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Author: Karen Marie Shelton
Book Reviewer
HairBoutique.com 500 Beauty Solutions : Expert Advice on Hair and Nail Care-What to Buy and How to Use It! |
 500 Beauty Solutions : Expert Advice on Hair and Nail Care-What to Buy and How to Use It!
by Beth Barrick-Hickey (Editor)
This book is the first book of two, of beauty questions and answers edited by Beth
Barrick-Hickey. This book was published in November of 1993 and it was a big hit, in terms
of sales, with an amazing 275,000-copy first printing.
In 1995 Beth Barrick-Hickey followed up this book and released her
1001 Beauty Solutions book. I guess her success
with 500 Solutions spurred her to bigger and better questions and answers.
The format in this reference style book is structured around questions and answers.
Quite frankly, although this book sold really well, it did garner some criticism
that it was not well rounded in the types of beauty information it provided. Critics
felt that it did not have enough information on eyes and only one chapter on skin care.
There is good information in this book as a whole. In my opinion this book is a fairly
good buy for the money. This book gives lots of info to get you headed in the right
direction no matter what type of hair you may have.
The tips here mostly have to do with nail and hair care; there's nothing on beautiful
eyes, but there's one chapter on skin care.
Another criticism was that Barrick-Hickey limited her focus to white women and did not
address any other racial groups. This part is true. The book does focus on beauty
issues that are specific to Caucasian women.
I bought this book because I saw several tidbits of information that I felt were
helpful for hair. I agree that this first book is helpful for someone who hopes to
get into the beauty industry as a stylist or other technician.
It is important to keep in mind that this is a reference guide and was not designed to
provide in-depth, detailed or sophisticated hair and beauty information. If that is
what you are looking for, you won't find it in either the 500 or 1001 Beauty Solutions.
I also purchased 1001 Beauty Solutions and thought that it was very good.
However, like everything else, not everyone will like what I do.
If you like to keep general reference books around for miscellaneous hair and beauty
questions, both books will be handy for the long term.
Beth Barrick-Hickey is affiliated with Sally Beauty and several of the Sally Beauty
hair care products are highlighted in this book.
Besides Sally Beauty products (e.g. Aura hair care), this book tends to be very product
dependent and the products recommendations generally are focused on Clairol, L'Oreal and
Helene Curtis products.
In all fairness this book does contain good beauty questions and answers about products
that you will need for every type of hair and beauty emergency.
I think it is fair to say that the bulk of this book is definitely related to hair
topics. There are other beauty topics, but in my opinion this is more a hair book than a
general beauty book.
It should be noted that one of the criticisms about the 500 Solutions book was that it
focused too much on hair and nails and not enough on skin and other beauty topics.
Barrick-Hickey was well suited to edit both of the Solution books. She worked with the
leading beauty specialists and salon professionals in the world to discover their most
frequently asked beauty questions. This book is written in a straightforward question and
answer format.
500 Beauty Solutions lets you in on some secrets that most people can really use. A lot
of the secrets are common sense beauty solutions, but in honesty, some are tips that I had
never heard before.
I would generally recommend the book. It is a fairly good buy for the money.
You do need to remember that is is not designed to provide in-depth or highly unusual
hair information. It is designed for main stream hair and beauty questions and answers.
I have the book on my hair reference shelf along with 1001 Solutions. You really can't
go wrong with either book. 1001 Beauty Solutions and 500 Beauty Solutions are still in
print and can be ordered from Amazon.com. 1001 Solutions is the most recent publication.
If you can only buy one, I recommend
1001 Solutions.
If you can afford to buy both, it is a good idea. Not everyone will agree with
this opinion, but this is my 2 cents worth.
Happy Reading.
Buy The Book
Paperback: 228 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc (November 1, 1993)
ISBN: 0942061780 |