If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably already seen a preview of this new beauty book (it was released in October by Jacqui Small) – Gary Cockerill Simply Glamorous.
I wanted to put up this feature before Christmas, as it may be a book to consider as a present for a girl who loves her glamorous looks. And this book is all about glamour, a lot of false lashes, smoky eyes and red lips.
Of course, such book could only be pink, the perfect choice to fit the content.
So what is inside?
Gary starts with telling his story ( he is a celebrity make-up artist and has been working in the industry for 15+ years), and his view on makeup, which was interesting to read. I personally liked that he is self-taught and doesn’t believe in “makeup rules”.
Next we get some basic tips on skincare and just some general suggestions which a lot of girls will find useful. The make-up artist then covers all the basics from matching your foundation, applying concealer and powder to the new trend which is contouring. Everything is covered, and it is a great guide even for the beginners.
This is my personal favourite look from the book
There are the same chapters about eyes and lips, too. They explain everything pretty well: from textures to the application techniques. How to groom your eye brows, how to apply eye liner, different lip products textures, all of it basically. All the stories are illustrated with high-quality photos.
It’s all about the glamour
There are also quite a lot of classic for beauty books “transformations”. And it is great that there is something for pretty much everyone. I appreciate that Mr. Cockerill showed how women of different age and skin colour can look beautiful.
There are also different kinds of looks: from natural to full-on, which the following two photos from the book illustrate really well.
You also get metallic, colourful and eclectic or matte and nude variants – there are 224 pages of photos to look at and text to read.
One more thing that I appreciated is that you can see the fine lines and the skin texture of the models, they are not Photoshopped like there is no tomorrow.
Moreover, Mr. Cockerill is not pushing any brands, he just lists his favourite products in the end, and doesn’t claim that you have to use only so and so.
In my opinion, this is a great book for a girl who is into glamorous and, as Gary says himself, “high impact” looks and lifestyle. This is not the best option for someone who is into minimalism or grunge looks which is pretty obvious anyway.
Although I do not share the same aesthetics as the author, some of my girlfriends were absolutely in love with the looks, it is just a matter of taste. But pretty much anyone can benefit from the useful tips and the knowledge that someone so experienced would share.
And for the right person, it can be a great gift.
You can buy it from Amazon for $24.76 and Amazon UK for £19.99