It’s no secret that celebrities glow and look glam because teams of beauty experts follow them around. The Handbook of Style, bound in faux croc, is everywoman’s chance to even the field. As told to Francine Maroukian and Sarah Woodruff, the handbag-sized, illustrated guide poses common and slightly obscure questions to beauty and fashion insiders, from makeup artists, skin specialists and hair stylists, to clothing designers, jewelers, magazine editors and consultants. The result is like sitting next to Jeanine Lobell of Stila Cosmetics, Mireille Guilliano (French Women Don’t Get Fat), Annoushka Ducas of Links of London, and Donald J. Pliner at a dinner party you’ll learn how to create a smoky eye, choose the perfect black dress or white shirt, deal with a blemish, travel in style, become a hat person and spot a comfortable, sexy shoe. Now, if only a financial coach could reveal how to pay for it all over coffee. Deanna Larson is a writer in Nashville.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
