Save Your Money, Save Your Face: What Every Cosmetics Buyer Needs to Know

It's not pretty reading, but the cosmetics consumer should put this illuminating book, directed primarily to women, on her shopping list, right up there with the eyeshadow and lipstick. According to beauty consultant Brumberg, many popular, innocuous-looking makeup and skin care products contain chemicals that may cause cancer, blindness or allergic reactions. She lists the chemical composition, and hazards, of a number of cosmetics, including eye makeup, lipstick, blusher, foundation, powder, moisturizer and facial cleanser; she also provides a comparison-shopping guide and advises the reader in prudent purchasing and avoiding the hard sell. This book is by no means an exhaustive study; the endless chemicals confuse, and many subjects, such as combination (dry and oily) skin, get summary treatment. Yet the reader will emerge with the knowledge that the onus is on her to become her own beauty expert and to wrest accountabilty from the loosely monitored billion-dollar cosmetics industry. Prevention Book Club alternate. (May 5)