Let the Pout Perfect Book help you find your perfect pout : A book review

You thought I loved lipsticks. HAAH! You don’t know lipstick love till you meet Yishan, blogger behind BeautySwatch.com! Her blog focuses on lip products and she does a very good job of it because she has absolutely lovely lips, and takes lovely swatches. But we’re not here about her blog today. I’m here to review her print book of Pout Perfect. 

I personally am not one for ebooks, so when Yishan launched her ebook a few months back, I was interested but not interested enough to actually get one. Then, she launched a print version and that was right up  my alley, so I picked it up at the promo price of A$14.99 (RRP A$19.99)

The print version of Pout Perfect feels substantial in my hands and is everything to do with lipstick. She does after all promise you that this is the complete guide to building your lipstick wardrobe! Basically, if you weren’t sure where to start when shopping for a lipstick, this book will try to guide you on your way.

The work and effort put into Pout Perfect is stellar. The white glossy pages with their large print are easy to read and the accompanying photographs and illustrations are clear. A little trivia: All the lips featured in the book are Yishan’s! I salute her consistency.

The breakdown of the different types of lipsticks available in the market is helpful, as are the accompanying tips. If I had a comment or two, I would have preferred that a fuller lip be featured, and that the font for the lipstick captions were less handwriting-y. Sans serif italics might have carried the professional theme through the book better.

I particularly liked when she included her picks of lipsticks she liked in each category, because it gives a better idea of where one could start looking. The high end and budget selections were also very helpful. Lipsticks are after all, one of the easiest and most affordable makeup items to pick up, and they can transform your look quite impressively.

The short section on quick tutorials on how to apply lipstick was an interesting one. Most of us would apply it straight from the bullet, but different application methods can give you different results so this was my favourite section. The accompanying photographs showing each step was also helpful. The section at the back on how to care for your lips deserves mention too.

What I valued most was the easy reading, simple language used and easy to read short sentences. It feels just like having someone talk to you instead of talking at you, and I think that’s something a blogger knows and intuitively understands.

Ultimately, if you feel that lipstick isn’t your thing or you don’t know where to start and don’t want to contend with the pushy SAs at the counter, you will find the tips in Pout Perfect very helpful. They basically give you a point to start from so you can arm yourself with knowledge before you head to the counters and pick your lip colour or texture.

If you are already into lipsticks and have been immersed in beauty for a while, then you may find that you already know a lot of it. Consider this then your refresher course :)

The only thing I found hard to agree with, was the section on lip balm. I’m not a fan of lip balm or using lip balm and whilst I do put on a nightly lip treatment in the form of Lucas Papaw Ointment, I don’t use any other lip balms in the day or under lipstick because if my lipstick dries my lips, out it goes. I don’t hold any truck with that :P I also have reservations about using lip balm, but I will concede that in a temperate country, during colder weather it is essential to prevent chapped lips. In the tropics, it isn’t. Just me. I know many disagree :)

Have you worked out your perfect pout yet?

I have. Well, almost. Maybe I need another refresher. All 68 pages of it :D

Paris B

Pout Perfect is available from Beauty Swatch at A$9.99 (ebook) and A$19.99 (print – ships worldwide). I’m not affiliated, just a supportive fellow blogger.