Customer Reviews

The Immaculate Complexion

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LeVigne Cosmetics employee Marnie Mann is sick of the advice that her peers and customers provide her. She does not want laser treatment to remove her freckles that she swears she always had; her compatriots insist they are ugly age spots that need removal nor for that matter any Botox injections anywhere else. She uses just a touch of make-up to the chagrin of her constant critics. However, the worst to her working compatriots is her shoes that are practical and comfortable instead of glamorous and painful. Outside of repair job suggestions, Marnie likes working the high end beauty treatment.

She especially looks forward to the launch of a product. That turns ugly when someone tampered with the samples that Marnie has distributed. When a user dies from the tainted make-up, the police look towards Marnie, who was the only known person with access to the products. Marnie realizes she must clean up this mess in which the pedigree pedicure princesses accuse her.

THE IMMACULATE COMPLEXION is an amusing satire that ridicules the American obsession with youthful looks at all cost. Marnie being such an outsider enables Edie Bloom to cleverly compare the in-crowd to her as the war over eating sets the table for this wonderful parody; Marnie wants to participate when she dines while her LaVigne associates consider food as part of a still life painting. The homicide adds suspense to the mix and a caution of buy only sealed as the plot shows how easy it is to tamper with cosmetic products, but also takes away from the prime lampooning of a fish out of water learning the puke makes up the products we put on ourselves to look forever young.

Harriet Klausner

Marnie Mann had a film career, until she dropped a camera lens. She decides to take a job at LeVigne Cosmetics, as a temp. Unfortunately, the minute she steps off the elevator, she realizes the famous cosmetic company is a completely different world.

On her very first day, LeVigne's receptionist, Kyra, informs her that her freckles are really liver spots and recommends a cream to take care of those "pesky blemishes." In fact, Marnie finds that LeVigne is packed with employees who are obsessed with their physical appearance. At five-seven and 140 pounds, fitting in with her co-workers is going to be a big problem.

Marnie is secretly proud that she is working at the world's largest cosmetic company. Her best friend, Holly, an environmentalist, is upset that Marnie is working for a business that utilizes animal testing and non-biodegradable packaging. Holly encourages her to quit at LeVigne and start a new career working with her creating all-natural products for a new boutique--but Marnie is becoming addicted to working at LeVigne. Who wouldn't love free food, access to every fashion magazine and unlimited amounts of free makeup and skin care products?

Inter-office politics and a shocking mystery serve to diffuse Marnie's passion for her new career. She is torn between the desire to climb LeVigne's corporate ladder, or to quit and find a career she truly loves.

The Immaculate Complexion is an entertaining and fun book. If you like the cosmetics industry and enjoy a fun mystery, this is one book you need to read!

Author Edie Bloom, in actuality, is the writing team of Michelle Meyers and Robin Strober. As former PR employees of Estee Lauder, they have interjected their own experiences into the storyline.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want an inside look at the cosmetic world, this novel does offer the reader an insightful journey.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading, The Immaculate Complexion, by Edie Bloom. Normally, it takes me weeks, even months to get through a book. My mind wanders, I fall asleep, I count the pages to see how long it is till the next chapter begins. However, I read the Immaculate Complexion in FIVE days! It is hysterical, very witty, quite clever!!!...I found myself cracking up out loud. The book is also very relatable....you feel like you personally know Marnie Mann and her quirky associates.

This is a MUST read!

Okay, I read the first 90 pages of IC and found it mildly amusing then tossed it and went on to read a REAL mystery. It's an obvious rip-off of "The Devil Wore Prada" but better written. So why only 90 pages? There was no mystery! I kept reading and reading and...not much happened. I was beginning to dislike the Marnie because of her habit of going out with strange men, going back to their apartment, getting them all hot and sweaty and then leaving!! Huh? Nice.

When you write a mystery, you need to have something mysterious happen right off the bat. Find a body, discover secrets are missing - something to suck the reader in. IC didn't do that. Life's too short to wait for new writers to "set the scene" and draw you in. Doesn't work like that. Kill someone, blow up a building, rob a bank, SOMETHING!

Oh, and this book was far from hysterical. I giggled a couple of times but that was it.

Clever and oh-so funny. You will fall in love with Marni with a turn of the first page. Very hip, smart, NOW and FRESH. A must read that is easy and giddy-fun! Buy your copy today and get happy!

Seriously, this book was too g-ddamn funny! I actually found myself throwing it down it was so funny! It's the first Austin Powers movie(different story/plot of course!) in all it's brilliance except in a book!!

Marnie Mann's life is full of everyday dramas--she has a temp job at a cosmetics company where she's a fish out of water (not thin enough, not beautiful enough, not couture enough), she secretly loves her job while trying to convince her organics-loving best friend that it's just a way to pay the bills, and she's afraid to tell her cheese-loving boyfriend that she's lactose intolerant!

But the cosmetics company is full of even bigger dramas--why hasn't anyone seen the founder of LeVigne Cosmetics in years? How do you fit cosmetics into a play about war? And who killed the mail guy?

"The Immaculate Complexion" is a sharp, well-written, fun ride for any fan of the chick-lit genre. I enjoyed getting a peek into the cosmetics world from authors who have actually had experience in the industry.

I'm a big fan of the chick-lit genre, and have ready plenty of great books. "Immaculate Complexion" rates right up there with the best of them.