[.ca] Face Forward (ISBN 0316287059)

From Amazon.com:
"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

Practical and fanciful makeup all in one book:
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.

Eye Candy!:
For those of us who love makeup, this is fun and inspires one to try something different! I wish I had time, patience, and the vision of Kevin Aucoin to do some of these transformations, even if just for fun. Along with demonstrating various "looks," he takes (mostly) famous faces and transforms them into others with makeup--for example, he turns Martha Stewart (!) into Veronica Lake, Amber Valetta becomes Clark Gable AND Carole Lombard, and Gina Gershon morphs into Sophia Loren. There are a few black women and fewer Asians, so if you are looking for a lot of diversity in this book, you may be disappointed. Still, I love this book, even though I don't actually wear as much makeup as is shown here. Some of never grow out of playing dress-up! Rest in peace, dear Kevin. You are missed.

The Art of Make-up:
I agree with many of the other reviewers here who said that Kevin Aucoin is a "magician". He is truly an amazing artist and it is so nice to be able to get a glimpse of his world through this book.

If you love makeup and learning new techiniques to apply it, get this book!:
I know it has been said a million times but Kevyn Aucoin was a genius! I can't even tell you the amount of new looks and ideas I have got from Kevyn's books, the most inspiring thing about this man was the fact that he was completely self taught he never attended a school or a class to learn to apply makeup! His books and story give hope to anyone who dreams of becoming a makeup artist. As always Amazon,thanks for your lightning fast shipping,couldn't be happier:)

A Star Is Born!:
Definately the pinnacle of Kevyn's star-studded career this book is DRIPPING in celebrities from cover to cover! Each super star poses as Kevyn's canvass and boy does he go wild! Highly creative, highly impressive, highly glamorous! The only problem of course being that you would need the face of a celebrity and the talent of Kevyn to pull off most of the looks! But oh well Kevyn showed his own star power in this book before his tragic and too-soon death. He will DEFINATELY be missed by film and fashion elite and by the millions of fans and acolytes he acquired!