I’ve sat down to write a review of Jemma Kidd’s Make-up Masterclass: Beauty Bible of Professional Techniques and Wearable Looks ($24.99 at Amazon.com) at least six or seven times over the past week. I confess that I don’t know wear to start.

Kidd, however, starts at the beginning with skin care and prep and then goes on to cover ever topic pertaining to make-up I can imagine, and several I couldn’t. After addressing skin type, age, tone, and season, Kidd provides step-by-step instructions to recreate twenty-odd looks.

This usually comes standard with a make-up instruction book, but the real sell of Kidd’s opus comes from the photos and diagrams. Precise illustrations take the mystery out of highlighter, contour, and blush applications, while photo spreads make it easy to compare all the different types of make-up available for any given facial feature. If Jemma Kidd arrived at my door and held my hand throughout my morning routine, I might get a better make-up application. Barring that, this book has made-over my make-up routine.