The Artist · Reading list
A makeup school hands you a certificate. A bookshelf hands you the people who built the craft. Kevyn Aucoin, Rae Morris, Richard Corson and Val Garland will not visit your classroom. Each of them wrote down exactly how they work, though. The books cost less than one day of tuition. The problem is the usual lists: half the titles are out of print, and the other half repeat the same three names.
This is the Cossèt Môi list of the best makeup books for makeup artists. Every title was checked against publisher and bookseller listings in October 2026. There are thirty-two, sorted by what you need them for: first year, professional technique, film and special effects, history, skin of color and the business side. Where a book is out of print we say so. It stays on the list only when nothing has replaced it. Pair it with our guide to the best makeup schools in the world and the professional makeup artist kit checklist. Then the first year is covered.
The short answer
The best makeup books for an artist, in order of use: Bobbi Brown’s Makeup Manual for fundamentals. Kevyn Aucoin’s Making Faces for transformation. Davis and Hall’s The Makeup Artist Handbook for set work. Debreceni’s Special Makeup Effects for prosthetics. Lisa Eldridge’s Face Paint for history. All five are in print. The rest of this list fills in by specialty.
In this guide
How we chose
Three tests. First, the author had to be a working artist, a working educator or a serious historian, not a brand copywriter. Second, the book had to teach something a video cannot: a method, a reference set, a way of seeing. Third, it had to be findable. We checked every title against its publisher’s page or a bookseller listing this month. Each one is marked in print, third-party only, or out of print. Prices in US dollars appear where the publisher states one.
What we did not do is rank by Amazon stars. Several of the strongest books here have a handful of ratings, and several of the weakest bestsellers have thousands. To know whether a book is worth your money, read the technique chapter in a bookshop. Then look at the author’s own work. That is also how to judge a school. It is why the mindset piece and this list sit together in the Artist series.
The best makeup books for beginners
If you are learning from scratch, these teach the hand skills in order. Read one of them cover to cover before you buy a single palette. The kit list makes more sense once you know what each product is for.
1. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro
Start here if you have never been taught. Brown walks through face, eye and lip application step by step. She closes with a section on working as a professional. The 2011 edition is still in print from Hachette at $27.99.
2. Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success–Online and Off
Michelle Phan’s 2014 book pairs beginner basics with the business of being a creator. Dated on platforms, still useful on the basics. Third-party copies only.
3. The Make-up Manual: Your beauty guide for brows, eyes, skin, lips and more
Lisa Potter-Dixon, formerly head makeup artist at Benefit, on brows, base, eyes and lips in product-agnostic routines. Ryland Peters & Small, 2019.
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Technique books for working artists
These are the books working artists keep on the studio shelf: methods, reference sets and the thinking behind a look. Most are old. That is not a flaw; the faces have not changed.
4. Makeup: The Ultimate Guide
Rae Morris teaches face mapping, eye shapes and the aging face through her own step-by-step method. Allen & Unwin has let it go out of stock, so copies now come from third-party sellers. Worth the hunt.
5. Making Faces
The transformation book every artist of a certain age learned from. Aucoin demonstrates shading, highlighting and eye work on celebrities and ordinary faces alike. Little, Brown keeps it in print, 27 years on.
6. The Complete Make-Up Artist (3rd Edition)
Penny Delamar founded the London academy that carries her name. Her third edition is a textbook, not a coffee-table book: corrective, character and period work for film, television and theatre. The publisher lists it at AU$124.95; US pricing varies.
7. Jemma Kidd Make-up Masterclass: Beauty Bible of Professional Techniques and Wearable Looks
Professional techniques translated into wearable looks, organized by face area. The 2009 St. Martin’s edition is third-party only now.
8. Makeup Makeovers: Expert Secrets for Stunning Transformations
Robert Jones works in before-and-after pairs: face shapes, eye shapes and corrective technique. Nine new copies were available from third-party sellers when we checked.
9. Everything Eyes: Professional Techniques, Essential Tools, Gorgeous Makeup Looks
Brown again, this time only eyes: brows, liner, shadow placement and lashes by eye shape. In print from Chronicle and widely stocked.
10. About Face: Amazing Transformations Using the Secrets of the Top Celebrity Makeup Artist
Scott Barnes, the artist behind the J.Lo glow, on contour, bronzer and full transformation. Third-party copies only.
11. Art & Makeup
Lan Nguyen-Grealis builds avant-garde looks from art movements and breaks each down step by step. Third-party copies only; used copies are cheap.
12. PROMakeup Design Book: Includes 30 Face Charts
Nguyen-Grealis again, as a workbook: thirty face charts, product mapping and color theory templates. The practical companion to Art & Makeup.
13. Makeup: The Sunday Times Bestseller and practical step-by-step guide to makeup and beauty
Hannah Martin, the artist behind a royal wedding, on skin prep, base, color and application across ages and skin tones. HarperCollins, 2023. The most current technique book on the list.
Before you buy the whole shelf
Price the kit first. The Rate Calculator turns kit, books and training into a day rate. Then you know what the shelf has to earn back.
Film, television and special effects
Film, television and prosthetics are a separate craft with separate books. The textbooks here are the ones the film schools teach from. Read our guide to becoming a special effects makeup artist before you buy. The kit and the career are different too.
14. The Makeup Artist Handbook: Techniques for Film, Television, Photography, and Theatre (3rd Edition)
Davis and Hall’s Routledge textbook covers HD, airbrush, lighting and set etiquette for film, television, photography and theatre. The 2017 third edition is in print. If you buy one film book, buy this one.
15. Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen: Making and Applying Prosthetics (3rd Edition)
Todd Debreceni’s Routledge text on sculpting, molding, casting and applying prosthetics, including silicone, bald caps and digital workflows. Third edition, 2018. The prosthetics standard.
16. Stage Makeup (11th Edition)
Corson’s Stage Makeup has been the theatre textbook since 1942. The eleventh edition, with Glavan and Norcross, covers anatomy, corrective, age, character and period work across more than 1,500 illustrations.
17. Makeup Artistry for Film and Television: Your Tools for Success On-Set and Behind-the-Scenes
Christine Sciortino on getting hired, set etiquette, continuity, HD and lighting. Routledge, 2021. The business half of the film shelf.
18. A Complete Guide to Special Effects Makeup, Volume 2: Introduction to Dark Fantasy and Zombie Makeups
Tokyo SFX Makeup Workshop’s photo-led volume two: wounds, masks, molds and casting for character work. Titan, $24.95. The most approachable SFX book here.
19. Makeup Man: From Rocky to Star Trek: The Amazing Creations of Hollywood’s Michael Westmore
Michael Westmore’s memoir of film and Star Trek character makeup, with process stories from an Oscar-winning career. Lyons Press, 2022.
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Makeup history and editorial monographs
History books make better artists than tutorials do, because every look you will be asked for has been done before. These are the references editors and designers actually use.
20. Face Paint: The Story of Makeup
Lisa Eldridge’s cultural history runs from ancient kohl to modern contouring, with the artists and brands that shaped each era. Abrams lists it at $40. The most-gifted book on this list for a reason.
21. Classic Beauty: The History of Makeup (2nd Edition)
Gabriela Hernandez, founder of Bésame, traces makeup by era with more than 430 images, timelines and vintage color palettes. Second edition, Schiffer, in print.
22. Validated: The Makeup of Val Garland
A career monograph of Val Garland: runway and campaign looks with technique and process notes. Laurence King, 2018. Read it for how a working editorial artist thinks.
23. Timeless: Recreate the Classic Makeup and Hairstyles from 100 Years of Beauty
Louise Young and Loulia Sheppard, both film hair and makeup designers, recreate iconic looks decade by decade with step-by-step tutorials. Third-party copies only.
The Artist letter
Once a month: one working artist, one business lesson, one technique worth stealing. No product pushes.
Makeup for skin of color
Two books, both out of print, both still without a modern trade-published equivalent. We list them because the gap matters more than the inconvenience. Used copies are easy to find.
24. Asian Faces: The Essential Beauty and Makeup Guide for Asian Women
Taylor Chang-Babaian on technique for East and South Asian eye shapes, undertones and face structure. Out of print and still without a modern equivalent, which is why it stays on the list.
25. The Beauty of Color: The Ultimate Beauty Guide for Skin of Color
Iman on foundation matching and undertone theory for Black, Latina, Asian and Middle Eastern skin. 2005, out of print. The best book on the subject remains one you have to hunt for.
Business and career
The craft books stop at the face. These cover rates, agencies, portfolios and finding paid work. Pair them with the Rate Calculator and the Career Guide, which were written to fill the same gap.
26. The Mercenary Makeup Artist: Breaking into the Business with Style
A short, self-published primer on breaking in, building a kit and finding paid work. Print-on-demand, so always available.
27. Be a Makeup Artist: Complete makeup guide and basics to become a Freelance Makeup Artist
Andrezzi and Basilico’s 2020 beginner guide covers basics and the freelance start-up. Print-on-demand.
Worth hunting secondhand
Out of print is not the same as out of date. These titles are no longer stocked by their publishers, and new copies from third-party sellers are often priced absurdly. Used copies are the route; a library interloan is another. We keep them here because each covers something nothing current does.
28. Face of the Century: 100 Years of Makeup and Style
Kate de Castelbajac’s decade-by-decade visual history of 20th-century makeup. Rizzoli, 1995. Out of print; used copies are the route.
29. Sephora: The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin, and Hair from the Beauty Authority
Melissa Schweiger’s retail-authority overview of product categories. 2008 and out of print; superseded by Hannah Martin for most readers.
30. Makeup Makeovers: Weddings
Robert Jones on bridal makeup for brides, mothers and parties, with longevity and photography in mind. Out of print; a used copy is worth it for bridal artists.
31. Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself
François Nars’ editorial portraits with transparent overlays showing exactly where product was placed. Rizzoli, 2011, out of print. A studio reference more than a manual.
32. Makeup Is Art: Professional Techniques for Creating Original Looks
The Academy of Freelance Makeup’s creative-technique book with step-by-step original looks. Carlton, 2013, out of print.
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Read them in this order
Year one: Bobbi Brown’s Makeup Manual, then Making Faces, then Everything Eyes. Build the kit as you go. Year two, pick a lane. Bridal and beauty: Hannah Martin and Robert Jones. Editorial: Validated, Art & Makeup and the PROMakeup Design Book. Film: The Makeup Artist Handbook, then Sciortino. Then Debreceni for screen or Corson for stage. Read Face Paint whenever you need reminding why any of this matters.
Then stop buying books for a while and start a portfolio. The reading only pays once it is on a face. Our interview with MAC global artist Netta Szekely is a useful corrective. She learned most of it on the job, assisting. She read afterward to understand what she had seen.
Questions worth asking
What are the best makeup books for beginners?
Bobbi Brown’s Makeup Manual, Kevyn Aucoin’s Making Faces and Bobbi Brown’s Everything Eyes, in that order. All three are in print. Hannah Martin’s Makeup (2023) is the most current beginner-friendly technique book.
What are the best makeup books for professionals?
For set work, The Makeup Artist Handbook by Davis and Hall and Makeup Artistry for Film and Television by Sciortino. For prosthetics, Debreceni’s Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen. For editorial, Validated and the PROMakeup Design Book.
Which makeup history book should an artist own?
Lisa Eldridge’s Face Paint is the standard. Gabriela Hernandez’s Classic Beauty adds more than 430 reference images and period color palettes, which is useful on set.
Are there makeup books for darker skin tones?
The two best are Iman’s The Beauty of Color and Taylor Chang-Babaian’s Asian Faces. Both are out of print but easy to find used. No current trade-published equivalent exists, so they remain the references.
Is a makeup book worth it when there are free tutorials?
A tutorial shows you one look. A good book gives you the method behind every look and a reference set you can return to on set. The books here cost less than a day of makeup school.
Choosing well
Thirty-two books is a shelf, not a syllabus. Buy three, read them properly, and work through them on real faces before you buy the fourth. The artists whose names fill this list did not learn from thirty books. They learned from two or three, read until the spines broke, and then from the chair. The list exists so you choose the right two or three.
Tools and library
More from the Cossèt Môi artist series: the 120 best makeup schools in the world, the professional makeup artist kit checklist, Instagram for makeup artists and building a personal brand as an artist.
From the Artist Library
The guide covers what the kit list and the reading list do not: pricing, contracts, agencies, kit economics and the first five clients.
