Trinny Woodall

This was a Christmas gift and I read it in a night (lots of pictures, not too heavy on the writing). I'm not particularly interested in what Trinny Woodall has to tell me about 'boosting my confidence and living my best life', but she is a tour de force in the world of beauty and fashion, and these shallow things interest me. Love her or loathe her, I'm also impressed by the beauty business she's built up and her journey in making it a success (not covered in this book, but I always keep a show more soft spot for her accordingly).

Although I know a fair bit about skincare already, I found the skincare regimes she suggests for different skin types useful. I dip in and out of being bothered about skin routines beyond cleansing and moisturising, and it will be useful to have this to refer back to when I'm in an interested phase (should Vitamin C come before moisturiser or after, etc. etc.).

I find Trinny's own sense of fashion slightly bizarre and don't believe it makes the most of her good looks, but I enjoyed her TV programmes with Susannah years ago, and do accept that she knows about colour and accessories, etc., so I'm prepared to put her own odd personal take on this to one side. Although it's an extremely quick read, I did get something out of the sections that point you towards your natural skin, hair and eye colour and hence whether you're cool, neutral, warm, etc. and the shades of colours that therefore work for you.

3 stars - it won't change the world, but was perfect Christmas night reading material. show less

This book features twelve different types of badly dressed women, and what they should do about it. There isn't really much in this book that wasn't in "What Not To Wear", and having watched virtually every programme I could usually guess which of their guinea pigs would be featured in the photos at the end of each chapter.

The first chapter 'What's the Point of Making an Effort Any More' is probably the most relevant one for me and there were some useful tips; strangely enough Trinny and show more Susannah recommend that people falling into this category should read "The Artist's Way", which is yet another book that I bought with good intentions of changing my life and have not opened since.

And who knew that it is possible to have your eyelashes permed? Certainly not me, but Trinny and Susannah recommend it on page 134. show less

How on earth can you tell what is a big or a small bone? Well, the difference isn't enormous. We aren't talking brontosaurus excavation site versus wren skeleton here.

I think this is my favourite of the Trinny & Susannah books and it is certainly the most useful one since the original rules. As well as telling you how to decide what colours suit you and how to combine colours, there are useful sections about choosing flattering accessories and footwear, decluttering your wardrobe and packing show more for holidays.

But as usual, the best thing about this book is the photos. Looking at Trinny dressed in her normal clothes, you would never guess that she has such short stumpy legs (she mentions that although she is 5'11", she can still wear standard length trousers), but look at the picture at the beginning of the section on travelling and you will see the terrible truth! show less

Promises transformation.

Instead of the usual three or so body types, Trinny and Susannah have described twelve. Oprah is a cello; Judi Dench is a brick. I'd like to be a column, like Gwyneth, but it's not going to happen.