Synopses & Reviews
There has never been a more influential and beloved makeup artist than Kevyn Aucoin. He was the makeup artist of choice for every major movie star, pop icon, and supermodel around, and in the process became as celebrated as his favorite personalities. His life was a dizzying mix of fame and glamour: Presidents and princesses knew his name, and his work appeared on countless catwalks, red carpets, and magazine covers.
But Kevyn's mission wasn't to make the beautiful people even more alluring. Inspired by his difficult childhood in a homophobic Southern town, he chose to see beauty everywhere -- in all faces, races, and sexualities. For Kevyn, who struggled his entire life with feelings of inadequacy, inner beauty was as important as the physical beauty that surrounded him.
Kevyn Aucoin: a beautiful life chronicles the magical journey of this makeup guru as seen through the eyes of his family, friends, lovers, and fashion-industry insiders. It traces his beginnings in a Louisiana orphanage, where his unmarried sixteen-year-old mother placed him for adoption, to the mysterious illness that tragically ended his life at the age of forty.
Here, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Britney Spears, Tina Turner, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Hilary Swank, Christy Turlington, Isabella Rossellini, and dozens of other luminaries reveal in exclusive interviews what made Kevyn so talented, funny, fiercely loyal, and ultimately irreplaceable.
Also included is the first-ever compilation of the makeup techniques that made Kevyn so legendary, accompanied by easy-to-follow step-by-step photos. He refined these signature tricks throughout his career and relied upon them to turn the most celebrated beauties into something extraordinary.
Synopsis
Kevyn Aucoin's style and spirit live on in A Beautiful Life, an intimate biographical account of the challenges and triumphs faced by the world's most famous makeup artist as told by his friends, lovers, and favorite celebrities, including Barbra Streisand, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, and Britney Spears. Kevyn Aucoin led the kind of glamorous life that can only be imagined. He tended to the faces of every A-list star and did the makeup for countless music videos, magazine shoots and fashion shows. However, few could have predicted his incredible rise given the heartwrenching difficulties of his childhood. But at a young age, he discovered his talent for applying makeup and dreamed of leaving his small Southern town to make it in the fashion world of New York. He did just that. Within eight months, he was working for Vogue magazine and he never looked back. During his amazing career, Kevyn kept detailed diaries of every assignment he received and filled each entry with Polaroids, names, and places. A Beautiful Life showcases the most exciting of these pages and brings the behind-the-scenes world of fashion, celebrity, and music to life for the reader. And of course it contains a "greatest hits" of Kevyn's favorite celebrity makeup tips, some revealed for the first time ever. Kevyn was so beloved by his fans and his famous friends because of the message behind his makeup: self-respect and tolerance. For Kevyn, leading A Beautiful Life was first and foremost about inner beauty and this book builds on that legacy.
Synopsis
Aucoin led a glamorous life--he tended to the faces of every A-list star and did the makeup for music videos, magazine shoots, and fashion shows. For Kevyn, leading "A Beautiful Life" was first and foremost about inner beauty and this book builds on that legacy.
Table of Contents
ContentsIntroductions
Gwyneth Paltrow
Carla Aucoin Hoffkins
Tina Turner
Shalom Harlow
Tracey Ullman
Eric Sakas
Linda Wells
chapter one The Foundation Years 1962-1977
chapter two The Independent Years 1978-1981
chapter three The Lean Years 1982-1985
chapter four The Cover Boy Years 1986-1989
chapter five The Super Years 1990-1994
chapter six The Dream Years 1995-1998
chapter seven The LEGEND Years 1999-2002
chapter eight Beauty Evolution
Amber Valletta
Christy Turlington
Gwyneth Paltrow
Isabella Rossellini
Janet Jackson
Julia Roberts
Naomi Campbell
Sharon Stone
Tori Amos
chapter nine Essential Aucoin: Kevyn's Best Beauty Advice
afterword by Samantha Adkisson