Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #554202 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Synopsis
A memoir by the beauty editor of Lucky magazine recalls the author's unlikely career in the beauty industry, in a collection of reminiscences highlighted by personal anecdotes, dishy gossip, top-secret beauty advice, and the important lessons she has learned along the way. 40,000 first printing.

Customer Reviews

A great surprise
I am a sucker for any fashion-y, magazine-y documentary/non-fiction story, so ordered this without knowing the author at all, but optimistic that it would be interesting.

It completely exceeded my expectations, largely because I didn't expect it to be so funny - as in, out-loud laughs. Jean Godfrey-June is a terrific writer: dry, concise and absolutely authentic, in the manner of Melissa Bank and Susan Jane Gilman (Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress - also brilliant). Predictable comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada aren't quite accurate, although it's of at least that calibre, because the characters aren't as ridiculous. It is, after all, a real memoir, rather than a thinly veiled pretend-fiction one. The only negative was the paean to Lucky, her current employer - too much - but forgivable when the rest of the book is that good.

If you like smart American humourous writing, and you're even remotely into comics and cosmetics, this book is an absolute pleasure. I can't recommend it too highly.

BREEZY, DOWN TO EARTH, AND BURSTING WITH DISH !
Ever wonder what a beauty editor really, truly thinks of the products that fill her magazine's pages? Or, hypothesize about what happens to the between 50 and 200 free beauty items that come across her desk every day? If so, pick up a copy of "Free Gift With Purchase" by the winning tell-it-like-it-is Beauty Editor of Lucky Magazine, Jean Godfrey-June. She has crafted a breezy, down to earth, funny peek behind the scenes look at what goes on in the glamorous world of makeup and skin care, which she allows is "impossible to take seriously."

As she notes, she has a cousin who is immersed in research, helping to find a cure for pediatric cancer. "Me," she writes, "I ponder lipstick."

Her memoir is aptly subtitled "My Improbable Career in Magazines and Makeup." Rightly so, because as she says she used to think she was ugly. In fact, while a youngster her one concern was that "people would mistake me for a boy." But life has a way of surprising us - she never dreamed she would some day do an interview on a hotel bed with Tom Ford. And, she found herself attracted to the mystique of those lotions, potions, and colors that held so much promise. As she writes, "It's like candy, all those little boxes and bottles."

Her take on fellow workers at Elle magazine is hilarious - there was "The Playboy" ("noted for the trail of broken hearted supermodels in his wake); "The Fashionista" who ruled the fashion department; and "Eminence Grise" who evidently had money and gave input to the magazine re finances and personnel issues. Sound a bit like "The Devil Wears Prada"? It's even funnier.

Godfrey-June's tales of the parties, the trips to Paris, and the fashion show seatings are fodder for daydreams of life among the glamoratti. Sidebars filled with information dot the book, such as in one titled The Fungible Truth we learn that many eye pencils come from the same factory in Germany, and that nothing, zip, zero from the cosmetics counter will erase wrinkles.

Each page bursts with chuckles, dishy tidbits, and solid advice - don't miss "Free Gift With Purchase."

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Don't bother buying it
One woman's autobiographical atttempt at self-deprecation does not in my books mean she is lifting the lid on the beauty industry.
A pleasant enough read but very light on any insider facts and I shouldn't have bought it!