Making Faces

Kevin Acoin's book Making Faces is exquisite! As a makeup artist familiar with Kevin's work, I thought this book was going to be just a book filled with trade secrets and inside tips.Once I opened to the 3rd or 4th page, I realised how wrong I was.Not only did I find information that was useful beyond anything I learned in Beauty school, it was full of probably the most beautiful collection of photographs I have ever seen.It really takes a true genious to transform so many gorgeous women into other gorgeous women who look nothing like them.I really liked how he chose to use traditional movie roles as inspiration for some of the pictures.I think this allows the reader to recreate the role of the inginue or heroine!! There is also a really wonderful lesson on facial bone structure that really helps to understand how contouring and highlighting certain areas is really important to bring out a womans (or in a few cases..a mans)features.I photocopied it and stuck it to my bathroom mirror as a guide for applying eyeshadow. The only thing that I didnt like about the book is that he didn't mention the products used.Some women will find it a little difficult to find liquid eyeshadow and gold fleck dust!! I think had he given the brand names it would be a lot easier to find the products. This book is definitely a must for any makeup artist, cosmetic consumer, and any woman who wants to feel beautiful!

This book was incredibly frustrating for me. Yes, the makeovers are beautiful. But a lot of the photographs are completely worthless -they're in profile, or they're black and white, or they're soft-focus. There's almost no advice on how to choose a quality makeup product or tool. Most frustrating for me was the fact that the breakdowns on the photographs are egregiously incomplete -in the Lisa Marie Presley ponytail photo, for example, she's obviously wearing a dark eyeshadow in the crease but there's no crease color mentioned, and in the Trish Goff colored eyeshadow photo she's wearing multiple shades of shadow even though it only says she's wearing one.

The other thing that drove me nuts about this book is that almost every single eye shadow look is achieved exclusively with black, white, grey, or brown eyeshadow. I hate basic neutrals and I don't feel they flatter me. I wanted to be shown how to do interesting looks with some colors -plums, blues, olives? -and there are literally only three photos in the whole book that have colored eyeshadow. It's really a bizarre juxtaposition of basic, neutral looks with looks that are way too dramatic for anyone but a drag queen or a movie star; nothing in between. Also, it really aggravated me that everyone has flawless skin despite the claims that minimal or no foundation is used.

What I do like about this book is the application techniques (instead of just products) and the stellar contouring photo. I also really appreciate the obvious effort made to include women of color. Conclusion: good for the makeup novice or the average woman, or someone who just likes watching transformations. For the person who already has a good grasp on makeup techniques, though, this book is an exercise in frustration.

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I love playing with new looks and colors and this book is the perfect tool on how to make it easy and fun while getting professional looking results. It will help you discover exciting new looks you never dreamed of and the full potential of every makeup tool you own. The instructions on how to accomplish every look in the book are clearly illustrated step-by-step, making them extremely easy to follow. The advice given by the author comes alive with his own funny anecdotes on discovering and experimenting with makeup.

This book is extremely well organized into three sections. The first one covers the basics of what you need to know about each part of your face, how to apply makeup to each, which tools to use and how to enhance and get the most benefit from your strongest features. The second one shows you makeovers done on ordinary people that look like you and me. It includes before and after pictures that show the impact of well-applied makeup on every kind of skin and color combination. The third section is the most impressive part of the book. It shows known celebrities made up like other celebrities that have established iconic looks over the years. (Look for Lisa Marie-Presley as Marilyn Monroe and Isabella Rosellini as Barbra Streisand).

This book also includes a few male makeup techniques, from the conservative (using concealer and powder) to the adventurous (using eyeliner and eyeshadow) to the extremist (using everything from powder and blush to lipstick and a wig).

Although there are three or four extreme looks in this book that I don't think I will ever try, all of the rest can be applied just as they are or with slight modifications. The great advice, easy to follow instructions, funny anecdotes, if not the great photographs alone, make this book a must buy for anyone who uses makeup regularly or sporadically. It's so rewarding that you won't be disappointed.

I recommend buying Beauty: The New Basics by Rona Berg along with this book to complement the makeup knowledge with the best advice on skin care, hair care and beauty products that's available on a printed format.

--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

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Kevyn Aucoin is definitely everything his reputation says he is. This book is excellent, informative, and extremely well put together.

The only down side of it is he does not address Asian beauty. He address caucasian, black, and latin, but not asian... so Asians, this will be good if you want to learn about how to work on all the mentioned faces, but your own...not so much. For those asians whose eyes do not pleat (hooded eyes, or non-creased eyes) this book will not help you dress those and rare style of eyes.

His technique is fantastic and I like his commentaries, very down to earth, though his work is outta-this-world amazing.

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I bought this book because I don't have a lot of prowess with makeup at all, and I wanted to develop some skills using basic tools. This book, filled with beautiful pictures of beautiful people, assumes a basic knowledge of makeup and a steady hand for application. Maybe eventually I'll make more use of it, when I master the simple steps from other sources of information.

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