When I picked up Bobbi Brown’s Living Beauty, the first thing that struck me was her picture on the cover. For a famous makeup artist, she looked so natural.
And that’s what I liked about this book. Ms. Brown begins by showcasing a variety of role models — famous women who are aging gracefully and confidently. Her focus throughout the book is on enhancing one’s natural beauty, rather than trying to cover up the ravages of time with war paint, or worse, surgically altering one’s face beyond the point of recognition. In fact, she poo-poos cosmetic surgery and swears you can do wonders with makeup. This philosophy of growing old gracefully appeals to me.
There is a chapter on the procedures and products available from a dermatologist, which I found informative and interesting, but not particularly relevant to my personal situation.
My favorite chapter is the one called “The Makeup Face-Lift”. Ms. Brown swears that makeup can have the same (or better) effect on a woman’s face as a face-lift. She shares how to care for skin, the low-down on makeup brushes, and a detailed tutorial on how to achieve flawless skin. Then she takes her readers through a variety of “beauty issues” and gives detailed instructions on how to apply makeup to downplay the negatives and accentuate the positives, covering each stage of makeup application.
If you’re a makeup novice who wants to learn, or if you’re like me — an info junkie who gobbles up all the advice she can get, this book is for you.
The book isn’t all makeup and skincare. There are sections on hair, fashion and nutrition. And since the book is geared for women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, there are even chapters dealing with menopause and mid-life pregnancies. I skimmed these chapters.
In my opinion, chapter 3 (The Makeup Face-Lift chapter) is worth the price of the book.
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Jo-Lynne blogs daily at Musings of a Housewife, and she runs a beauty product review blog, Chic Critique
I just checked and this book is checked in at my library. I’m picking it up tonight and trying the techniques in Chapter 3 on my mom.
WOnders if our library has this book.
I really hope I can age gracefully. Really embrace my beauty in my older years and enhance it with only a little bit of makeup.
:–) Nell
I just reserved this at our library…I fall into the need to learn catagory! Thanks for the review!
This sounds really great. Thanks for reviewing it.
I always thought the same thing about Bobbi Brown when I saw her on TV, “She’s so natural looking and down-to earth!”