The Complete Beauty Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Smart Beauty

Hubiera deseado encontrar este libro en una edicion mas reciente, esta es la del 2006. No obstante la informacion sigue siendo muy valida a excepcion de la seccion final en la que la autora revisa decenas de productos de belleza muchos de los cuales ya no estan en el mercado, asimismo, muchos nuevos han aparecido a lo largo de estos tres anos. En general, muy valiosa informacion que de seguro me hara ahorrar mucho dinero.

Gracias a esta autora, me he quitado el vendaje que me tenia ciega con relacion a los productos de belleza. Ahora estoy mas conciente de lo que gasto y de lo que busco. Aprendi muchisimo, se lo recomiendo a todas y a todos (tambien a los hombres). Si quieres aprender mas sobre belleza y salud, compralo ahora, no te arrepentiras.

Paula Begoun's down-to-earth beauty advise is a great wakeup call for all those women out there who (understandably) buy into all the cosmetic company sales pitches about all the expensive products we need to look young and beautiful. As Paula explains, skin care can, and should, be inexpensive, basic and simple. Personally, I am very happy with the Wal-Mart Equate brand version of Cetaphil cleanser, the Equate version of Oil of Olay with SPF 15 as a daytime moisturizer/sunscreen (both under $4 each!), and the best and cheapest nighttime moisturizer ever - a light coating of plain old petroleum jelly, avoiding my nose area (I also use the petroleum jelly to remove eye makeup). Now, I don't follow Paula's advise to the letter - I ALWAYS wear waterproof mascara (sorry, but everything else runs), and I prefer to scrub my face well with the washcloth to exfoliate and cleanse rather than using my fingertips and being overly gentle - but overall, consumers would be well-advised to take heed of her ideas. The only reasons I didn't give the book 5 stars are 1) I already had a good grasp of the basic concepts of the book beforehand, so it wasn't really an earth-shattering revelation to me, although it's definitely a 5-star must-read for anyone confused by industry hype, and 2) her long list of reviews of specific makeup products is vaguely helpful (although I disagree with her negative assessment of Maybelline Great Lash Mascara), but is bound to quickly be outdated as the makeup lines constantly add new products and shades and discontinue others, not to mention the omission of some popular lines like Jane, Bonne Bell, Physicians Formula, and even Wet 'n Wild (their 99 cent eyebrow pencils are the BEST!). I would have also love to hear her assessment of some of the infomercial products like Lauren Hutton Face Disc, Bare Escentuals, Principal Secret, etc. But other than a few minor disagreements, this is highly recommended reading for any woman feeling lost and confused at the cosmetics counter.

I re-evaluated all my cosmetics for ingredients and value to me. After making many notes as I read this book, I assessed every item I use routinely. Bottom line -- several of my expensive products have much more economical alternatives (i.e. Cetaphil for cleansing) and really do not produce the results being claimed on the packaging. I also now know that I don't need separate moisturizers for eyes, lips and face. I can use 1 product for all. Another key pont, is that less truly is more -- keep it simple. By using many products, my skin was reacting to all the ingredients. I minimized my daily regime to only the products that I need for good skin care. It is so easy to get caught up in all the hype from ads, cosmetic counter sales people, and dermatology office staff. I am now more gentle with my skin -- use tepid water and apply minimal pressure when washing and drying. Thanks for shifting my perspective on what I truly need for good looking and healthy skin!