Beauty

7 Beauty Coffee Table Books to Add to Your Library

Featuring the work of Kevyn Aucoin, François Nars and more.

If you’re looking for a dose of inspiration as the weather gets cooler and COVID-friendly outdoor activities begin to shutter, try revamping your library. Though quarantine has lessened the need for makeup, beauty enthusiasts can get their fix via elegant coffee table books cataloguing the work of famed makeup artists, chronicling hairstyles throughout the decades and exploring representations of androgyny in fashion.

Making Faces, a number one New York Times bestseller, shares makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin‘s secrets to creating a flawless face. The book includes full-color instructional sketches guiding readers through various makeup application techniques, and features a gallery of the work Aucoin has done with celebrities and supermodels throughout his career. Hair, an Assouline publication, presents a timeline of iconic hairstyles throughout history, from the close-cut bobs of the Roaring Twenties to the gravity-defying mohawks of ’80s punks. A fashion book with a beauty bent, Androgyne: Fashion and Gender explores the representations of androgyny in fashion and beyond. Expressed via clothing, art, film and music, the androgynous aesthetic has evolved over time, no doubt impacting beauty standards throughout history.

Keep reading for the best beauty coffee table books to add to your library.

In case you missed it, here are the best fashion coffee table books.