What do you think?
Rate this book
Face Forward
The author of Making Faces reveals how to achieve multiple looks using makeup, demonstrating the beautiful, intriguing, and glamorous faces of such stars as Celine Dion, Julianne Moore, Sharon Stone, Susan Sarandon, and Jennifer Lopez.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2000
30 people are currently reading
1493 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
February 1, 2017
Although I've read his more popular book,
Making Faces
, more than once, I never read this book until now. This was published three years after Making Faces and Aucoin is notably more generous with his opinion. Throughout the book he speaks passionately about politics and social issues. Although I have my opinions, I don't like to read books about the harsh unfairness of reality. Slag me off for being vacuous, but I don't care - the reason I read is to forget about these troubles. Nevertheless, I feel like I learned so much that it overlooks this trivial aspect. The "behind beauty" topics were particularly informative. Like Making Faces, this doesn't give sufficient instructions when it comes to application. Personally this is a non-issue because I tend to skim over these parts, but it's important to note anyway. Overall, I enjoyed this even more than Making Faces. Aucoin transformed a bunch of celebrities into other celebrities and the pictures are absolutely breathtaking. These are my favourites.
Alexandra von Fürstenberg as Cher.
Amber Valletta as Gable and Lombard. Yes, she played both of them.
Gwyneth Paltrow as James Dean.
Alexandra von Fürstenberg as Cher.
Amber Valletta as Gable and Lombard. Yes, she played both of them.
Gwyneth Paltrow as James Dean.
January 14, 2021
Este no es un libro acerca de como maquillarse. Sí, hay algunos maquillajes que son explicados de manera muy corta como hacerlos, pero no lo suficiente como para que pudiera ser considerado un libro acerca de la teoría del maquillaje. Este libro es más bien la filosofía que tenia Aucoin respecto al maquillaje y cómo él creía que influía en otros aspectos de la vida, así como unas maravillosas transformaciones de estrellas en otros artistas, siendo el punto principal mostrar como el maquillaje, utilizado correctamente, puede cambiar todo tu rostro, resaltar lo que más te gusta o convertirte en alguien más.
Si te interesa este tópico, puede ser que el libro te guste, quitando eso, si te gusta maquillarte, tal vez te ayude como inspiración (hay algunos look tipo sci-fi o de maquillaje clásico que son preciosos) pero es más para un admirador de este maquillista que para el groso de la gente.
Si te interesa este tópico, puede ser que el libro te guste, quitando eso, si te gusta maquillarte, tal vez te ayude como inspiración (hay algunos look tipo sci-fi o de maquillaje clásico que son preciosos) pero es más para un admirador de este maquillista que para el groso de la gente.
July 26, 2008
I don't know how many times I have stared at this cover trying to see how they managed to meld the two faces... and yes, they are two faces not just one face made up in two ways. Not that I would put it past Kevyn Aucoin to be able to do it. I guess that's why I always spend time staring before I can look inside.
Kevyn was an amazing make-up artist. Whether you're talking about everyday beauty or stage and screen he's the expert. He also focuses on inner beauty - stresses it, actually - believing that a person can be beautiful with or without make-up if they are beautiful on the inside. He tried to learn about the person he would be working on so that he could bring out that inner beauty. He paved the way for numerous make-up artists.
Kevyn was an amazing make-up artist. Whether you're talking about everyday beauty or stage and screen he's the expert. He also focuses on inner beauty - stresses it, actually - believing that a person can be beautiful with or without make-up if they are beautiful on the inside. He tried to learn about the person he would be working on so that he could bring out that inner beauty. He paved the way for numerous make-up artists.
July 27, 2016
Oh, Kevin Aucoin... if only you were straight...and alive.... We would have been a lovely couple.
His step-by-steps are obviously missing a lot of steps and explanation, but this is a great book for the appreciation of a true artist. It is also fun to see so many actors/actresses/famous people so young and made-up to (eerily) resemble other famous people. His social views are so on-point today, and I loved that his controversial use of a trans-model was so ahead of its time.
I wish he had lived. His YouTube channel would have been a-freakin'-mazing, and it would have saved me so many teenage years of experimentation and epic fails. Kevin Aucoin was my Wayne Goss before I knew who Wayne Goss was. Sigh....
His step-by-steps are obviously missing a lot of steps and explanation, but this is a great book for the appreciation of a true artist. It is also fun to see so many actors/actresses/famous people so young and made-up to (eerily) resemble other famous people. His social views are so on-point today, and I loved that his controversial use of a trans-model was so ahead of its time.
I wish he had lived. His YouTube channel would have been a-freakin'-mazing, and it would have saved me so many teenage years of experimentation and epic fails. Kevin Aucoin was my Wayne Goss before I knew who Wayne Goss was. Sigh....
September 2, 2017
I read this when it first came out, and it changed my life. I thought it was great and I learned a lot. After re-reading it almost 17 years later, my feelings have changed. I still believe that it is a good book to give to beginners. Now with youtube, I wonder if even pre-teens still need a book like this though. You can find far more informative step by step tutorials online. Nor are the looks as avant-garde or inspirational on second viewing. But it was the first time I saw the power of makeup and Aucoin will always have a special place in my heart. I do have some criticism upon a second reading, however. To be fair, I think if Aucoin were alive there would have been new editions that would have updated these issues.
1. I'm just going to say it and leave it at that, the name dropping.... all the name dropping! You know famous people...we get it
2. There is a lot of benevolent racism, as well as a healthy dash of White Saviour Syndrom laced throughout the prose. He is asking for a lot of praise for being so brave for not segregate models by race and treating people like human beings, but he has no problem with brown face and cultural appropriation.
3. The benevolent misogynism is divided into A. women as icons/objects and B. grateful normies. It seems all "normal" women are all nervous about being the center of attention and burst into tears at the self-love they could not find until he blessed them by showing them how to beat a mug.
4. My BIGGEST issue, however, is that he is not listing every step he is doing on the editorial and celebrity looks, so if you follow the steps you can't actually reproduce the look, and you only see the missing bits when you become more experienced at makeup. The couple of real women looks in the front of the book have step by step photos showing baking, contouring, highlighting and so forth with pictures of the application process. With the celebrity and editorial, they are not shown without makeup, there is no step by step photos, and he is saying most of these looks are no foundation, no contouring, no highlighting, looks. BULLSHIT. If that was the case why do I need 80 looks telling me to put on a little lip gloss and mascara and call it a day? You can see the shimmer on the cupid's bow; you can see the contour on Tina's cheekbones and the contoured jawline on the drag Linda Evangelista look, just to name a few. So if you are not going to show all the steps, or list all the products you are using then what's the point; to look at a perfect face become another perfect face which you can never reproduce because you aren't really learning technique here?
5. This may be petty but these brows. I know mine were thin too at the time, but good grief these brows.
Do I get it was written almost two decades ago and is incredibly progressive for the time; yes. Did I spot these things on first reading at 19 years old; absolutely not. Do I still wish the publisher would update the text; for the love of god, please!
1. I'm just going to say it and leave it at that, the name dropping.... all the name dropping! You know famous people...we get it
2. There is a lot of benevolent racism, as well as a healthy dash of White Saviour Syndrom laced throughout the prose. He is asking for a lot of praise for being so brave for not segregate models by race and treating people like human beings, but he has no problem with brown face and cultural appropriation.
3. The benevolent misogynism is divided into A. women as icons/objects and B. grateful normies. It seems all "normal" women are all nervous about being the center of attention and burst into tears at the self-love they could not find until he blessed them by showing them how to beat a mug.
4. My BIGGEST issue, however, is that he is not listing every step he is doing on the editorial and celebrity looks, so if you follow the steps you can't actually reproduce the look, and you only see the missing bits when you become more experienced at makeup. The couple of real women looks in the front of the book have step by step photos showing baking, contouring, highlighting and so forth with pictures of the application process. With the celebrity and editorial, they are not shown without makeup, there is no step by step photos, and he is saying most of these looks are no foundation, no contouring, no highlighting, looks. BULLSHIT. If that was the case why do I need 80 looks telling me to put on a little lip gloss and mascara and call it a day? You can see the shimmer on the cupid's bow; you can see the contour on Tina's cheekbones and the contoured jawline on the drag Linda Evangelista look, just to name a few. So if you are not going to show all the steps, or list all the products you are using then what's the point; to look at a perfect face become another perfect face which you can never reproduce because you aren't really learning technique here?
5. This may be petty but these brows. I know mine were thin too at the time, but good grief these brows.
Do I get it was written almost two decades ago and is incredibly progressive for the time; yes. Did I spot these things on first reading at 19 years old; absolutely not. Do I still wish the publisher would update the text; for the love of god, please!
September 11, 2016
Such a great artist, an open-minded and a visionary that traveled the time, and here we are, 16 years after this book was released, and you can easily see that his work it's timeless. He touched my soul, with his life and his work. At what dimensions Kevyn's work would be if he would still be with us? I'm afraid to answer that questions, I think I do not have such a great amount of imagination...
September 18, 2023
This is a book I've always enjoyed, but revisiting it really brought home how Kevyn Aucoin was very much ahead of his time. The way he saw things and what he hoped for the future is very much in line with concerns considered mainstream today.
Keep in mind, he was writing about all of this 22 years ago. It made me wonder what he would think about social issues today.
Keep in mind, he was writing about all of this 22 years ago. It made me wonder what he would think about social issues today.
August 12, 2016
Hilarious book on makeup I happened upon when looking up interesting faces for the characters in my novel. The second half, it turns out, is devoted to actresses made up tor resemble actors from the past. My favorites? Martha Stewart as Veronica Lake and Gwyneth Paltrow as James Dean.
May 12, 2016
Genius. Every make-up artist should own each of Kevyn Aucoin's books. His timeless techniques are unmatched. This man was a true artist, with such an untimely death. I idolized his work as a child and into adulthood, when I aspired to be a make-up artist.
August 3, 2014
I love this book for the knowledge it gives on how to apply make up to get the best results. Must have for those who don't want to waste their money on tons of products they may not need or want.
October 5, 2014
must have
December 31, 2017
Got this on the (sorta) recommendation of beauty YouTuber Jackie Aina. I've been getting into makeup in the last year and saw her mention this as a good makeup book so tried it out.
It's interesting. Kavyn Aucoin was clearly a very forward-thinking (forward-facing?) artist with a lot of skill. The book is full of glossy photos and step-by-step guides on how each look was achieved. But the guidance isn't in enough detail. Brand-names aren't mentioned, fair enough, but there's only so many times I can read "moisturize to prep, apply foundation to match, loose translucent powder to set foundation..." before it gets incredibly dull. Some notes on technique are interesting but not frequent enough. It's all very well explaining that you apply this and that in this way to achieve that look, but he doesn't explain WHY it works, so I can't even take specific tips and use them myself because I don't know what to take into consideration. Does it work because of the colour? The face shape? Eye shape? A little more insight would be appreciated.
Other than makeup tips, it's got a lot of rambling about each person featured. I recognise a few but it's very USA-centric (I'm British), so often it was "this person I havent heard of made up to look like this other person I havent heard of" so I lost a bit in translation I suppose.
A nice book. Might be good for occasional reference but I wanted a bit more from this.
It's interesting. Kavyn Aucoin was clearly a very forward-thinking (forward-facing?) artist with a lot of skill. The book is full of glossy photos and step-by-step guides on how each look was achieved. But the guidance isn't in enough detail. Brand-names aren't mentioned, fair enough, but there's only so many times I can read "moisturize to prep, apply foundation to match, loose translucent powder to set foundation..." before it gets incredibly dull. Some notes on technique are interesting but not frequent enough. It's all very well explaining that you apply this and that in this way to achieve that look, but he doesn't explain WHY it works, so I can't even take specific tips and use them myself because I don't know what to take into consideration. Does it work because of the colour? The face shape? Eye shape? A little more insight would be appreciated.
Other than makeup tips, it's got a lot of rambling about each person featured. I recognise a few but it's very USA-centric (I'm British), so often it was "this person I havent heard of made up to look like this other person I havent heard of" so I lost a bit in translation I suppose.
A nice book. Might be good for occasional reference but I wanted a bit more from this.
January 26, 2026
Especially with the pull towards non-conformity I feel that many of us are collectively starting to feel, I wanted to begin exploring more old school makeup styling and techniques to break free from following trends I see online solely because they are popular.
I got what I wanted out of this book. There are a lot of unique looks and techniques that I bookmarked and am looking forward to trying out. It's especially great to be reading this now since there is a callback to styling and fashion from the 90s.
Beyond the artistry, I appreciate that Aucoin explores the philosophy, politics, and history of makeup in this book. He is purposeful to amplify the importance of diversity, which feels like a crazy thing to be praising since this book was written 26 years ago, but I guess that's the state of our current political climate.
I got what I wanted out of this book. There are a lot of unique looks and techniques that I bookmarked and am looking forward to trying out. It's especially great to be reading this now since there is a callback to styling and fashion from the 90s.
Beyond the artistry, I appreciate that Aucoin explores the philosophy, politics, and history of makeup in this book. He is purposeful to amplify the importance of diversity, which feels like a crazy thing to be praising since this book was written 26 years ago, but I guess that's the state of our current political climate.
November 19, 2020
This book is a novelty, only fans and make-up lovers will get anything out of this. If you want to learn how to apply make-up, don't bother with this book. His techniques are all talent and it's the same process for each regular every day makeup. He doesn't list actual products and glosses over application. If you're a collector, by all means, get this book, but if you actually want to know how to do makeup, watch a video.
March 21, 2018
As is the case with his other book, Making Faces, this book introduces nothing new to the experienced makeup user, moreso maybe a different perspective and some tips and tricks. Really lovely looks and a great inspiration. Would be incredibly helpful for a beginner.
December 24, 2018
Tori Amos as a Cherokee princess?! Obvious misstep written by someone who loves Tori.
March 3, 2019
I love how much of Aucoin is in this and how committed he is to showing multiple types of ethnicities, genders, and ages.
November 15, 2019
Amazing what an artist can create on a face with only a brown make up pencil. I miss Kevyn's presence in the glam world.
December 29, 2023
I used this book in college and learned so much about makeup technique from Kevyn Aucoin 20 years ago. Now that I have teen daughters, I bought a copy for them to enjoy.
October 9, 2023
Another great book by Kevin Aucoin, the master of face sculpting.
December 12, 2023
This book and Making Faces are some of the greatest makeup books ever written. I love all the different women he did in this book and how Kevin shows you how to make the looks at home. If you're into makeup and want to read some makeup history, this is a great book to pick up, and I highly recommend Making Faces.
September 23, 2025
“There is often great beauty to be found among the ruins of great tragedy.” Words from Mr. Aucoin himself on page 116, that echo my thoughts the entire time I went through this book. I found myself unable to relate to his words and some ideals, but I suppose it comes with Hollywood that they live in a different universe. My friend from California says they’re a different type of utopian hell. I wonder how Kevyn would have dealt with beauty and cosmetics of today, and how far ( yet not all that evolved ) we’ve come. Considering many of the techniques he used with the limited items he had at the time… I have no doubt that his work is beautiful. Many celebrities rendered unrecognizable and many beautiful looks through the book. But I must admit. The words and instructions lost me. Veneers! Plastic surgery! Common even back then, in Hollywood more than elsewhere. It is something I cannot fathom, but again this is no Bobbi Brown book or teen vogue, this is high fashion and celebrity, and more of an ode to his friends and life through makeup. The instructions do not add any value to my life as a lifelong cosmetic enthusiast with a completely different face and bone structure, lest the one section on Lucy Liu, but I can marvel at the craft. It may be rough to say but if this was a book of only beauty looks, I could have rated it 5, but the more I read, the less fantastical I felt. I understand that even to this day, his friends and clients still adore him and speak of him fondly, I have no doubt we have lost him too soon. Again. What magnificent things could he have done if he were still here?
July 1, 2008
Okay, I admit it...I like books about style, fashion, makeup...I'm a girlie girl! This is a fun book, and the 2nd Kevyn Aucoin book I purchased just to have a good time seeing his amazing makeup transformations. This book (like his first similar book) has great photos of many faces, some familiar celebrities, and in some cases these have been 'transformed' by makeup magic to look like some of the famous stars of the 30s and 40s. Pretty uncanny! Very fun fluff. Some tips and how-tos are in the book too, but the main reason to buy it is because it's a big splashy coffee-table kind of book. You get it just to look!
February 15, 2013
I enjoyed Face Forward more than Making Faces. There are a lot of great images that show what makeup can really do to change a person's appearance, my favorite example in the book was Gwyneth Paltrow made to look like James Dean. As far as being an actual tutorial book, I think Face Forward is great for teaching concepts like why certain colors work in certain situations but it isn't quite as good with the step by step "how to recreate a look" teaching style.
April 1, 2008
Anyone who has met me knows that I am SO not a glamour girl, not really into make-up beyond the basics. But in spite of that, I absolutely ADORE Kevyn Aucoin's books. They are completely addictive and irresistible. I keep them next to the tub so I can read them in the bath. Even my husband loves them. Kevyn was an amazing artist who, despite his short life, made a lasting impression on the world of fashion and beauty.
February 2, 2011
I found his first book MAKING FACES more informative from a makeup perspective. This was more of a philosophical tract/memoir/gallery of beloved people. However, by including at least two shots of each "model", we are really able to see the impact of makeup on the face in terms of specific products and techniques.
August 28, 2007
the best book i've read in professional make up. kevyn aucoin has a super taste for beauty..plus this book speaks a lot more about him and his philosophy about life beyond make up. a must read for beauty fanatics or people who wants to see another view on beauty.
August 4, 2008
I absolutely adore Kevyn Aucoin - this is an amazing book, and a must-have for any make up artist, or anyone who just appreciates fabulous makeup!
BTW - the transformations in this book are incredible!
BTW - the transformations in this book are incredible!
Currently reading
May 21, 2008I am hearing mixed reviews on this book but I will give it a shot anyway, I am looking for a book to help with my photography, right now I am reading make-up books to do digital make-up in my post processing but I know I will cross over to real life applications later.
August 2, 2008
A wonderful book of faces wherein Kevyn Aucoin's genius becomes clear. He makes over "regular" people and brings out their natural beauty and makes over celebrities to look like other icons. Awesome.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews