My Makeup & Beauty Books

I was actually going to film my third tutorial for Halloween inspired looks, but I have sore throat like never before and therefore it’s almost impossible for me to speak today. But I’m not going to have a lazy day, instead of filming I’m going to write this post and it’s going to be about make-up books, I have bought over the past years.

I know that a lot of women are thinking about buying those books, because they want some key informations, which are normally reserved to the make-up artists. Especially when you are very new to make-up, these books can be of great help!
I hope that I can help you at least a little bit, by giving you an idea of the content of the make-up related books on my bookshelf.

Let’s start with the first book I’ve bought: SCOTT BARNES-ABOUT FACE

I’m a bit disappointed when it comes to this book, yet I really like it! I’m disappointed because of the overall amazing reviews, which have built to high expectations with me. However I really like it on the other hand.
If I would have to describe the content of this book with just one sentence it would be this one: “It’s all about contouring!”
Creating an entire book based on that is a little too much in my opinion. You will see the same thing over and over, just on different women of different age and skin.
Don’t get me wrong. I think that being able to understand & use contouring can do wonders to a face, but I think it would have been enough to give 3-5 examples to describe contouring. You are not really going to learn anything new after the first 15 pages, in my opinion.
But what you can learn is great and easy to understand. The pictures included in this book are awesome.
If you are pretty new to make-up and you want to learn the basics for a nice look, then I would not recommend to decide for this one. I’m not even sure if this is what I would recommend to a person with solid skills. I think this book is just helpful, if you want to create perfect makeup for photos and so on. If you just want to improve your daily make-up routine this is not the right thing for you.
But if you are really into make-up and want to get to know how the make-up, you can see on the red carpet is done, then you should have a look. And even though if I’m not a make-up artist, I think that this would be useful for those who work in that branch.
But I have to make one thing clear, I really do like this book. I love to do the make-up of friends/family members and to show them what kind of transformation is possible, with the help of the right techniques, which you can learn by following the steps shown in this book, is amazing.

Let’s have a look inside…

I think this is truly the most amazing before and after look!

And here you can see a few of the steps needed to create those beautiful results...

There is one thing that really confuses me, each attendant who gets done the make-up, is giving an interview based on their private life. I don’t know what the idea behind that is. Truly you should relate to those women and think by reading something about their personal situation, that this also could be you. To be honest, no one is doing something so time consuming, before they go to work, bring the kids to school or keep the house clean! But that’s just my opinion. The quality of the shown content is great, but maybe just useful for a few women.

The second book I’ve got was this one: SEPHORA-THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MAKEUP, SKIN AND HAIR

Besides the fact that it seems to be a little unorganized, I have nothing bad to say about this book. You will get information on little secrets, instructions to certain looks, healthy living advices, skincare tips and so much more! Sure it’s a little self-advertisingly with all the mentioned products and beauty tools, but this is also helpful. There is also included a huge brush guide and I know that this is something often requested. What I found really interesting was the look inside the “beauty-bag” of a make-up artist. Normally I’m not such a curious person, but getting this inside view is something always mystical to me.
This book is nice if you want to get to know something about everything beauty related. The product informations in my opinion are helpful, if you like to get to know in general, what the huge range of beauty products is offering, cause this can be overwhelming sometimes and you just don’t know where to start!

Let me show you what’s inside…

My favorite book is this one: BOBBI BROWN-MAKEUP MANUAL

This book is meant to be “For Everyone from Beginner to Pro”. I can totally support that! A lot of looks are shown and I love the fact, that Bobbi Brown always tried to use the fewest products possible. You will find everything starting with a teen look up to a bridal makeup. In addition this book helps you to find the right foundation, determine your skintype, get healthy skin…
If you are a makeup-artist you can see what you need to have with you in your kit and how to get into the business.
There is nothing negative I could mention and I can’t imagine how someone would not love this book.

Here you have an example…

The last book I’m going to introduce today is: LINDA MASON-EYE CANDY

This book shows 55 makeup looks. BUT you need to have some sense of artistry in your veins to like these looks or better say the style of photography.

Let me show you what I mean…

I’m sure this is not described as a typical beautiful makeup. I don’t think that there are a lot of wearable daily-looks included either, but I think this book can be an inspiration and is really meant to be art.

Of course there are so much more beauty/makeup related books on the market and I’m probably getting to call some of them my own in the future, but maybe you have found a book that seems to be worth it to have a closer look on.

I hope you enjoy browsing through the books…

NOTE: I don't own the copyright of the content of the photos, the copyright belongs to the authors and makeup artists!