Edgy American women’s magazine Nylon, brings us page upon page of alternative beauty inspiration to showcase a variety of eclectic looks that readers can recreate for an everyday face or a glam disco visage, writes Beth Squires
If you’re looking for tried and tested products then turn straight to the first chapter, Counter Culture. Nylon’s beauty team have collected a group of ‘emblematic’ products, from cheap and cheerful Rimmel to the luxury of Guerlain. These are the products you can rely on; twenty tubes, pots, tools and bottles that will never let you down. Then, in High Notes, the reader is taken on a journey through the past century’s ten most provocative perfumes from the unisex fragrances teens experiment with to the musky, sultry scents of the most adult of aromas.
The selling point of this book is the Inspiration section, where stunning women and individual icons sit side by side, grouped by decade. From Ginger Rogers to Lauryn Hill. This is a compendium that explains what these women did as well as how they created their looks. Alongside the photos and biographies of each idol there is a small group of products that help the reader emulate their favourite beauty icons. Flicking through the myriad of images, the thing that strikes you is how individual each woman is (or man, in the case of David Bowie and Prince). From the extreme Grace Jones to the understated Gloria Steinem, these women have character and personality, as well as traits familiar to many women.
The simple illustrations sprinkled between photos and text are a charming element of the book and will be familiar to Nylon readers. Products are given new life with a splattering of watercolour, and the enduring yet ever changing Madonna is recreated as a line drawing. Continuing the artistic theme, Making Faces is a chapter full of the simple illustrations that make-up artists take their direction from at fashion shows; except this time the faces are to direct the readers, and are coloured in by the best and brightest make-up artists working in the business today. The Mane Attractions features, you guessed it, all kinds of hairstyles and shades of colour to enhance your tresses. Ponytails, mohawks, afros and bobs are all included in this summing up of the basic styles that are rehashed and refreshed year after year. Get this book and you’ll never need to frantically flick through a magazine for inspiration before a restyle at your local salon.
The paperback closes with a list of beauty shops around the globe that will come in handy when travelling, and websites that will enable the reader to get their hands on all the lush products featured. Nylon’s view of beauty as personal expression, and as an evocative, nostalgia-filled art makes for a memory-filled read, as you imagine the scents of your early teens and the tastes of the lip-gloss you wore at college. Including such a mix of beauty icons has really marked this book out from the numerous tomes there are on the subject, and the historical images and inspiration mean that it won’t quickly go out of date.
