As I was writing the Pablo Manzoni newsletter, I kept finding beauty advice articles—you know the type, those that bring together helpful hints from a range of experts. This style of article (“Celebrity Makeup Artists Show You How To Look Like A Star!”) is as prevalent today as it has been in decades past, and has often acted as either a proposal or a PR fluff-piece for a beauty book.
Among the many things I collect are books about beauty by celebrities, makeup artists, and beautypreneurs. The below photo is just a tiny portion of my collection—I pulled it down from one shelf to show you, but I have many more beauty, diet and exercise books of this celebrity-endorsed style.
Beauty manuals have existed in Western culture for centuries, likely since Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (written in 2 AD) and possibly earlier. What fascinates me about these books is how much they disclose about the historical moment—the societal mores, the desires and fears of the culture, and about who we want to be. In the words of historian Anne Hollander, "Such texts usually contain highly organized material and are based on the simple premise that female looks need some form of improvement in order to attract the male… The main theme, however, was always the enrichment of insufficient natural gifts: one must be redder, whiter, curlier, and plumper—never paler, thinner, or straighter.” This type of celebrity-driven beauty guide reached its zenith in the sixties through eighties, being replaced in the 1990s with an emphasis on books written by the experts behind stars (whether that be personal trainers or makeup artists).
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