Asian Beauty

Rating:
Summary: This book should've been titled "Eur"asian Beauty
Review: Despite it's title, the majority of models featured in this book are half-asian. And although I was initially excited by the fact that there were so many faces similar to mine, it was a useless purchase.

I could've picked up an issue of Allure or Glamour and found more useful beauty and makeup tips for a fraction of the price. As for the actual quality of the photos, I was in shock. Some of the images had been so enlarged that I could see the pixelation on some of the models' faces. I've seen newspaper inserts that were of a higher quality.

If I was a full Asian woman I would've given "Asian Beauty" one star. I saw nothing in this book that deals with the specific issues that many women of Asian descent deal with, ie: single eyelids, rounder faces, etc.

Rating:
Summary: NOT WORTH IT!
Review: I am of full-blooded Chinese descent, and I found this book very helpful. I haven't worn makeup consistently throughout my life, so when I started applying the techniques in this book, I received many compliments. I also liked the way I looked when I used the shadows and light technique. My only complaint, if I may call it that, is that since people were more used to seeing me in "plain face," sometimes they would compliment me by saying, "you're makeup looks so beautiful!" As I make it a habit to put on makeup every day, those comments will probably fade, because I want my makeup to draw attention to me, not to the fact that I am wearing it.

Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up for Asian Beauty
Review: I got a copy as a Christmas gift. I liked it so much I bought some to give to my asian friends. Most of the women in the book are very beautiful. I'm sure they don't look this good when they first get up in the morning without make up. But then again, who'd want to buy a book with pages full of ugly woman?? This book is a big inspiration to asian women whether they have double or single eyelids. It's about encouraging woman to look their best so they can feel their best...inside and out! I've never saw any books that cater to asian woman of this kind before, so it's refreshing to discover something new. It's a refreshing breakthrough for Asians Woman of all kinds and I think Margaret is being a great role model by sharing her expert advice as an asian. Although the book didn't cover every type of asian feature such as single eyelids and spread out noses, it's a good start to educate asian woman about make up techniques and color. I'd like to see if anyone can beat this book to help asian woman. It's a positive start.

Rating:
Summary: NOT WORTH IT!
Review: I'm an Asian American in my late twenties living in L.A. and lived and traveled in Asia. So I have an idea of beautiful Asian women. And this book does not contain that. The before and after pictures aren't anything any woman (even one as dumb with makeup as me) wouldn't know. The author doesn't take any real make up risks. She gives the basic 411 on eating healthy, excercising, etc.. She emphasizes using eyeliner. However, not all Asian eyes are similar. It's better to just look on the Internet for Asian beauty tips. I was so excited when I ordered it. When I read it, I was sooo disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Nice colors, not much else
Review: Initially, I was very excited about this book. I have Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin, but I wanted another book that would teach me how to use vibrant colors so I thought that Asian Beauty would be a good choice. The design is nice and the makeup looks are exactly what I was looking for but Kimura doesn't tell you how to achieve those looks. She does mention a 'light and shadows' technique but it is not adequately demonstrated. She also doesn't give product names. I understand that some artists don't give product names because they want to give the reader freedom but it's hard for me to find colors if I don't have a name to go by. All in all, this is a pretty book. Too bad its not a useful one.

Rating:
Summary: Amerasian Tips!
Review: So, several people have complained that this book doesn't have "Asian" women - I would disagree! Margaret Kimura covers a wide range of "Asian" women - from full-blooded to mixed-race. This is the first time I've found women that look like me (Filipina-German-American) in any beauty/style publication.

This book has lots of great tips - I just wish she had sourced her make-up line, or suggested other brands to try!

Rating:
Summary: Authentic book on Asian beauty? I think not.
Review: The book focuses too heavily on women with Eurasian (people of asian and caucasian decent). Eurasian models in the book seem to outnumber pure-blooded asian models. When a book claims to have advice to help people with unique "Asian" features, you would think that it would have more models with these unique "asian features" (ie: asian eyes, nose, facial structure) that are not covered in popular magazines. The problem with featuring so many Eurasians in the book is the fact that Eurasians often have very "Cauasian" features...and thus their concerns are ALREADY adressed in popular magazines. Many of the models in the book had so little asian blood in them that they didn't look asian at all - i remember turning to a page to find what very much appeared to be a full-blooded caucasian woman staring back at me - all this in a book entitled "Asian Beauty". Kimura later explains that this Woman apparantly has 1/4 asian in her...well I don't see it!

I guess Kimura emphasizes Eurasian models because they're so stunningly beautiful and exotic...but she really undermines the whole purpose of this so-called book on "Asian Beauty" by doing this - because Eurasian features tend to lean towards Cauasian-looking - not to mention that Kimura uses some models with only 1/4 Asian blood - or even less in some cases!

Besides the fact that Kimura uses too few models with authentic Asian features. Her book provides minimal information on how to actually apply make-up... in a nutshell, it's a book full of pictures of beautiful women - not a book on make-up application to enhance Asian features.

Hopefully an someone else will come around and write the first "how-to" book on Asian Beauty.

Rating:
Summary: Style Over Substance
Review: The description of this book claims that Asian Beauty contains "step-by-step guidance on how to enhance lips, eyes, cheeks, and brows" and that the book would be helpful to people like me, those "who have had to make do with beauty tips tailored for women of European descent". This is terribly misleading. I won't deny that Asian Beauty contains some stunning photography of beautifully made-up Asian women of all types. However, I don't think this book would be terribly helpful for someone looking for detailed make-up application tips accompanied by photographs demonstrating specific techniques. For example, I had hoped the book would finally be a source of tips on how I could enhance my eyes, which like those of many Asian women, lack eyelid folds. Wouldn't this be one of the classic questions many Asian women would have? I hunted through the book to find the answer, but found that Kimura gives only a brief mention of this particular feature, and offers no real helpful hints on what to do with it. There are a few series of photographs which purport to be "how to" shots, but Kimura offers frustratingly vague descriptions of many other techniques which are not illustrated with photographs.

You might find Asian Beauty interesting and helpful if you like to see glamorous photographs of Asian women made up in a variety of styles, both classic and cutting edge. But you will be sorely disappointed if you are looking for the guidance to get to that end result. Browse this book in the store before ordering.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, but I liked it!
Review: The women in this book are gorgeous! There were quite a few make-up tips that are very useful. The colors that we go with, the way you should line your eyes, etc.... I don't usually buy make-up books because they never seem to have my eye-type or face-type, this book was wonderful in that I could at least relate to most of it. I also liked the fact that the author kept saying that beauty comes in various ways, and it is more attitude than commercial.

I also like the way most of the women were made up very naturally. I wish I could have this woman do my makeup for me everyday, or at least a nice makeover, but this book is as close as it will get for me, and I consider it an excellent investment.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible!
Review: This book was completely useless as a tool to help asian women with a creaseless eye. I would have given it a zero star, but I'll give the author a one star for effort.