Beauty Industry Books: 7 Good Books about the Beauty Industry

There are some great books to read for those who are passionate about the beauty industry. On top of the magazines, blogs, online subscriptions, there are some excellent materials that could get you more insight and business advice in the beauty industry, especially if you’re just starting.

The following books are not only for beginners though. The veteran beauty industry professionals would also get a refreshed perspective, vision, and more inspiration. Out of the many books out there, we’ve selected the following ones:

Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me – Paula Begoun

This book helps women find products that make them look great without spending a fortune. From drugstores and home shopping to department stores and catalogs, Paula Begoun and her team review the hottest skin-care and makeup products major cosmetic and skin-care lines. Regardless of the price tags, there are good and bad products in almost every line and with the turn of a page, readers can get concise reviews and fast answers in this completely revised edition. A user-friendly rating system makes it easy to find items worth trying.

Paula also includes skincare basics and tips on which ingredients to look for so you get the results you want. “People often have the notion that good cosmetics need to be expensive or that we should stick to a single brand.” Well, that’s not necessarily true. Find out in her book why.

Aesthetics Exposed: Mastering Skin Care in a Medical Setting and Beyond – Terri A. Wojak LE

Medical aesthetics is the wave of the future in the beauty industry. This book explains the details and methodologies employed in the service of aesthetic assistance in a medical environment. For the esthetician and medical professional alike, this book emphasizes a working philosophy that aesthetic treatment should benefit the mental and emotional well-being of the patient/client, along with healing the body.

The book is packed with treatments, therapies, business, and innovative skin rejuvenation techniques.

“Great, Great Great, resource for all the treatments in Aesthetics and medical treatments. Very informative, and a complete guide as a textbook.” 

Pretty Honest: The Straight-Talking Beauty Companion – Sali Hughes

Sali Hughes, journalist and broadcaster, draws on over 20 years of wisdom, advice, and expertise to show real women how to make the most of makeup’s physically and emotionally transformative powers.

Covering everything from teenage skin to mature beauty, botox to bridal make-up, sickness to good health, it’s a work that is part instruction manual, a part love letter to makeup – in a writing style that combines beauty editor, feminist, and painfully funny best friend.

“This book contains a lot of information. It is a nice read to both people who are starting with beauty and beauty experts. Sally knows what she writes and I couldn’t agree more with her opinion about beauty. It is easy to read and not at all boring. I would highly recommend it.” 

Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon’s Andrea Jung – Deborrah Himsel

Andrea Jung, the glamorous former head of Avon, was arguably the world’s most charismatic and effective CEO, credited with the astonishing turnaround of the venerable brand.

In “Beauty Queen”, former Avon VP Deborrah Himsel uses Jung’s story as a case study for two timeless leadership questions: What makes great leaders great? And what makes them fail?

She explores both Jung’s early years of success as well as the combination of missteps that led to her downfall, including her failure to nurture Avon’s direct selling channel, the erosion of trust that occurred as a result of frequent decision reversals, and her ignorance of operational details, including how her people secured a license to conduct door-to-door sales in China, that led to a federal investigation.

Through interviews with other CEOs, Avon executives past and present, and leadership experts, Himsel explores the unique challenges Jung faced as a female Fortune 500 CEO.

Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules: Fabulous Looks, Beauty Essentials, and Life Lessons – Bobbi Brown

Emphasizing natural beauty, Bobbi shares age-appropriate makeup tips, style secrets, self-esteem boosters, and techniques for perfecting the prettiest hair, eyes, lips, and nails. With hundreds of photographs of real girls and dozens of inspiring makeovers, “Beauty Rules” remains the go-to guide for all girls.

“I love this book. It’s helpful for anyone who is into makeup and beauty but it’s best for girls just starting out with makeup. Bobbi Brown is so honest in this book. She is not trying to sell her products through this book, she truly wants to help people. She informs readers where to spend the money and where cheap stuff is better. It’s really great and features very natural looks, not caked on diva makeup.”

Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America’s Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry – Mary Lisa Gavenas

An insider’s view of all the brainstorming and bickering that go into those little sticks of color and pans of powder: Business journalist, former beauty editor, and noted scholar on the development of the U.S. beauty industry, Mary Lisa Gavenas takes us behind the scenes during the nine months that culminate in the launch of a season’s all-important “color stories.”

In often funny, sometimes poignant chapters, we discover how one shade becomes the “must-have,” how companies create desire at the counters, and exactly how easy – and impossible – it is to start a million-dollar makeup line.

“This book is divided into different sub-industries and gives you an hors d’oeuvre of the larger plate of cosmetics without being too much to swallow. I read this book in about four hours and can happily say I haven’t spent my four hours any better way in a long time.”

Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry – Stacy Malkan

Not Just a Pretty Face chronicles the quest that led a group of health and environmental activists to the world’s largest cosmetics companies to ask some tough questions:

• Why do companies market themselves as pink ribbon leaders in the fight against breast cancer, yet use hormone-disrupting and carcinogenic chemicals that may contribute to that very disease?
• Why do products used by men and women of childbearing age contain chemicals linked to birth defects and infertility?

As doors slammed in their faces and the beauty myth peeled away, the industry’s toxic secrets began to emerge. This scathing investigation peels away less-than-lovely layers to expose an industry in dire need of an extreme makeover.

The good news is that while the major multinational companies fight for their right to use hazardous chemicals, entrepreneurs are developing safer non-toxic technologies and building businesses on the values of health, justice, and personal empowerment.

“If you’re concerned about what could be lurking in your cosmetics and skincare, this book is an absolute must-read!! It’s detailed, informative, and a huge eye-opener!” 

Hope you enjoyed our selection and we’d love to hear your opinion. What are your favorite beauty industry books? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Also, don’t forget to keep yourself up to date and to align with these beauty industry trends this year, so you can keep clients coming to your salon.

Last but not least, if you’re a professional in the beauty industry and don’t know what to do to be more productive and reduce client no-shows, here’s something that might help you. This appointment scheduling app sends automated text reminders to clients, lets them book online 24/7, and allows you to take deposits or full payments directly in the app. You can download it from the App Store or Google Play and get started with the free plan.