Book Review: Beautified by Kyan Douglas

What the book claims: Enough with the guys. Ladies, it’s your turn to experience the thrill that comes from being groomed and made gorgeous by beauty expert and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s grooming guru, Kyan Douglas. In Beautified, Kyan shares the techniques he uses as a veteran stylist—and answers the questions posed to him by the show’s legions of female fans—to cover all the essentials that will put you on the road to being beautified (translation: looking good and feeling good), including:

• hair hints on the right cut for you, at-home coloring and highlights, the perfect blow-out, proper product use, and solving problems like overprocessed locks, crunchy hair, and the inevitable bad hair day
• skin secrets on facials and masks, righteous daily routines and pesky pimples, and special challenges such as tanning, tattoos, and piercings
• makeup must-have advice on shopping, tools, and products, and how to use everything from foundation and concealer to blush, lipstick, and eye shadow
• grooming gifts to yourself like home spa treatments and massages, beautiful brows, the prefect shave, nail know-how, the power of scent, and steps to a better smile
• diet dos and don’ts that address everything from carbs vs. proteins to fats vs. fiction exercise essentials on how to energize yourself by addressing every part of your body, in regimens that range from walking to weight-training
• And a chapter on your spirit workout that addresses the deeper-than-skin issues that round out a Beautified lifestyle 

Whether you’re looking for beautiful brows or advice on which beauty products you don’t need, Kyan will show you what you can do—right now—to put your best face forward.

Price: Rs. 195 (I got this at a sale, it otherwise costs Rs. 986/-)

Pros:
1. I can't really think of any even after having read the book twice over. It would be a good book for absolute beginners I guess. People who are brand new to the world of makeup, but I am guessing they would outgrow it soon themselves.

Cons:
1. Honestly, this book over promises and under delivers. You read all the tips & tricks ("secrets", it claims on the cover) it promises to teach you and you hurriedly go inside - but there is nothing. This book is all fluff. It just has general gyan, that probably a simple google search would throw up as well.

2. The book is not focused enough, it tries to be your ultimate guide to all hair, skin, makeup, diet, exercise, mental & spiritual health related issues, but ends up not having enough content on either. A case of jack of all trades, master of none.

3. The pictures are all of the author himself, not that he is bad looking, but after a while they begin to grate and look like his modelling portfolio. I like to see pictures of different women, wearing different styles of makeup in a book, simply because sometimes you can learn a lot just by observing the professionally done makeup.

Would I recommend this book: Even at 200 Rs, this book was a bad investment for me. I would not recommend this to anyone. There are way better books out there.

Do you have any favourite books on makeup or skincare?