Like clothing, your makeup choices “reveal not just where you are from but where you are headed,” Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York says in the forward. “…François reminds us that makeup is also about narratives, fantasy and imagination. Makeup is about unleashing a cinematic range of possibilities. …François Nars is all about optimism.”

Nars chose not to learn about his subjects’ professions before applying their makeup, as he didn’t want to be limited by what he knew. “Instead, I looked at each person as objectively as possible and went about creating a look based on her or his individual features,” he said.

All of the subjects in the book sat on the same stool in front of the same neutral background with the same lighting and their hair pulled back. They all made indifferent expressions as not to distract from the before and after looks. To use the book to its full advantage, both Nars and I suggest studying the before and afters closely before using the transparent overlays to see what makeup was used where.

“No matter what age or stage you’re in, banish the word ‘shouldn’t’ from your makeup vocabulary,” Nars says. “As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t apply. Find your own way, have an open spirit and believe in your own beauty.”

What owning this book says about you: I am fabulous, just the way I am, and I will be for the rest of my life.

What your dinner guests will say upon seeing this book on your coffee table: What a helpful set of makeup tools. I must buy this immediately!

How this book will make your fashion brain grow: By trying different faces of makeup showcased in this book, not just those applied to the subjects that look most similar to you, you will expand your beauty horizons and find the bravery to test looks you never would have in the past.

If you like this, you’ll love: Bobbi Brown Beauty Evolution by Bobbi Brown

First of all I’d obviously like to say congrats to Swift but then again as if  we don’t see her face everywhere already… now we have to see her on drugstore posters.

Watch Taylor Swift for Covergirl Video!