Weirdly, within the last seven days I have been given two amazing books that I am so grateful to now own. One is great for make-up inspiration, the other is pretty much your bible for skincare.
Makeup is Art by Jana Ririnui & Lan Nguyen.
This book is like a work of art, I haven’t found the time to digest all the tremendous images but every time I’ve flicked through it I’ve always cooed and caught my breath at the sometimes astonishing make-up shots. Unlike other ‘make-up’ books which tend to cater for the hard and fast rules of make-up (possibly even some step-by-step application techniques thrown in, too), this one is meant mostly for inspiration for all those who are passionate about it.
The co-writer of Makeup is Art, Jana Ririnui, is the founder of AOFM (the Academy of Freelance Makeup), a make-up school which I was lucky to visit last Friday morning. Having trained myself at Greasepaint School of Make-up, which in all honesty I don’t really have any positive opinion on, what stood out for me for this school was their exceptional student aftercare. Once you’ve done a course, you’re welcome to come back for a bunch of free courses that the school regularly holds. Not only that, they appear to really believe in their students and always try to find them some kind of industry work afterwards.
I am not aware of prices for the range of courses they do so can’t really comment on whether they seem fair or not (from my understanding, all of these make-up schools are costly and they’re expected to be so), but I liked the staff and the fact that Shu Uemura, Becca, Dermologica and Bobbi Brown (for US) have chosen this school exclusively to be the official sponsors of speaks volumes.
Don’t Go to the Cosmetic Counter Without Me (8th Edition) by Paula Begoun.
This is a book that I have probably wanted for at least two years now, if not longer. I actually think I had discovered Paula before I had even started blogging! For those who are unaware, Paula Begoun is an American ‘Consumer Advocate’, nicknamed The Cosmetic Cop. The book lists hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of brands, dissecting their products, research and ingredients, allowing us to steer clear of the products that are a waste of money, and only investing in the ones that actually work.
I met this wonderful lady only yesterday, where she gave a brilliant talk about the major skincare myths and basic facts. Here are a few of them..
1. Do not use anything from jars. The moment your product comes into contact with oxygen, it starts to die. Anything airtight with pump is always best.
2. There is no need for a separate eye cream. Just use whatever you’re using on the rest of your face!
3. SPF, SPF, SPF! Apparently the sun can even attack our skin through a window, and it only takes a minute for damage to begin happening.
When I find a second in this mad, busy week I will look up every single skin care product I’m currently using and see what she has to say about it!
Both really fascinating books, can’t wait to get stuck in.
Lx
