Glow from Within

by Joanna Vargas

Celebrity aesthetician Joanna Vargas shares her secrets for the first time in this practical, engaging guide to beautiful, glowing skin for everyone.

Celebrity aesthetician Joanna Vargas is known for her cutting-edge beauty treatments, high-end products, and famous (and seemingly ageless) clients. But her secret to beautiful skin rests on one simple developing and maintaining a good skincare routine.

In Glow from Within, Joanna teaches readers how to create the best routine for their skin type. She explains the science behind the labels of various products and tools—from serums to retinols, dry brushes to sheet masks, vitamin c to hylaluronic acid—then offers instruction on how best to incorporate them into a routine. She also shares fresh insight into how the other self-care routines we don’t often connect to our skin—such as nutrition, sleep, and stress management—impact skin appearance and resiliency.

In addition to giving readers the tools to create a customizable routine, Joanna will provide specific product recommendations, DIY recipes, and programs for time-specific goals (one week, one month, six months) as well as emergency troubleshooting for skin issues that pop up overnight. Glow from Within is the ultimate guide to flawless skin from one of the beauty industry’s most sought-after insiders.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

293 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2020

Reviews

[Negin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a birthday gift from my daughter. We both love skin care and talking about all the girly stuff. I was an esthetician back in my late teens. In an ideal world, that’s probably the career that I would have stuck with.

I first heard of Joanna Vargas when she was a guest on Caroline Hirons’s YouTube channel. There are a few channels that I follow, although it takes me forever to catch up and find the time to watch them. Joanna Vargas is an esthetician who really knows her stuff.



Although I don’t agree with her on every single point, which is pretty much impossible even in the best of worlds, I am looking forward to trying out some of the products that she mentions. Some are quite pricey, but others seem to be a bit more reasonable. I really appreciate all the other suggestions and tips – eating healthy, limiting sugar, sleep, and so on. Again, in an ideal world, I would have regular facials at one of her amazing salons.



Here is my favorite tip:

“My number one nutritional beauty tip is absolutely my favorite skin fix: drink a green juice every day and try to eat green vegetables with every meal.”

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vargas presents mostly accessible descriptions of the science behind our skin and how to care for it. I’m taking a star away for presentation and layout...I hoped for more visuals to reinforce what was said. Also, moving the juicing and mask recipes to the associated chapter flows better than tacking them before an index.

Also, more discussion of natural ingredients would be cool - in line for those of us interested in making our own. There are plenty of outside resources you could refer to in addition to naming branded products

Example: my favourite part of the book was the ‘recipes’ and discussion of oils and natural items that could be used to protect our skin. I use ACV as a toner, and a mix of coffee grounds and coconut oil as a facial/body scrub.

Granted, I need to learn about my skin type. It felt like Vargas skimmed over this section in favour of skin treatments and the knowledge it takes to be an an aesthetician (though still helpful)!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to get facials from Joanna Vargas when I lived in NY (from Lena, RIP) and have used her products since 2012, so I was looking forward to reading this one.

Most of the advice was stuff we already know for improving your skin (eat greens, avoid sugar and alcohol, drink enough water, sleep, avoid stress, dry brush, etc.), and I should probably try them!

I mostly appreciated the product recommendations that were not from her own line.

The one thing I want to point out is that the book says to apply all products to damp skin, but the instructions on her products (i.e. Supernova, Daily, and Rejuvenating serums) say to apply to dry skin. I learned from Renee Rouleau that damp is best (and Renee's products have that instruction on them), so that's what I'll do.

[Hannah Dargan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an amazing read and super informative. Joanna really knows her stuff and is able to explain it in a way that makes sense to those who don't have insider knowledge to skincare (like me!). I started following some of her suggestions and have already started seeing improvements to my skin. I'm excited to try out more of the products and steps she suggested. Definitely a must read for anyone looking to live a healthier lifestyle and improve the quality of their skin.

[Willow Rankin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really great basic guide on how to look after your skin. I read the ebook, and found the lack of visuals a little off-putting.
However, I did feel like I learnt more on how to take better care of my skin. What I enjoyed, was unlike the many youtubers out there, Joanna does mention the key importance of a good diet, exercise and drinking plenty of water. Its basic stuff on skin care, but a lesson we all need to learn at times.
Further, the product recommendations are fairly useful, though they are all on the pricey range; more drugstore recommendations would of been great.
Ultimately Joanna Vargas presents skincare and how to achieve beautiful skin in an easy to read, non-patronising style, with some useful tips and ingredients to look out for.

[Tamika Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of info that is readily available on repeatable blogs like poosh or goop. Eat well, sleep, exercise, drink water, wear sunscreen, don’t smoke, and drink very limited alcohol. Refresher on what I already knew but perfect for a middle school/high school teen looking to know how to care for their skin. End of the book has some good recipes for juices to drink and facial skincare masks to make. Again, things you can find online or in any magazine but still good info.

[Whatcha Reading Heather? · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great from an informational standpoint and has a lighthearted, relatable tone. Wasn't too big on the push on specific products within certain sections (they would have been better suited for its own section at the end), but otherwise this was a decent read for something that I only read for a reading challenge.

[Jennifer Rumack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was curious about this celebrity facialist's techniques and product recommendations. Her ideas are very basic and the products she recommends are fairly limited and tend to be from the same brands. The book could have been enhanced with diagrams or photos.

[Kim Darwaza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super informative! I have all these skincare products that I never know what they or for or what order to use them in and it gave me a road map. Also talked about diet,exercise and skin treatments.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough examination of what it takes to get and keep good skin. The author uses a lot of scientific and medical information to explain the body’s second largest organ (yup, apparently the small intestine is the largest - who knew?). Really good section on sunscreens!

[Leslie ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book, a lot! Such an easy read. It explains skincare procedures and how each product benefit your skin. A must if you want to learn more about which products should and shouldn't be mixed for your AM/PM routines.

[Erin Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great basic overview of skincare. The book itself is gorgeous and I’ll be using it as a display book. I really love that she has a lot of DIY skincare recipes included that are very easily done at home with things you likely have.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Celebrity aesthetician Joanna Vargas describes the products and treatments best to use in establishing the perfect skincare routine.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Impulsive midnight purchase—you win some, you lose some. A little on the preachy side, but the gist is that you need to take care of your body and you will look better. 😏

[M]

i care about my skin i care about my skin i care about my skin (please skin gods bless me)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’ve watched tons of videos about skincare and tried lots of different products, but this book still taught me so much I didn’t know in an accessible and enjoyable way.

[Melissa Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but some errors. I'm an esthetician. She called Salicylic acid an alpha hydroxy acid and it's actually a beta hydroxy acid....

[Ashlee B.]

I love this book!! I have problem skin and this has shed new light in what I can do to treat it and get glowing skin.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love to have all the information in one book. Great overview of skincare: different ingredients, routines, and treatments.

[Ronni Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good refresher from things I already know. Really good mask recipes