I am very happy with this book. There are so many useful, smart and once you consider it, obvious ways to improve and most importantly, update your look. I'm a 39-year old brunette and as much as I am determined to age gracefully and above all with dignity, I would also like to continue to possess some style and a certain current hipness. I have read the reviews for this book and was a little surprised by some of the comments. Krupps's recommendation to lighten-up your hair shade after a certain ago is actually good advice. I have seen the results on my sister and it was quite dramatic. I believe the choice to lighten your entire hair base shade should be made based on the condition of your skin. My sister has fair skin, blue eyes and far more wrinkles than I so the lighter hair very definitely softened her look. Her dark hair shade looked too harsh next to her aging skin. She didn't go blond mind you, only lightened her base shade 2 shades to a copper brown and had a few highlights added around her face. For me, as a dark brunette with a pale olive complexion and brown eyes, I can wait a few more years. Once I'm ready, I'll try some highlighting around the face for softening. Krupp does not advocate everyone going blond as one reviewer remarked.
Off the top of my head, immediately useful tips: getting rid of frumpy shaped tops and blouses, anything not tailored. Some I merely tossed while others I tailored myself or had tailored like one of my suits (I took up the skirt hem to just above the knee and had the suit jacket fitted. I tossed all my long ankle skirts which, although easy to wear, do look frumpy even though I'm barely 15 pounds overweight. I tossed out all apparel with any shoulder pads. I tossed all my dark and medium lipsticks (best choice ever). Once I was able to look at them (on me) objectively, it was obvious they were unflattering and worse, very dated. Changing to the moisture laden pinks she recommended instantly made my lips look plump and ripe and young. It seems so obvious once you do it. It seems as though I had gotten stuck in a rut of clothing, make-up, hair that was no longer current, fashionable and worst yet, flattering. I knew my style wasn't working but I didn't know how to fix it and since I tend to be pretty conservative, was a bit tentative about making any changes. After a while, when you put on all the old make-up, hair, clothing, et cetera, you look in the mirror and think you look ok but what's really going on is that you've done it the same way so many times, you just look familiar and you are unable to really discern what looks good and and what does not. Krupp really pushed me to make specific changes that had quite a WOW effect. And then I felt silly because I hadn't thought of it myself. Switching from a powder to a creme blush and stopping the overuse of my powder compact made an immediate impact, making my skin look dewey and fresh versus matte.
Another immediate improvement for me was a sideswept bang which not only looked better but made my hair more versatile to style. I also made use of some of her many, many "Brilliant Buys" at the end of every chapter which in and of itself makes this book worth the money at twice the price. One reviewer complained that the book was geared toward rich women in large Metapolitan areas. I would disagree. There are many prices ranges among the products to choose from. Alot of the products can be found at mass retailers and mail order is accessible to all of us presumably. I just recently picked-up two of her "Brilliant Buys" at Long's Drugs: Revlon ColorStay 12-Hour Eye Shadow Quad in Coffee Bean (the perfect neutral browns) and Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner. There were many more, more expensive recommendations as well which I may try in the future but the point is there are choices.
Realizations that struck home while reading this book: flesh toned stockings (pantyhose) are definitely old lady as are outfits that are very matchy-matchy (which I am guilty of often), hair that is too done, too perfect versus movement and flip. The concept is that make-up is softer and hair is looser.
The most amazing chapters are on jeans, make-up and shapewear. Fabulous and immediately useful. I can't afford to make 'all' the changes she advocates in her book but what little I've done so far has made a huge positive impact in my appearance. It has also educated me for all future shopping forays so I don't slip back into purchasing all the same things all over again and getting back into an outdated rut...
