Monday, November 05, 2007

FEATURED AUTHOR: Taylor Chang-Babaian


Please give the readers a brief bio on you the person and the writer.

I've always loved make overs since I was a little girl. I remember watching Grease and loving Sandy 's makeover. I was never conventionally pretty and was a tom boy so I was infactuated by the idea of make up, hair and clothes transforming a woman's look, but most importantly her attitude and how it changed how she carried herself. I love the confidence it gives a woman.

I never realized how much I would like the book making process. I loved the researching and writing of the book. I loved the photoshoots I had to produce for the book. I even did most of the graphic design for the book and enjoyed the learning process of that. I was told once that writing a book is like having a child. I told them "No. I have 2 children, this is harder". But, like having children after the sacrifices have been made and the hardships have been overcome. To watch the book soar on it's own and do well even in a niche market. To be written up by the NY Times and be on the CBS Early Show, even though the book is directed to less than 4% of the nation. And to have people generally interested in it is truly amazing. I really do feel blessed.

Tell us about your current book?

ASIAN FACES is the essential beauty guide for all Asian woman, whether you are East Asian (Japanese, Korean etc.) to South Asian (Indian), The book is a wealth of information on how to apply make up, what products are and what they do and why you need them. I realized that Asian women's skin ranges from really pale to really dark and everything in between. Our eyes go from flat (single lid) to round (double lid). So I needed to teach Asian women how to be their own make up artist. Its basically one of the most in depth make up books you'll ever read. The first 74 pages is called Beauty School and covers eyebrows, eyelashes, contouring and so much more. There is a daytime beauty section with several different looks, an evening beauty section. A decades and costume section , because I had to do something fun. I've always wanted to see Asian women in these high stylized looks and of course I had to throw in how to do Geisha make up for fun. The section "CITIES" addresses the different looks of various fashion meccas in America including Los Angeles and NY and also talks about the influence that weather has on our beauty regimine. All of the beauty looks have easy to follow directions and swatches of make up that I used to create each look. One woman described it as being as easy as paint by number, which made me really happy.

What would you like your readers to take away from your book?

I want Asian women to find their own beauty. I believe every woman is beautiful . I just don't think they were ever taught how to take care of themselves.

Why did you choose to write this book?

I remember in high school learning how to do a smokey eye from an eyeshadow box or book. I remember creating perfect smokey triangles on the ends of my eyes. Really proud of my new look I went to school only to have the cute boy next to me think I was seriously injured. My friend laughed so hard she fell out of her seat when it happened. I just never saw anything out there that addressed our very unique beauty concerns, When I got to a point where I was doing celebrities and a "beauty expert". I knew I could write this dream book of mine and the possibility of it being published was there.

What was the most profound lesson you learned while writing this novel?

I learned so much it's hard to say what the most profound lesson was. The book took 6 years to make from idea to print and I am an artist by trade so normally my attention span is farely short. I truly feel as though I went to the university of publishing and graphic design. I guess the most profound lesson I learned was that my family will always be there for me and support me even on my craziest ventures. They really did sacrifice and work as hard as I did during this process.

What do you do to make time for yourself?

I am truly a busy woman. I'm a wife, a mother of 2, and work what seems like 10 jobs. I don't go to 1 place day after day, as a make up artist I'm usually doing different jobs daily from magazines to t.v. to beauty write ups, then there's the book and it's p.r. and website and growth. All of which I love and am so grateful to have in my life. I prioritize and often give up big things for other big things like a great paying job so I can go watch my son play a football game. As for time for just myself, it hasn't really happened in a while, but I enjoy my life my family and my job so I'm okay with it.

How can readers get in contact with you? (mail, email, website)

http://www.asianfacesthebook.com/

or http://myspace.com/asianfaces

I'm really OCD about checking the sites so unless I'm away I check it daily.

1 comment:

PatriciaW said...

How interesting! I'm not Asian but I can certainly understand the need for a book like this. I'm also thinking it will be great background info for any Asian characters I might write.

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