Makeup, as we know it, has only been commercially available in the last 100 years, but applying decoration to the face and body may be one of the oldest global social practices. In Face Paint, Lisa Eldridge reveals the entire history of the art form, from Egyptian and Classical times up through the Victorian age and golden era of Hollywood, and also surveys the cutting-edge makeup science of today and tomorrow. Face Paint explores the practical and idiosyncratic reasons behind makeup’s use, the actual materials employed over generations, and the glamorous icons that people emulate and how they achieved their effects. An engaging history of style, it is also a social history of women and the ways in which we can understand their lives through the prism and impact of makeup.
Face Paint: The Story of Makeup by Lisa Eldridge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely love this book! I read it through and through upon its initial release and continue to reference it for makeup looks and inspiration. It is an excellent addition to any literary makeup collection. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a passion for makeup.
Written as story about makeup, it’s not a how to makeup application book per se but will certainly give anyone inspiration especially to makeup enthusiasts interested in reading a well-researched historical timeline of the origin of pigments and formulations, cultural views, trends, business and industry aspects, and muses. It also contains a lovely curation of photos and illustrations and provides excellent visual appeal with its page construction, layouts, and high quality images and printing. I really appreciated the author, Lisa Eldridge’s proper writing skills, organization of topics, and how references were provided. In fact I think it deserves additional stars for including proper reference citations and formal photo credits, not only for academic completeness which I find is actually incredibly rare for this type of book genre, but also for my personal desire to look up original articles and more information about historical figures, photographers, brands, and additional interests of mine.
MY FAVORITE LINES:
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.” -Miss Piggy
