Pretty Iconic; A Personal Look at the Beauty Products that Changed the World

Sali Hughes' first book Pretty Honest: The Straight-Talking Beauty Companion (you can read my review here) was a no-brainer purchase for me. Writing down my knowledge on beauty and make-up was why I started this blog and Pretty Honest is basically every thing you need to know whether you wear make-up every day or not (thanks a lot Hughes). But half this blog is product reviews - some which we won't remember in a years time and some that are real icons and nostalgia triggers and that's the genius idea behind Pretty Iconic: A Personal Look at the Beauty Products that Changed the World.

And yes I know. A book of reviews doesn't sound that great, which is why I didn't feel the need to rush out and buy this. But then I got my hands on a copy at a friends house and I absolutely loved it. Let me clarify, I feel like my knowledge of make-up and skincare products is pretty comprehensive especially 1980s and '90s when there wasn't the sheer glut of products that we have now. But why this book works is that for those of us who wore Lulu in their teens, who know that bloody YSL Touche Eclat is not a concealer and spend their working life listening to people saying 'I can't wear red lipstick. Ruby Woo looked awful on me' Sali's writing on these products is so spot on that I actually shouted 'yes' as some bits of it. And for those who don't know so much it's all you do need to know - it's historical, cultural, and for a lot of us incredibly nostalgic. My mother wears two of the scents mentioned (Rive Gauche and Chanel No 5) neither of which I can carry off (though god knows I've tried) and both which immediately take me back to watching her get ready to go out, the fascination at this ritual mixed with the dread of the babysitter still palpable.

Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes

I wasn't going to review this for two reasons. The first was that I used to work for the publishers so it may seem like sucking up. It's not. The second is that it has so many reviews but then I remembered that this is my blog and I'll do what I bloody well like.

Pretty Honest: The Straight-Talking Beauty Companion has made me question whether I should keep blogging at all. When I started this blog in 2006 it was partly because I was always being asked advice by my friends (based on the obscene amount of products I owned. I thought if I put it down in writing it would be there as an online reference. Now all you need to know is here in one book.
My writing is nowhere near the standard of Sali's but it's where I hope I'm heading. We both have an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge and an almost obsessive interest in beauty and skincare that I don't think is that common. Yes there are tons of beauty blogs out there but I wonder how many of the writers relentlessly read and research the ingredients in all their products so they can know more about how everything actually works. I am one of these people. And so is Sali Hughes.


When I first heard about this book it was described to me, and I've heard Sali describe it, as a series of essays it put me off rather. I didn't want to read essays on someone's opinion on skincare and make-up. This is not what it is. Yes I suppose technically you could call it essays but the book does not read like that. It is sections on everything from your daily skincare routine (with all skin types properly covered) to anti-aging, foundation to blusher, bridal make-up, pregnancy and pretty much everything in-between.