Face Forward

Great book but it came worse than expected

Beautiful pictures. Great techniques. I bought the book used and impressed with the quality.

Kevyn Aucoin does a good job of showing women how to do everyday makeup, including highlighting and lowlighting areas to emphasize the positive and unique features of each person. The beauty of this book though is in illustrating how makeup can be used to transform one's face for stunning and whimsical looks. I would recommend this to someone who is familiar with makeup but would like to learn how powerful a tool it can be.

If you've ever looked at fashion magazines and wondered what makeup techniques went into creating the look, "Face Forward" may give you all the answers you need. Not only did Kevyn Aucoin do all the makeup in this book, but he also wrote it and contributed to the photography, art direction and design. He is a genius. Period.Outside of the introductory chapters, the book is divided into five main parts: 1) "Behind Beauty," where Kevyn describes how he treats the face to bring out a wide range of attributes; 2) "Face to Face," which consists of in-depth photography and illustrations of the steps involved with creating beautiful looks; 3) "Dimensions," where Kevyn explores the "classic personifications of beauty" by making up actresses and models to look like stars of the past; and 4) & 5) forward-looking concepts of makeup techniques and the future of beauty, also using the faces of actresses (and even his mom).I think it's great that someone as talented as Kevyn can be so generous in explaining his craft, but even if you're not into that, "Face Forward" holds up fantastically on its merits as an art/photography book: the resemblance of the current stars to the past ones is incredible (e.g., Winona Ryder as Elizabeth Taylor).This book may be a little advanced for makeup artists who are just starting out, but hey, makeup is art, and art is about ideas, so it's definitely worth checking out. For anyone who is just plain interested in fashion and style, "Face Forward" will be intriguing, even if only for the skill exhibited in transforming one famous face into another. It's a masterpiece.

Okay, I was sooo bombarded with Kevyn Aucoin's name at every turn of the channel and page of everything I watched or read, I had to check out what all the Aucoin hoopla was about. I read this book and it was soooo amazing that I read it in 2 days!I bought his other two books and read them both in 3 days - I mean this guy is the quintessential genius of make-up and the beauty of it is that, while you can't get Mr. Aucoin to do your make-up unless you're a supermodel, a star, or someone he happens to run into while looking for average faces for his next book, he has written his books in such a simple, step-by-step way with so many pictures that you can actually duplicate his techniques and come out looking almost-perfect! My make-up used to consist of too much foundation (I had no idea!), no concealer (duh!), clumps of mascara (I thought the clumps were wonderful thickness!), dull-colored lipsticks (my idea of the natural look) and no blush or eye shadow (felt like overkill to my pitiful version of the natural look!). Now lest you think I looked ridiculous, keep in mind that most women are walking around wearing this same make-up application in varying forms of ignorance and thinking they look good. After learning and following Kevyn's techniques, I hear EVERY DAY now how "pretty" I look, how "well-rested" I look, how well my diet is working, and other forms of flattery that I am not used to hearing (but drink up like a sponge!). This book ROCKS!

I saw Kevyn on the Oprah show! How beautiful the women were after Kevyn's talented artistry. The book is a must have. It shows the techniques that even we can use. Explained so even we can actually understand. This will be a great christmas gift for my girlfriends with the "six essential items" he recommends attached to the gift box! (so martha.....I know).....

Kevyn Aucoin has outdone himself again. This is an awesome step by step account of how to transform yourself. I have his other books and I can definitely say that this is my favorite. He takes everyday people and morphs them into a more glamourous version of themselves. This man is a "Master Beauty Magician"!