Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself by Francois Nars

by Fabien Baron

The book is brand new and will be shipped from US.

Genres: Nonfiction, How To

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nars' work is beautiful, but this is essentially a coffee table ornament for me. Unlike Kevyn Aucoin's books, the outrageous looks are not tempered by practical advice for the average consumer. The nifty transparencies do not justify its cost. I do like the fact that Nars lists the products he uses, but they are all NARS products and the book starts to read like a NARS catalogue after a while. Unless you are a true NARS fanatic, save your money and buy Kevyn Aucoin's Making Faces instead.

[Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

In July, a makeover at a Nars cosmetics counter rocked my world. The transformative powers of the products were almost an afterthought after fanciful details like black matte rubber packaging (designed by Fabien Baron) and amusing color names (my tinted moisturizer is "Finland," lip balm "Chelsea Girls," and eyeshadow "All About Eve" - all cultural references I dig).

Like the makeup line, this beautiful spiral-bound book is at once solemn and approachable. Large, high-res photos of bare-faced models, with the facing page showing the same model made up. A transparent overlay shows which colors were applied where. If you want a step-by-step chronology of how to apply the makeup, simply flip to the appendix of each chapter. I learned how to do a grey smokey eye, a bright pink lip, and a golden Swedish lass look.

A few potential beefs, and their resolutions:
- Francois Nars only references his own makeup, and it can be hard to get a sense of what shades are really used, since the colors have such cryptic names (Karpates, Alhambra, Damage, Dolce Vita). But in the step-by-step texts, he describes colors (i.e. silvery grey, or black, or lilac) to help out the non-makeup-artist.

- Almost all the models are pale white ladies. All the makeup applications would work as well or much better on Asian and darker-skinned women (especially the heavy eyeliner styles and lipstick looks, which are unflattering on pale skin), but many readers might be turned off by the lack of representation. If so, check out the sequel: "Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself," in which Nars photographs a variety of models.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly hard to find, rare, and the epitome of 90's chic/new millennium all roled into one. While the book itself was hard to keep together and not the best layout, it had paper pages and then clear pages that shared the products used and some techniques. I don't remember it having much advice for "how to", but who cares. It had incredible photography and showed all of the products used, which is something most makeup books fail to do. Women don't always want to know how to do something, they want to know what that lipstick or blush is so they can buy it.

[Taryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the before clean face and the acetate in the middle with the products listed for the after face. I didn't find the looks all that creative or even wearable for the audience that would be reading this book. I felt these were more editorial and runway looks and would doubt any normal woman would wear any of these out in public! Even as makeuply brazen as I am there were looks I passed on...

[Naomi Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Love the makeup looks in this book. It is so fun to look at and the plastic overlays show you how to do the makeup in the pictures. Really amazing!

[Bea Marek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Outdated looks, some if them so odd I shrieked. If you are already a makeup buff this is pretty much a waste of time.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty look at, mainly a coffee table edition! I've only looked at the pictures to be honest, I'll need to properly read through it.