Today I thought I'd do a run down of all the best beauty reads to my knowledge from popular step-by-step makeup books to more niche beauty books. Plus magazines on and offline and of course beauty blogs that you need to be reading, if you aren't already!
When it comes to beauty reading I own most of the popular books, but in recent years I have discovered a few more niche ones that have become favourites of mine. These are books to actually sit down and read apposed to dipping in and out of like you can with makeup books. Below I have detailed all the best (and up-to-date) makeup step-by-step books and also a list of further reading for the beauty obsessed!
Top Makeup Books
Makeup: The Ultimate Guide by Rae Morris (£12.33 here), Jemma's Makeup Secrets by Jemma Kidd (£16.75 here), Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown (£20.00 here), Lauran Conrad Beauty by Lauren Conrad (£10.34 here), Face to Face by Scott Barnes (£10.34 here), Makeup is Art by Jana Waru Ririnui (£19.43 here), Bobbi Brown's Pretty Powerful by Bobbi Brown (£13.39 here).
Skincare & Body Books
Japanese Skincare Revolution by Chizu Saeki (£9.65 here), Forever Young by Nicholas Perricone (£7.69 here), Skin Secrets by Liz Earle (£15.99 here), Feeding Your Skin by Carla Oates (£7.49 here), The Honest Life by Jessica Alba (£11.55 here), Treasure Yourself by Miranda Kerr (£8.32 here), The Body Book by Cameron Diaz (£8.00 here).
Niche/Specialist Books
Estee Lauder: Beyond The Magic by Lee Isreal (£2.80 used here), Beautiful For Ever by Helen Rappaport (£6.29 here), Perfumes: The A-Z Guide by Luca Turin (£9.09 here), Helena Rubinstein: The Woman Who Created Beauty by Michele Fitoussi (£6.29 here), War Paint by Lindy Woodhead (£2.91 used here), The Goddess Guide by Gisele Scanlon (£9.09 here), The Goddess Experience by Gisele Scanlon (£7.00 here), The Diary of a Nose by Jean-Claude Ellena (£10.34 here).
My personal favourites...
Favourite books out of this little lot have to be Rae Morris' Makeup: The Ultimate Guide and Jemma's Makeup Secrets for step-by step looks as they are up-to date, jammed packed full of information and tips along with amazing photography. As for more niche books, I constantly rave about The Goddess Guide at any opportunity as it's such a wonderful book. I like to call it 'a blog within a book' as it contains a bit of everything with a beyond perfect layout/look. For more sat down proper reading I would highly recommend Estee Lauder:Beyond The Magic and if you are into history then without a doubt Beautiful For Ever. I also included The Body Book by Cameron Diaz which I haven't read but is very much on my current to-buy list as after looking through it I was so impressed with how detailed it was.
Beauty Magazines
Beauty focused magazines are few and far between in the UK sadly. We had to make do with 10 page sections in fashion magazines. However we do have the Boots Health & Beauty magazine which is free to Boots Advantage Card holders that is quite a nice read and Two online magazine by Pixiwoo here. Currently the only dedicated beauty magazine is Allure which is a U.S magazine but can be found in large WHSmith stores and can be subscribed to.
Another way of reading international magazines that are more beauty focused is through Zinio here, a website that allows you to subscribe to magazine to read on your iPad/tablet (I wouldn't recommend reading from your laptop/desktop). I'm subscribed to 5+ magazines now with my favourite beauty read being Allure magazine (12 issues for £14.59 here) and Fairlady which is a South African based lifestyle magazine.
Beauty Blogs
Professional Beauty Blogs - Temptalia here, Makeup & Beauty Blog here, Into The Gloss here, Beautizine here, The Beauty Department here, Refinery 29 here.
My go-to Beauty Blog reads - British Beauty Blogger here, Vivianna Does Makeup here, A Model Recommends here, Sali Hughes Beauty here, Nouvelle Daily here, Lipglossiping here, The Beauty Look Book here, I Covet Thee here. And lots more which you can find in my '10 Beauty Blogs Worth Bookmarking' posts here & here.
My favourite way to keep up with the 400+ beauty blogs I read is without a doubt Bloglovin' here but for blogs I really love I make sure to add them to my home screen on my iPad so I can check them more often.
So there you have it, my run down of the best beauty reads. A blog post to bookmark for when you want to procrastinate I think!
What are a few of your favourite beauty reads?
Fee xo.
