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February 6, 2006
The beauty editor of Lucky
magazine, Godfrey-June endears herself to readers with her admission that even she—a woman who receives "between fifty and two hundred products a day"—has the occasional bad hair day, the kind that "takes over and infects your entire being, moving quickly from your hair to your skin to your expression to your entire demeanor." Her memoir is fun, instructive and dishy (she used to work at Elle
and recounts all manner of office brouhahas involving such personalities as the French creative director she calls "The Playboy," and the American editor-in-chief, dubbed "Above the Fray"). Certain readers will be enthralled by a clued-in woman demystifying what is for many an impervious world: this is what really works, and this is what's bunkum. But other snippets—Godfrey-June's thoughts on Chanel (buy one piece at full price and that's it, forever) and the Victoria's Secret fashion show (akin to a Siegfried and Roy performance), for instance—are less compelling. What saves the memoir from devolving into a series of pointless anecdotes is her constant awareness that her job is "impossible to take seriously." Some people devote their lives to finding a cure for cancer, but "Me, I ponder lipstick."

April 15, 2006
The book is full of insider jokes (which Godfrey-June shares) and multiple mentions of fashion celebrities such as Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford. It is also loaded with almost--every-page sidebars that reveal the truth about big-night makeup, positive spa outcomes, and best haircuts, among a passel of beauty tips and hints. Through it all, our faithful guide, beauty editor of " Lucky"" "magazine, dispenses humorous information about her career, the fashion business, pregnancy, magazines' fashion closets, and the always-present battle against encroaching age. Much of her captivating prose is laugh-out-loud funny (the Fifi Awards story, for one) as well as eminently practical (think about bestowing a basket of beauty products on health-care caregivers). Who could argue against the statement that perfume is "the beauty equivalent of mystery meat"? Or that models are simply genetic freaks? A feel-good, tell-the-truth, behind-the-scenes look at the fashion business.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)