Sali Hughes "Pretty Honest" book - review

For today's Mondays with MontyC, we're looking at... a book review, of all things!  Bear with me...

When it comes to cosmetics, be it skincare or makeup etc, there are a bewildering number of products available to us.  Just walk up and down the aisles of your local supermarket, pharmacy or department store and count how many brands you see.  And then count how many ranges there are in each brand.  And how many products in each range!  If you've reached a point where you're thinking it's time to up your skincare game, what do you do?  If you think it's high time you started a proper skincare routine, where do you even start?  Maybe it's cosmetic surgery you want to know about... or you've got adult acne... or you need a new foundation, the questions are endless...

Here at Make Up For Dolls, like a lot of other blogs, we try to help out with honest reviews of products we buy and put to the test.  These are not magazine "reviews" which are frequently just paid promotions.  Most blogs (I do say most!) are honest and try to give a genuinely balanced opinion of a particular product.  And one of the longest serving and most respected of us all, the journalist, broadcaster, Guardian columnist and all round Welsh legend that is Sali Hughes, has written a book called "Pretty Honest" to answer some more of these questions.


Sali knows her beauty "stuff".  As she said herself, "I think I was born obsessed", Sali has been in the industry for nearly twenty years, and what she doesn't know about beauty (...skincare, makeup, hair, nails, the lot) isn't worth knowing.  This book covers everything from figuring out what skin type you actually have, to the routine you should have for it, from waxing to Botox, from perfume to pedicures.  You name it, it's covered.  But the great thing about this book is that it's not done in a finger waging, preachy way, but in a style that's like a good natter with a friend over a glass of wine.  Intelligent, fun, in depth, clear, but never heavy going or patronising.

There are some really interesting topics covered here, like tips on how to look good in photographs, how to manage beauty counter staff (the bad ones in particular - now that's a skill worth learning!), how to pay and receive compliments, public grooming no-nos, and in particular beauty during illness.  This is such an important topic for many people and it can often be so easily overlooked when in fact it can make such an enormous and positive difference.     

What I liked about this book is that you can pick it up and read it piecemeal, although I pretty much devoured it cover to cover (doesn't hurt that I have followed Sali Hughes for years now).  I love that it will suit everyone, from complete novices to seasoned pros.  I love that this is really a beauty encyclopaedia for me.

Not saying nuttin', but Christmas is coming up... and this would make a fantastic gift for someone beauty-obsessed or maybe, someone who could do with a hand!  This is a highly recommended, educational and fun read.

Until next week,
MontyC