Product Description
Forget getting older gracefully--This is the beauty and style bible every woman has been waiting for!HOW NOT TO LOOK OLD is the first--ever cheat sheet of to-dos and fast fixes that pay-off big time--all from Charla and her friends, the best hair pros, makeup artists, designers, dermatologists, cosmetic dentists and personal shoppers in the biz. Packed with eye-opening details on hair color, brows, lipstick, wrinkle-erasers, jeans, shapewear, jewelry, heels, and more, the book speaks to every woman: from low maintenance types who don't want to spend a fortune or tons of time on her looks to high maintenance women who believe in looking fabulous at any price. There's also too-old vs. just-right before and after photos, celebrity examples of good and bad style, shopping lists of Charla's brilliant buys in fashion and beauty products, coveted addresses of "Where the top beauty pros go," fun sidebars--and more.

Known to national audiences from her ten years on NBC's Today show, style expert Charla Krupp dishes out her secrets in this "ultimate" to-do list for looking hip and fabulous -- no matter what your age.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 164 reviews)

WARNINGS About This Book

Basically, there's a lot of good information in this book. The author covers just about everything I was looking for, from jean color to heel height to haircolor and nail length.

And yes, as others have said, there are so many specific product, brand, store, and website suggestions, this book sometimes seems like one big ad. But . . . the author is right more often than not. I checked around and kept coming back to her suggestions.

WARNINGS:

First, if you're fifty or older, you're going to feel like an OLD broad reading a book for fortysomethings. I turn sixty on my next birthday, and have worked in Los Angeles theatre all my life. Being exposed to fashion, makeup -- the whole youth culture -- through modeling, acting, etc., I figured I could translate this book to meet my concerns, but in some cases, it just didn't happen.

Second, if you have a problem SKIN TONE, the makeup section will leave you screaming. I have very very fair skin and even "Nude Pink" lipstick/blusher/whatever turns dead purple on me. I am not exaggerating. I have a colleague who has an unusually yellowish undertone to her skin, and colors change in even stranger ways on her. I know we're not freaks because when working with theatre makeup, I've run across a lot of people who can't just, as the author instructs, buy pink lipstick (and expect it to even resemble pink when applied).

Third, the section on jeans didn't suggest specific brands that work for problem areas. There are some great ones out there, because I've found them, and don't understand why they aren't mentioned. Because the author is so big on body-shaping undergarments, I guess we're all supposed to wear Spanx under our jeans. Doesn't that defeat the idea of being able to just kick around in jeans?

I really did have some problems with sections of this book, but it was worth reading. Don't let the multitude of ads, missing info, and other annoyances stop you from reading it.

BIG FAT WARNING: Don't buy the Kindle version of this book! I did, and some of the text runs off the edges, most of the photos don't come through, and every few pages the text fades out to almost nothing. I have about fifteen books in my Kindle, and have never run into any of these problems in other books -- before or since the purchase of this one. So if you want to really use this book, buy the hard copy!

September 25, 2008

Waste of money

This book was very disappointing. After trying some of the recommended products, it was clear to me that Charla was promoting products. Carmindy's books are much much better!!
September 25, 2008

Interesting book, but you probably already know most of the advice given

I first saw this book in my quick picks section and thought, "You've got to be kidding, is Amazon looking in my bathroom mirror?". Denial. Then, on the new book section in our public library, there it was again. So, I checked it out. No harm, no foul, right? I think the main reason I finally looked through the book was that over the past year I've been feeling more frumpy mom-ish and thought that I needed to start paying attention to myself again. This book talks about looking young and hip. It does have good example pictures. It talks about high maintenance and low maintenance and gives make-up and other advice as well as product names. Some of the advice we all know already - you can't wear the same color lipstick that you did when you were younger and mommy jeans are passe. I would have dropped the book quickly if the author had said absolutely no to gray hair, because, I think that gray hair can be quite fun and not frumpy if done correctly. She did not, so I kept reading. I haven't decided whether to try the bangs or not.
All in all, I think this is a book of the moment. The recommended products and styles are sure to change, so we'll be looking for another book/style in a few years. My girlfriends passed the book around our breakfast table one morning & we stopped at certain pictures and talked about the styles and suggestions. I think that no one really was interested in running to the bookstore to buy it though.
September 21, 2008

Something to aspire to

While I did not initially believe this book would be of value, it pleasantly surprised me on several fronts. The photographs of the 'famous' and 'beautiful people' are not the reality of those over 40, but somehow the reader could see a difference in their choices and what makes one timeless and tasteful. Each chapter had something to offer in the way of low, medium and high maintenance. No matter what your budget, there were recommendations. Everyone, no matter their income, body shape, or tastes can look better and not so OL (old lady), but instead YH (young and hip). There is something for everyone. Consequently, I have cleaned a lot out of my closet, reassessed makeup, glasses, shoes, skirt lengths, hair, jeans, jewelry etc. Read the book thru and will every now and then rereference it to stay 'on track.' For its kind, this book is highly recommended.
September 19, 2008

Fair amount of good advice here

...but try not to go overboard and take this book as the ultimate authority. Somebody else mentioned this- she comes right out and says "don't wear Uggs- no, never", and then a little further into the book there's a photo of three good-looking women she uses as models in the book, and guess what they're ALL wearing- yep, Uggs or Ugglike boots. There's more contradiction scattered throughout, but in all, it's a pretty good guide. She does go into cosmetic procedures without being judgemental, neither recommending them nor condemning them, but it's a good roundup of what's out there if you want to go that route.

One thing- I really hate the cover photo, to me it's exactly what she says you shouldn't do- look like you're trying to pass for 20.
September 07, 2008

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