

  28. I’d love to learn how to play up my eyes with her tips. I love her makeup style on What Not to Wear.

    accoupons at gmail dot com

  30. I’ve always like my mouth. And the older I get, the more I like my freckles. 🙂
    Thanks!
    Megret
    musesofmegret (at) gmail (dot) com

  31. I have very nice eyes that are hidden behind glasses. I would love to have some tips to make them stand out.

    ezmerelda at mail dot com

  40. My best feature is my dimples and I’d like to maximize my cheeks with great beauty techniques.

  42. My Smile is my best asset. I would love to win this book and improve the way i look. great contest.

  46. Hubby says I have beautiful eyes and a gorgeous smile…but he HAS to say that…I would love to learn more about playing them UP so that I can really WOW! him. thanks for the entry!

  47. I guess I would have to say my eyes. They’re really big and brown and I have gotten a lot of compliments on them. However, I have to get my teen daughter to do my eyeshadow when I want to get fixed up because I’m clueless! This book would do me good. =) Thanks!

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