Product Description

In Real Beauty, celebrity makeup artist Sonia Kashuk brings her professional tips to real life. She offers a fresh, fun approach, whether you like neutral, natural or totally intense. You'll learn how just one or two products can create a great look, how the right application techniques extend wear, and how the secret to putting your best face forward is enhancing what's already there.

Renowned authorities in skin care, health, fitness and nutrition also weigh in, and an exclusive instructional dvd brings Sonia's message of real beauty to life.

You'll get more than how-tos here. You'll get a new sense of confidence. And that, Sonia says, is "the most beautiful thing any woman can wear."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #689725 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-25
• Released on: 2003-03-25
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 160 pages

From the Inside Flap
In Real Beauty, celebrity makeup artist Sonia Kashuk brings her professional tips to real life. She offers a fresh, fun approach, whether you like neutral, natural or totally intense. You'll learn how just one or two products can create a great look, how the right application techniques extend wear, and how the secret to putting your best face forward is enhancing what's already there.

Renowned authorities in skin care, health, fitness and nutrition also weigh in, and an exclusive instructional dvd brings Sonia's message of real beauty to life.

You'll get more than how-tos here. You'll get a new sense of confidence. And that, Sonia says, is "the most beautiful thing any woman can wear."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
FOUNDATION

Most of us keep our foundation as close as our ATM card. And just like crisp cash, we tend to "spend" too much of it. That's the most common problem women make?putting foundation all over their face when that's very rarely needed. When you get the right shade, and know how and where to use it, you'll find you need very little.

But first?which form do you choose? There are sticks, liquids, creams and powders. If you have normal skin, you're fine with anything. Dry skin is best with a cream or a liquid?these glide easily over the skin. Oily skin is best with an oil-free liquid but a powder foundation's even better.

I almost always advocate the sheerest coverage possible. I like to see real skin through any foundation. It has life in it?freckles and little idiosyncrasies are what make you . . . you. Liquid is the sheerest form of foundation. Powder and dual finish powder are less sheer. And cream can be the heaviest, most opaque of all.

Once you choose what to use, you can still control the amount of coverage. With a cream or liquid, use a damp sponge or?my favorite tool for applying foundation?fingertips. I typically squirt some from my favorite pump formula onto the back of my hand and dab on from there. This warms it somewhat, and I don't have to deal with a dispenser while I apply.

To build more coverage, apply in thin layers, using a gentle patting motion so you never pull on the skin. You can also go to super sheer by blending cream or liquid foundations with a bit of moisturizer. With a pressed powder foundation, you can apply wet or dry with a sponge. Wet, you get more coverage. Dry will be more sheer.

It's also good to think ahead to what makeup you plan to apply over your foundation. Cream products are compatible with cream foundations. Powder colors work best over powder foundations.

So?cream blush on top of a dual finish foundation? Bad idea. The powder will "grab" the cream blush and you won't be able to blend it into place. Powder blush on top of a liquid or cream foundation? Also a bad idea?unless you brush loose powder over the foundation to create a compatible surface for your powder blush. Similarly, cream eyeshadows should go over a cream foundation; powder shadows over powder.

A final word about finish: if you've used a cream foundation, your face will be dewy. If you want creams to go matte, add a final dusting of loose powder.

Customer Reviews

Super Rave for this book and instructional DVD
I was totally surprised about the DVD I found in the back of this book. I was just expecting a book. I love the new book "Real Beauty", she seems to kinda repeats herself alot though. But the DVD is awesome. It shows you some really nice eye looks and she really goes into detail and goes over and over so that you really can master what you are trying to acheive. She goes step by step on how to appy foundation, concealer, powder, lipstick & gloss, blush (both cream and powder) and of course eyes. You get to see Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington without makeup. You get to see that models are not perfect like we all think. Highly Recommend

Excellent book and video combination!!!
This book is a totally refreshing approach to makeup. In the style of Bobbi Brown, Sonia Kashuk encourages women to feel beautiful no matter what they look like. Her approach to makeup is natural, but does give you a few tricks on achieving certain looks (i.e. the smoky eye). She also is a little bit more relaxed regarding "makeup rules". Amazingly enough, the best part of the book is the video! I have bought many books on makeup (Bobbi Brown, Kevyn Aucoin, Linda Mason) and I have never learned so many new and completely natural tricks and techniques than from Sonia's video, it is amazing!!! I truly reccomend this book if you want to learn how to look perfect but not "made up".

Inspiring and informative!
I'm the mom to 3 (4,3, and 6 mos.) and had let myself go, was discouraged about my appearance. I really wanted to turn myself around, in health, weight and appearance. My hubby decreed 2004 the "year of mommy's makeover" and made this one of my Xmas presents (he found it himself). I was a bit skeptical, but once I read it, I was hooked. While I've worn makeup on and off for years, I learned a lot. The chapter on foundation, concealer and powder was worth the book - I finally have a clue how to use concealer properly! Also loved the chapter on eyes and learned how to use eyeliner in a natural way. She has a lot of little tricks of the trade that help when applying makeup (and now seem obvious after reading them!). I'm having a lot of fun playing and trying different products. I also loved the section with the magazine editors - it was great to hear from beauty experts who look at gorgeous women all day. Their views were really neat. I love her attitude about what beauty is, because I feel the same way. It's great to know you don't need to wear 50 products and spend two hours a day to look good. I don't want to be a supermodel, I just want to look more polished and feel better about me, and this book was a great help.