Product Placement

In my other life (you know, the one in my head where I actually have the time/money/childcare to do the things I want) I read a lot of books. A mixture of modern literature, a few classics, with some chunkier ‘airport’ blockbusters thrown in as a kind of cranial irrigation. I chat confidently about the Booker prize, and my friends see me as a kind of human lending library for all the must-read volumes that the literary world is talking about.

The reality is embarrassingly different. At bedtime, once I’ve circled a few things in a catalogue, I only manage about five pages of the Observer magazine before falling asleep in a small pool of dribble that I always assure my other half was nothing to do with me. As the week progresses, I complete my beloved Sunday papers by reading the book reviews, vow to buy several of the publications listed, and then start the cycle again.

In the past couple of months I have managed to temporarily break this cycle – and all in the name of research. Yes, it’s true: I’ve been reading some beauty books. Firstly was the lovely How to Be Adored by Caroline Cox (£12.99, Quadrille). Written by a Professor of Fashion (yes, there is such a thing), it reveals, through the beauty tips and ‘lifestyle guidance’ of Hollywood’s most gorgeous stars, how to achieve glamour and how to be adored by all you encounter. Hmmm. Will knowing how to get Marilyn Monroe’s glossy red lips, or finding out Liz Taylor’s thoughts on marriage make me adorable? Doubtful. But the book is pretty tongue in cheek, and well written, so even if you don’t pick up any genuine tips, it’s a treat to dip in and out of and the cover is all velvety.

Currently flying off the shelves is internet phenomenon Lauren Luke’s self-titled make-up guide (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99). Her make-up tutorials, filmed in her bedroom in Newcastle, have so far attracted a staggering 36 million hits on YouTube – and the book is based on these. People are LOVING it, mainly I think because Lauren is an ordinary 27-year old woman. She doesn’t look like a model, and knows that the majority of us don’t either. It’s a selling point, but to me it’s also a drawback: although I liked this book and the tips are great, the girlie, ‘teenager’s diary’ look to the spreads – and the use of Lauren herself as a model – were just not aspirational enough for me.

The same format is used more appropriately in Be Beautiful, new out this month from Walker Books and written by award-winning beauty journalist Alice Hart-Davies in collaboration with her teenage daughter Molly. After a quick read myself, I ‘tested it’ on my soon-to-be-teenage stepdaughter and she is rather smitten. What’s nice about it is that it’s not intimidating or patronising. And it’s got a great ‘ethical’ slant too, which makes it very ‘now’. My stepdaughter loved the make-up tips (much to her father’s horror) and we both had a good laugh at the pictures of all the different types of zits. Those were the days.

When it’s recommended to you by the beauty editor of the Telegraph, you really have to go and get a copy, don’t you? So I did. And it’s great. The Green Beauty Bible (£25.00, Kyle Cathie) describes itself as ‘a blueprint for a more natural, healthier way of living beautifully, which is gentler on you and the environment’. It made me feel chemical-ridden just looking at the cover (which, incidentally, is rather pretty). And what’s great about this book is that it’s not trying to preach, and nor is it recommending obscure organic brands that are impossible to find. It’s a guide to how you can make better, more natural choices. And now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a couple of things to circle in the IKEA catalogue before I nod off.