Swept Away Again

The Handbag Beauty Bible (shall we just call it THBB?) is filled with 70 categories of products decided by over 2,300 women testing products from 280 brands.
It’s also filled with advice from beauty and hair gurus.

I first saw THBB a few days before I actually purchased it and flicked quite a way through it then came home and looked it up some more on the internet, namely Amazon (where it’s a little bit cheaper!). I always think if you’re not sure about a book to always go away and think about it and if necessary research it.
I was looking for what other people thought about the ‘real women's’ reviews on the products and if they would recommend the book.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it really is packed full of products and what real women think of them. It has some really great information, yet it’s nothing really in-depth, partly due to it being a ‘handbag’ edition. I thought the beginning of the book was great where they give you some helpful hints and tips about how to prepare before going beauty shopping, what you really need in your make-up bag, when make-up goes past its use-by date and shopping for your hair.
THBB has a really great contents page making everything easier to find if there’s something specific your looking for.

Since reading THBB I’ve recently purchased a make-up primer that’s reviewed in the book, Mac Prep & Prime Skin and it really does what the reviewers say “great base for make-up; slightly shimmery so gave a nice healthy glow” I think it’s a great product and it’s money well spent.

THBB lacks the general information about skin care, perfume and make-up but that is understandable as this is the handbag version. But it has some really great advice on buying, testing and choosing suitable shades in the beginning of the book.

The only thing that annoyed me about this book is that 70% of the products were very pricey, in the much higher end of the market, they do recommend some cheaper products but not many of them.

I do recommend this book but if you already know what you like, what suits you, what works for you and your face/hair or body then you don’t really need this book.