Face Forward (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"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

Product Description

Once again, Kevyn Aucoin astonishes with his incredible transfor- mations of famous and ordinary people alike. In this new book, he demonstrates how anyone can have a variety of different faces. Working with a whole new cast, he turns Celine Dion, Julianne Moore, Sharon Stone, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Lopez, and many others into their most beautiful, glamorous, and intriguing selves. For each and every face, he provides step-by-step instructions and illustrations that will make them easy to reproduce at home. With this gorgeous and practical book, anyone can face forward in the new millennium with confidence and style. Kevyn Aucoin is indisputably the best-known makeup artist today. He writes a monthly column for Allure and is the make-up consultant at beauty.com. He has appeared on such television shows as Oprah, Today, and Prime Time Live. Just like Making Faces, Face Forward will be a gorgeously produced book with jaw-dropping photos by Kevyn Aucoin himself.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316286443
• ISBN-13: 978-0316286442
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,419 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional, from both artistic and "how-to" perspectives, January 15, 2001

By	J. Lizzi (Costa Mesa, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and fun book, but not as useful as "Making Faces", December 5, 2001

By	Denise Crawford (San Diego, California United States) - See all my reviews

Aucoin produces yet another beautiful and fun book about the art of make up. However, Face Forward is much like Making Faces without the practical techniques.

The book follows the same format as Making Faces without many improvements. The book begins with general articles about brows, lips, eyes, color, etc. However, these articles are truly general and only give written directions to achieve the looks in the photos. If you have the facial structures of the models, then these sections will be very useful to you! For the rest of us, I found the preliminary sections to be fun but not helpful.

The next section entitled "Face to Face" is useful with many before and after photos. The techniques are written and illustrated by photos of the make-over subject throughout the process. The looks are very natural and complimentary to the different ethnicities featured. I wish there were more makeovers in this section!

The final section entitled "Dimensions" features 48 different looks that are fun but not realistic for everyday use. In fact, most of the techniques demonstrated would only be useful for Halloween or a costume party. This section features many stars from Madonna to Tina Turner but offers little substantive content for everyday use.

Being a make-up-a-holic, I found Making Faces the better buy of the two. If you have to choose, choose Aucoin's first book for practical use. For fun, this book definitely takes the cake.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Staple for your Makeup collection!, October 8, 2000

By	DONNA IVERSON (Eureka, CA. USA) - See all my reviews

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).....