Face Forward

Face Forward
by Kevyn Aucoin

Face Forward
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Book Summary Information

Author: Kevyn Aucoin
Brand: Kevyn Aucoin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-10-25
ISBN: 0316287059
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Product features:
  • Features A-list celebrities undergoing incredible transformations
  • Teaches you how to create a runway-ready look
  • Step-by-step instructions accompany each photo
  • Takes the mystery out of makeup
  • Allows you to learn from one of the most sought after makeup artists

Book Reviews of Face Forward

Book Review: Dramatic, crazy, and lots of fun to try!
Summary: 5 Stars

While Aucoin's other book, Making Faces, is much more practical and useful, this one shows off what he can do and how much makeup can change a person's appearance; it demonstrates the concept of face as canvas, and with the before-afters featuring crazy feats like making Winona Ryder look like Elizabeth Taylor, transforming Gwyneth Paltrow into James Dean, or putting Edith Piaf's face on Christina Ricci.

The first half of the book features the to-die-for advice on makeup basics, from the anatomy of a stocked makeup kit (brushes, powders, shadows, and dozens of others), crazy before-afters, break-downs of different looks and variations, notes on color, shading, concealing, doing eyebrows, eyes, cheeks, lips, etc.

The second half does extreme looks that are more theatrical than those from his last book. They might not be things you would do unless you are involved in theatre...or like to pretend you are a geisha or an Elizabethan queen, but there are also plenty of wearable looks as well or elements from the crazy ones that give you a jumping off point for something more adventurous.

Aucoin remains THE authority on makeup, and this book, while not integral to doing the basics, is a great companion to Making Faces, and the awesome pictures are, as always, shocking, inspirational, and above all, lots of fun to try on yourself.

Summary of Face Forward

Face Forward is an inspirational and how-to guide to make-up from one of the most sought after and successful make-up artists working today.
"Makeup should be fun, not fascist," celebrity makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin avers in Face Forward, his third book. One of the most adored stylists among fashionistas, entertainment divas, and high-society jet setters, Southern-born Aucoin arrived on the New York fashion scene in the early '80s, a period he ridicules for its '50s-era conservatism and McCarthyist us-against-them values. His career since has been motivated by the feel-good ideals of acceptance, diversity, and self-love, and the vain world of beauty has eagerly participated in his vision. While one may puzzle on how it is he finds fulfillment in an industry known for its superficiality and elitism, Aucoin's words are nonetheless infectious and the touches of his brushes inspired.

Conceived as an exploration of the past, present, and future of beauty, Face Forward is an ingenious showcase of the transformative, creative possibilities of makeup, with portraits of everyone from Julia Roberts to Sharon Stone, Martha Stewart to his mother, Thelma. His crafted visages range from minimal-application makeovers of friends to elaborate re-creations of such Hollywood icons as Audrey Hepburn (Calista Flockhart), James Dean (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Veronica Lake (shockingly, Martha Stewart) and such pop-culture personalities as Cher (socialite Alexandra von Furstenberg) and Siouxsie Sioux (Winona Ryder). The final pages present his ideas for looks to come, such as "Explorer," Mary J. Blige covered in eggplant body makeup with a rainbow of metallic eye shadows over her eyes and thickly glossed red lips; "Floralia," a freckled Lucy Liu resembling a sprite from A Midsummer's Night Dream; and "Venusian de Milo," Sharon Stone as an orange-haired, one-breast-baring sci-fi femme fatale. Throughout, Aucoin augments an already colorful book with step-by-step instruction, chatty commentary on each look and model, and riffs on such topics as friendship, politics (he repeatedly applauds the Clinton Administration for embracing diversity in the '90s), and the environment.

"Appreciating (even highlighting) individuality is one of the great things about makeup," asserts Aucoin, and Face Forward is a dazzling testament to that belief. For those who see the fun of makeup and are eager to experiment with the virtually unlimited possibilities of it, this book is a boon. --Rebecca Wright

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