Slap on a Little Lipstick... You'll Be Fine Book

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.