Beauty Books

This book really helped me. Before I missed out on a lot of information covering toners and the law of colours.

I'm a cosmetology student who has had a few months of "basic" hair colouring. This book gave me some new ideas and tools to expand my knowledge. I highly recommend it!

Whilst searching for bath beads, bath bombs, and other assorted goodies that would make my bathing experience entirely more lovely, I came across this resourceful 96-page book. I am certainly glad that I purchased this over a five-dollar bath bomb, as "The Art of the Bath" is chocked full of marvellous, yet simple and cheap ways to enhance a bath.

The first chapter, entitled "The Perfect Bath," is basically a rundown of, well, the perfect bath! Whether it would be beneficial to have a cool, tepid, warm, or hot bath; different types of towels and body brushes; the benefits of salts, mud, fruit, herbs, essential oils, as well as that of steaming and massages.

"The Art of the Bath" offers up detailed descriptions of six different types of baths:

1. floral baths
2. aromatic baths
3. detoxifying baths
4. pampering baths
5. relaxing baths
6. aphrodisiac baths

There is the simple "rose bath," which includes rose petals and essential oil of rose; the extravagant Balinese flower bath, in which handfuls of jasmine, ylang ylang, patchouli, hisbiscus, or frangipani blossoms are strewn into hot water; the "zesty bath" which makes use of citrus zest to lift your spirits; mud baths and facial steaming; shiatsu footbath, Japanese hotsoak, fizzing champagne bath, and Eastern wedding bath are some favorites that come to mind as well.

The only real problem that I encountered with the book was that some bathing routines called for you to fill a tub, rub down with a homemade scrub, and shower. At the moment, I do not have a separate shower in which to do that. Not to mention, that a shower massager is preferable in one or two of the procedures, whereas I have a fixed showerhead that I cannot move. Some bathrooms are simply better than others.

"The Art of the Bath" was filled with historical and scientific facts about baths from all over the world, including Japan, Russia, Finland, as well as the ancient baths of Rome.

The other books that the author has used as resources include:

"Cathedrals of the Flesh: My Search for the Perfect Bath" by Alexia Brue

"Some Like it Hot: the Lure of the Sauna, its Lore and Stories" by Nicolyn Rajala

"Spiritual Bathing: Healing Rituals and Traditions From Around the World" by Rosita Arvigo and Nadine Epstein

"The Healing Energies of Water" by Charlie Ryrie

"Undesigning the Bath" by Leonard Koren

So, while there are many works that are much more detailed than this short book, it is certainly a good quick resource to possess.

When I 1st envisioned this beauty I must say I was overwhelmed. A dazzling pictuesque book with tons of babes. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Fat,thin,old,young, it doesn't matter. What I can only describe as a blissful wondermeant through the eyes of a sinful young man. God bless Jon H. Huer

What a fantastic book, if you can read with a sense of humour about the restrictions on women in the past. This book was a text book for many university level courses on home science and dressmaking etc.

Students were advised to remember, however, that "there are very few normal young women who do not look forward to marriage as the culmination to whatever career they may engage in for a time" (p. 3).

The book contains such useful academic activities as lining all the blond women in your class up against the wall, in order of darkness to fairness of skin. Then get them all to face the wall and rearrange in terms of darkness to fairness of hair.(p.327). Of course, thanks for that great learning experience!

There is a discussion on the unfortunate fact that "college training ...has a significantly masculinizing influence" (p.269) and that "a man cannot accept a woman who rejects her own feminine nature" (p.280), and offers suggestions on how to dress in order to bring out the "warmth and feeling quality" and "feminine arts of grace and charm" (p. 281)that are our true value.

We are also advised to develop a skill in "some feminine handcraft" (p.283), but I'm worried that won't leave me time to take up the scary suggestion to use sandpaper to remove superfluous hair ("a mark of careless grooming") from my arms and legs (p.32).

My favourites, however, are the pages of pictures of female university students, in their swimwear or underwear, with faces blacked out, titled "typical figure irregularities of college women" (p.236). and "typical posture and other irregularities of college women" (p.19). Other irregularities? They don't balance their checkbooks? I really feel for girl d. on page 19. After being rounded up, marched into the college auditorium in her swimsuit, ordered around by some photographer and assistants, and preserved for posterity, she is told she has poor posture, stiff knees, a prominant abdomen, a flat chest, and bad shoulder blades. BAD shoulder blades - get down I say, down!!!

There are a lot of copies of this book floating around in second hand shops, and if you see one I suggest you buy it and preserve it so our daughters and our grand-daughters and their grand-daughters know how hard we all worked to change the world. My copy cost about US $5, and is well worth every cent.

It is sizeable - 400 pages with a hardcover binding, and would make a great present for fashion students, or a humerous gift for bridal showers (for the right socially-conscious bride of course) when you just don't want to buy another set of champagne flutes.

This is a great book whether you own or work in a salon or just want to do your own hair. I like the fact that it shows both mens and womens styles.

I love this book from day one when it came out. It has all the tips and advice you need to apply the makeup. Margaret makes you comfortable with your own skin. She has done interviews with beautiful Asian women of all walks of life. She shows you how to use makeup tools, how to eat right, and take care of yourself. The pages are well done. This book is a must!

A quick read, and packed with wonderful photographs and drawings, this book is a great treat for the new Beardsley fan. This book re-opened my eyes to his work, and broadened my horizons, as to who he was, and the life that he led. In other words, it laid the foundation for my further studies of Aubrey Beardsley, and his artistic contribution to the world.

The information is thorough and accurate, and the images are a joy to behold - so much so, in fact, that I purchased a second copy for the sole purpose of cutting out and framing them, for hanging in my drawing studio. Also, the brief nature of the book is helpful, in that it doesn't require the reader to commit, as is necessary for a longer biography. It serves as an ideal introduction. I would strongly recommend it, however, to both those who have just discovered Beardsley, and those who have long loved Beardsley's work.

A total love/fairytale package! A hot, hot prince and a beautiful princess in disguise! The southern setting made for the most romantic of settings, too!

Really enjoyed it and passed the title along to other members of the Antique Purse Collectors Society.