Tuesday, 7 December 2010

Review; Vogue Makeup by Juliet Cohen [Book]


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Advantages: Layout, stunning photography
Disadvantages: Information is thin on the ground, no photos in the places where it's needed.
VOGUE MAKE-UP aims to be a one stop shop for all thinks beauty related. Everything from basic skincare, to pedicures are covered, along with helpful quotes from respected make-up artists and tutorials to help inspire you.




Juliet is a former magazine editor and contributes to the beauty section for various publications, including Vogue. And in all honestly this book reads like she has just stapled a bunch of her articles together, added a bunch of photos in with them and called it a day. As you can see below, she does cover a lot of subjects, but she just skims over everything and it's all basic information that most people will already know. There are quotes from various celebrated make-up artists throughout the book, but these have just been taken from their own books and interviews - Juliet hasn't actually been actively researching or anything like that.

But by far the worst aspect to this book is the make-up tutorials. Most of the time she crams two looks on the the same page and adds one photo on the opposite page, I suspect she's picked a picture at random - none of the tutorials ever seem to match the photo. The tutorials are nothing but vague step by steps and all steps are unillustrated, which is very unhelpful. And maybe I'm not taking in the information, but there only seems to be three different looks that are repeated over and over.

Good points? The photos are stunning and a large portion of them are unairbrushed [ though I think ALL of the photos in this type of book should remain unaltered] . And the layout of the book makes it easy to put it down partway through and get back into it easily at a later date.


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What's inside?
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Twenty first century beauty
From the ancient Egyptians using 'genital extracts' as wrinkle cream to how the holistic lifestyle will shape near-future beauty trends...
There are some tidbits there are new to me; People were having face lifts in England and France in the 1920's, before plastic surgery became popular in America for example.

I found this segment very interesting and would have liked it to be longer as it's the only part of the book that really interested me.


SKIN

Skin types; Basic information on dry skin, oily skin, combination skin and sensitive skin. There are are a few sentences under each skin type telling what kind of make-up is best for each type - Fairly basic information that most people will already know.
Fun fact: With my dry skin I'm informed that "I'm a walking advertisement for old mother time", which caused me to instantly grab a mirror and inspect my face in growing horror.
Skincare; General cleaning, toning and moisturizing advice.
Miracles in a jar; Which at ingredients to look out for and what do those buzz-words mean?
Sun skin; Caring for your skin in the sun and fake tanning..
Ski skin; Says it all really.
Jet lag skin; Tips to avoid scaring airport staff :p
Problem skin; Tips on improving skin's appearance.
We're still in the skin section for the following...
Diet; Inner health = outer beauty
Face shapes; Basic information and sketches on the 5 different face shapes. Juliet tells us that the long face shape is also known as 'horse'. That cheered Mum up.
Tricks of the trade: How to..
* Slim a wide nose
* Create a full mouth
* Minimize the forehead
* Open hooded eyes
* Hide a receding chin
Skin tone; Waste of space is all I can say - I bought this for make-up inspiration, nothing else. It's a 1 page essay on how we're all beautiful. No useful information on foundation choices etc.


TOOLS OF THE TRADE

The full monty; The staples in a make-up artists kit.
Secret weapon; How to find a professional make-up artist [I assume for weddings etc rather than for popping to Tesco looking your best].
Editing your make-up shelf; De-junking your stash.


FOUNDATION

Choosing a foundation; Never choose a foundation dark enough to look like a suntan... Gee, thank for that.
Foundation textures; Explains what matt, gel, light-reflecting etc formulas are.
Application; What is the best tool to use.
Concealer & Powder; Guess she didn't know where else she could have put these limited entries.
Bases
* Holiday base
* Everyday base
* Evening base
* Dewy base


EYES

We begin with another pointless essay and 'do you know', along with some helpful tips on looking fresh eyed when you're far from fresh. My favourite? "When all else fails, pretend you work in fashion or film, and wear your sunglasses inside"...
Eyebrows; All about how brows define our face shape and the how to and different options for shaping yours.
Eye Lashes; More waffle about nothing, a small non-entry on false lashes and a few basic mascara care tips [don't pump the wand up and down].
Shadow; Don't be afraid of colour is the gist of the opening to this segment. The different textures shadow is available in [cream, powder etc] is explained.
Make-up looks
* Natural eyes
* Neutral eyes
* Smoky eyes
* Glossy eyes
* Shimmery eyes
Optical illusions; How to...
* Lift droopy eyes
* Look bright eyed
* Instant eye job
* Come to bed eyes
* Change your face shape


LIPS

Technology; About non-transfer lipsticks, products containing water molecules, dry liposomes, antioxidants, SPFs and the advantages to each.
Natural born fillers: Discuss the different options of lip plumper's available.
Lipstick; Explains the different kinds of lip colour out there [Glosses, stains, matt lipstick etc].
Application techniques; General hints and tips, plus a few no-nos; Avoid matching lip colour to your outfit, for example.
Lipliners; All about liner [d'oh], lip shapes and cheating a fuller/thinner mouth [or as I call it, the 'Porn Star' look].
Make-up looks:
* The rosebud mouth
* Classic red
* Matt lips
* Stained lips
* The Paris pout


CHEEKS

Textures; Exploring powders, creams, stains etc
Colour matching; The best colours for your skintone
Application tips
Bronzers, shimmers, multipurpose and dewy tints; A brief outline on each different product.
Make-up looks
* The Audrey
* The Marilyn
* Naturally beautiful
* Shimmer
* Too hot to handle
* The bright spark
* Smoky and smoldering
* Dewy-faced


BODY AND HAIR

Body skincare - Basic info
Body make-up; Piercings, tattoos, henna and body jewels.
Hair make-up; hair dyes and glitter spray, accessories and extensions


MANICURES AND PEDICURES

Basic handcare tips
Tools of the trade
Polish textures; Traditional lacquer, fast drying, polish pens and peel off polishes [Do they even make those anymore? I remember I had a silver L'Oreal one, but that was over 10 years ago].
How to...
* The perfect manicure
* The perfect polish
* The natural manicure
Most girls fake it; A outline of the different fake nails available
Glorious feet; Hints and tips on basic footcare.
How to...
* Classic red
* Beach feet
* Mehndi feet

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