I simply would not even be able to count how many times I flipped through the book Face Forward, cover to cover. It was published in 2001, and I was at the ripe old age of 15. I’m sure I saw it on a bookshelf at my local Barnes and Noble, a place my dad would often take my siblings and me during the freezing cold winters in the midwest. The sun sets early in the evening, and he doesn’t do well sitting around the house for many hours, so a bookstore trip was a very regular activity for him.
I wish I could remember buying this book, but I only remember flipping through it. I was mesmerized by the incredible detail and flawless makeup application. It would only be two short years later that I would start attending beauty school and I’m certain this book played a role in my interest in the beauty industry. I brought this book up recently when I was talking about how I got started in the beauty industry and thought that I should repurchase it for memory’s sake. I have no idea where my original copy is!
When I flipped through it, I was reminded of the pages that contained visual step by steps of makeup application. I remembered how much I enjoyed seeing the process from start to finish, and how the application of one product changed the entire look. I remember laying on my bed with a friend from beauty school, looking over all the details of the images and talking about how we could recreate these looks thanks to the step-by-step process.

It struck me th...