About Face: Amazing Transformations Using the Secrets of the Top Celebrity Makeup Artist »

About Face is a compendium of everything make-up artist Scott Barnes has learned during his career working with A-list celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jennifer Aniston. About Face is packed with techniques for every area of makeup application. Part One focuses on dramatic makeovers of real women with a twist: each woman comes in looking the best she thinks she can look. The author then deconstructs and debunks their look taking them from attractive to amazing. Step-by-step photos outline makeup techniques and products while Scott provides commentary on how he pinpointed the woman’s strongest asset and built a look around it. Part Two highlights beauty rituals, must-have makeup items, and inner and outer preparations that a woman must embrace in order to look beautiful and radiate charisma. Part Three focuses on the celebrities Scott Barnes has worked with.

Library Journal

Barnes gave actress-singer-megabrand Jennifer Lopez her trademark "glow," and his celebrity makeup star ascended to join the likes of Pat McGrath and the late Kevyn Aucoin. In his mini-coffee-table-book debut, he shares his philosophy—it all begins with the light, where and how it hits the face, because glow is the goal with all women, starlets or not. A lot of heavy contouring and highlighting ensues in an array of "transformations" of nonmodels of various ages and ethnicities. These before-and-afters, captured in step-by-step color photos, are impressive in their technical skill and will inspire the more audacious and skilled among Barnes's fans—Sarah goes from a pretty, minimally maquillaged twenty-something to a golden-cheeked Renaissance maiden. However, most women probably don't have the time, energy, or ability to mimic the author's painterly (and, some would argue, heavy-handed) approach. VERDICT While Barnes presents some sensible skin care how-to and tricks, his book is best suited to intermediate to advanced makeup artists who have a stake in contouring and highlighting.—Heather McCormack, Library Journal