Book Review: Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets

I am an absolute bookworm and I'm an old-school bookworm to boot. If you and I were friends "in real life" I would talk your head off about why I love real books more than electronic versions. I won't bore you with the reasons why I love traditional books (the feel and smell, for starters), but you can imagine my sheer joy when I was approached recently by Sterling Books, the publishers of: Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Gorgeous (published April 2010 in paperback).

I jumped at the chance to receive this book for review because, not only do I love all books, I especially love books that claim to be chock full of beauty tips. Are there any of us here who don't crave fun, light, beauty-oriented reading for summer days at the beach, lake, park, or just our own backyard? There are always so many distractions when I'm trying to read in public, and especially during the summertime. Something light, that I can put down and pick back up easily, which doesn't require too much sustained attention or concentration is exactly what I crave during the summer (not that I don't love challenging or difficult books--I just reserve those for the peace and quite of my living room couch).

Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets (from the editors of Cosmopolitan) is exactly the type of book I would grab on my way out the door to the beach. Not only is it packed with fun, easily-digestible beauty tidbits, it's even got a "wheel" built into the cover so that you can choose a beauty tip and be directed to it immediately. How's that for instant gratification?

Some of you may be thinking that this book is full of fluff and information that's been rehashed in every beauty magazine under the sun. Sure, there may be some common sense bits of information here, and things we beauty junkies already know like the back of our hands. But there are plenty of surprises and pieces of information that I personally found interesting. In other others, this book managed to teach me a thing or two. Really!

Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets is broken down into chapters such as "Skin", "Nails", "Body" and "Hair". Within these chapters, there are sections that will definitely grab your attention, such as "Find the Right Foundation Shade" and "Amazing Arches". It's in these sections that you'll find the real gems. For instance, I really enjoyed the section on "How to Disguise a Bad Home Bang Trim" because, trust me, I am the queen of bad home bang trims. This segment actually gave me some ideas I had never heard before, and the tips are totally doable. Score!

What I also love about this book is that it's not just one big advertisement masquerading as a book about beauty. The product images are intentionally generic (in other words, you're not going to find anything like, "For the perfect pout, try this new lipgloss by Max Factor" with a big picture of Max Factor lipgloss next to it. The information is more general, and I love that because it doesn't make you feel like you have to buy a specific brand in order to get the most out of these tips.

Another thing I love about this book is that the expert tips come from experts we all know and love (Carol Shaw, Deborah Lippmann, Mally Roncal, and the list goes on). New York makeup artist Matin provides an excellent tip for disguising red eyes, and it's something I had never heard before (you'll have to get the book to see it for yourself). Skincare expert Cornelia Zicu provides a great (and extremely economical) recipe for a DIY lip mask that had me thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" Genius!

And one more thing I love is the beauty trivia that is peppered throughout each chapter. I love books (and magazines) that have a lot of fun little tidbits scattered throughout each spread (as opposed to long blocks of text) and these bits of trivia are quite interesting (for example: do you know why we often open our mouths when applying mascara? You'll have to turn to page 61 in this book to find out).

This book is actually a pretty comprehensive look at beauty and I think it's got something to offer for just about everyone. Perhaps you're already a master of eyeshadow but you wish you knew more about perfume. Not to worry, because there's a chapter on fragrance that includes accurate, helpful information for the perfume novice (such as the difference between floral and gourmand aromas, for example).

While I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to women in their late teens and early twenties who are just beginning their beauty journey, I think it's got just the right mix of "standard" beauty info and interesting tidbits to make it a fun read for women of any age (except for the very young). Why not the very young? Well, you can expect a few "tantalizing" tidbits in this book (it is from the editors of Cosmo, after all), which might not be appropriate for very young girls (i.e. how scents "seduce" a man, etc.). For women in their late teens and up, I think this is a fun, yet very informative, beauty book that deserves a spot in your personal beauty library. Regardless of age, it just might surprise you.

You can purchase Cosmo's Sexiest Beauty Secrets at your local bookstore or online at sites such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The list price of this book is $16.95 ($21.95 in Canada).

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.