Ever since I stumbled upon FD and discovered makeup, makeup books are a must on my list. Why? Because for a bencong wannabe like me, buying makeup sure is fun, but applying it can be a challenge on its own. This is where these books came handy. Asian Faces (by Taylor Chang-Babaian, forwarded by Yoko Ono) first attracts me coz it was made especially for Asian women and their characteristics. It might seem like a pretty basic book for advanced, suhu bencong and the likes, but it’s a pretty darn good book for a novice bencong like myself. This book teaches you how to choose the right color of foundation, a face chart (so you’ll know exactly where to put what, with a real human as the model to illustrate the technique, thank you!), how to highlight and contour, makeup brushes, and of course (the eye candy) the many wearable daytime and nighttime looks that you can copy.

Another thing worth mentioning from this book is the cool little tips it provides. Here are some to share with you:

• Use a tiny amount of cream blush as a base and finish off with a powder blush to make cheek color lasts longer.
• Brush a contour shade from the lash line to the middle of eyelid to create additional depth to your eyelids.
• Add a highlighter from temple to apple of the cheek to create a subtle glow to the face, and many more..

Did I mention that the majority of looks on this book are wearable? Some books show us great makeup looks but too hard for a novice with minimal skills to copy. Well, this isn’t the case with Asian Faces. Eye colors can be considered minimal, step by step guide is provided, colors are described and illustrated clearly, and real humans were used to model the looks so we can easily see the end result for each look (unlike some books that use face charts only, geez, I despise those!). Of course, there are more advanced makeup looks as well (including costume makeup) that can entertain the needs of advanced bencong and the likes.

Other than the great photos, which surely makes turning page after page of this book enjoyable with your favorite cup of coffee, the text itself contains many good information. Wait, did I say it right? Text? Did I actually read this book? The answer is yes folks. This is one of the few makeup books that I actually do read (well, most of it anyway). The language is pretty simple and not overbearing, and the author didn’t stay too long talking about one thing, which scored points from me!

A little about the author: Taylor Chang-Babaian is a makeup artist who lives in the United States. Her work ranges the fashion, music, film, advertising, magazine, and television industries. Her website can be found at www.asianfacesthebook.com