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Beauty: The New Basics
Big, ebullient, brimming over with know-how and passion, Beauty by Rona Berg is the only beauty book you'll ever need-a one-size-fits-all, 500-page guide of information, anecdotes and attitude. Illustrated throughout in two-color and featuring a 96-page full-color section, Beauty is filled with step-by-step how-tos, professional techniques, brand and product comparisons, and inside tips gleaned from a pro's pro who's covered the world of beauty for The New York Times Magazine , Elle magazine and other national publications. The book tackles all three major categories-The Face, Hair, The Body. The emphasis is on simplicity and a healthy, natural approach, and the range cuts across all ethnicities and ages. There are five minute skin regimes, facials, makeup tricks and health tips. How to reduce stress in the bath and pamper yourself with an easy home spa. The long and short of hair care-including what to do on bad hair days. Remedies for beauty emergencies (eyes puffy from fatigue? do what the models do and use a dab of Preparation H). Plus make-overs, recipes, historical lore, stories, time-lines, and an extensive glossary and list of resources. It's a knock-out.
404 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
155 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 21, 2012
Like wishing to be more creative, I suspect that wishing to be more beautiful is pretty common. Personally, I’m not unhappy with how I look; it’s more that I wish I knew more ways to do my hair than a pony tail, could put together outfits that look like I just stepped out of a catalog, and had some idea where to start with eye makeup. Some people just seem to know these things naturally – my sister, for instance, seems to have it all figured out – while other people have a mother or friends who teach them the basics. Unfortunately, I’ve never had either the desire to spend time learning or a natural inclination for such things. And it’s still not something I want to spend a lot of time on. This book was the perfect solution.
What really made this book useful was the distinction between “essentials” and extras. The author often identified the minimal work she believed necessary to keep your body healthy and looking good. Since that’s exactly what I’d like to do, I found that incredibly helpful. Another high point was the help the author provided picking products to use. The sheer number of foundations, shampoos, or eye shadows can be pretty overwhelming. Fortunately, for most of the product types the author recommended using, she also had lists of the specific products she would recommend for different hair or skin types. This would have been more helpful if they were ranked by quality since the prices varied widely. However, since I’m not interested in spending a lot of money on beauty products, this was still a good way to find cheap but quality products. If you wanted to identify the best though, you’d just have to try them. The author also provided general advice for particular skin, hair, and eye colors which was a nice way of simplifying some of her more complicated advice.
Compared to the amount of relevant information content, this book was pretty long. In some cases, I felt the author dragged out saying things and she definitely included more fun facts than I really wanted. Mostly though, this book is just not meant to be read straight through. It wasn’t something I found particularly enjoyable reading and I even skimmed some of the less relevant bits. This isn’t much of a weakness though. Just remember that it’s a reference and a how-to guide, not a book to be read cover-to-cover!
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
What really made this book useful was the distinction between “essentials” and extras. The author often identified the minimal work she believed necessary to keep your body healthy and looking good. Since that’s exactly what I’d like to do, I found that incredibly helpful. Another high point was the help the author provided picking products to use. The sheer number of foundations, shampoos, or eye shadows can be pretty overwhelming. Fortunately, for most of the product types the author recommended using, she also had lists of the specific products she would recommend for different hair or skin types. This would have been more helpful if they were ranked by quality since the prices varied widely. However, since I’m not interested in spending a lot of money on beauty products, this was still a good way to find cheap but quality products. If you wanted to identify the best though, you’d just have to try them. The author also provided general advice for particular skin, hair, and eye colors which was a nice way of simplifying some of her more complicated advice.
Compared to the amount of relevant information content, this book was pretty long. In some cases, I felt the author dragged out saying things and she definitely included more fun facts than I really wanted. Mostly though, this book is just not meant to be read straight through. It wasn’t something I found particularly enjoyable reading and I even skimmed some of the less relevant bits. This isn’t much of a weakness though. Just remember that it’s a reference and a how-to guide, not a book to be read cover-to-cover!
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
March 10, 2017
Lots of details, a few good tips, but mostly basic knowledge.
November 28, 2012
Great reference if you're having trouble with any aspect of your appearance and worth a flip through of someone else's copy if you aren't the type who obsessively experiments with new beauty regimens. *cough*
Brimming with cheap tricks, product recommendations, and luxurious treatments for every budget this is worth a look for anyone who has skin. Or hair. Though if you manage to have hair without skin you must be very odd indeed.
Brimming with cheap tricks, product recommendations, and luxurious treatments for every budget this is worth a look for anyone who has skin. Or hair. Though if you manage to have hair without skin you must be very odd indeed.
May 8, 2007
This was the makeup book I was looking for--it has instructions for everything: hair, makeup, skincare. I regret that it's a library book because it's far too much information to absorb at once.
March 23, 2008
Tons of advice, "recipes," even beauty history, very fun & educational.
December 2, 2008
This book is a nice read. It's like a fashion magazine, only less trendy. Also, it reccommends products in all price ranges. I especially liked the history timelines.
December 2, 2010
My first real lessons in the art of beauty. This book has some great tips and ideas for how to take care of yourself and apply makeup.
August 21, 2015
Pretty good book for topic covered.
January 29, 2014
Great tips from a beauty insider. It's like having a beauty consultant at your service, and in the comfort of your own home.
May 20, 2009
Just started reading.....specifically about makeup!
May 6, 2011
had some pretty useful tips and recommendations, but the book is a little outdated. :)
March 14, 2015
A great reference with tips and tricks
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews