Pages: 192
Genre: Non-fiction, Skin & Beauty
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: March 2012
RRP: $39.99
THE DESCRIPTION:
In Timeless Makeup, leading international makeup artist, Rae Morris, shows you how to create a classic, ageless look that will enhance your best features, regardless of your age.
Full of fabulous looks for day and evening, complete with step-by-step photographs and clear instructions on how to achieve them, Timeless Makeup reveals Rae's secret tips for making you look younger and slimmer in minutes. With advice on how to make your skin look more luminous and glowing, the best way to shape the perfect eyebrow and create plumper, more youthful lips, this book will make you feel younger and sexier in no time at all.
THE REVIEW:
The one thing I have learnt from this book is that I should take more time to read the description before I ask for a copy. By not reading the description I ended up with a book that wasn't suited to my personal tastes and therefore I could not give it a fair review. Just by looking at the cover and title I assumed the book would be about looks that never go out of fashion; Classic Makeup looks. Instead I discovered the writer meant "timeless" as in "ageless", luckily though for her the book doesn't focus too much on aged people.
So yep. After reading the description I discovered that this book was about enhancing your best features, taking attention away from your worst ones and looking good no matter your age or ethnicity. There were some other aspects to this book that I thought were very helpful and unique. There is a bit in there about glasses and how they look on different face shapes. I really, really liked this, because I know people who find it difficult to find glasses that suit them.
I think despite my initial expression at discovering the meaning of the word 'Timeless', I actually found this book helpful. This book included information about makeup and skin care that I had been unaware of before and the flaws the makeup artist was trying to detract away from were not all age related. The book also included some Australian celebrities as well as models in the makeovers. The ages of the models chosen seemed to range from about 30-70. Which isn't too bad...
One thing I didn't like about this book was the author's comments on the lip-hair-removal-front. I do understand that some people especially older people do get to a stage where they are looking quite cat like and indeed do need to remove their facial hair. However, those people are probably not going to be reading this book. The people who will read this book are people who care about their appearance. Reading the guidance about having hair where it shouldn't be I think encourages insecurity in women who don't have anything to worry about. I know that I used to go to school with girls who would complain that their upper lip was itchy from waxing it and I had never noticed them even having facial hair. Also, waxed hair tends to grow back darker, so if the reader didn't have a moustache they certainly would have a moustache now. Having said all that, I guess it's up to whether or not the reader is smart enough to let the book get to them.
Another thing that was questionable was the self-promotion within the book. Rae Morris has released a set of make-up brushes that she wrote about in the makeup brush section. When I was reading it I was a little unsure of whether the information was about just these particular brushes or makeup brushes in general. Some of the brushes didn't seem very familiar to me at all. Trinny and Susannah wrote the foreword of this book and later on in the Underwear section the author mentions Trinny and Susannah's girdle-like underwear(words have eluded me in regards to what these actual things are called).
Overall, I gave this book 3.5 stars. While it was helpful, I think it is one of those books that could have done with a little bit more elaboration. Also take it with a grain of salt. Know that not everything you read is absolutely suited to you, And that rule should go with a lot of non-fiction books. I think it will be a great book for mothers, aunts and grandmothers who like their makeup. I'll hang onto this one. The book is definitely timeless in the fact that I won't ever grow out of it.
Natalie
No comments:
Post a Comment