›where all the top cosmetics companies go to get their ideas

›why beauty remains the can't-fail category despite wars, depressions, and recessions

›how the beauty industry used to get away with murder—literally

›why professional makeup artists never use the same products as the rest of us

›what you have to know to start your own million-dollar cosmetics line

›how magazine editors are bullied and bribed into featuring pushing products—and how big that payoff can be

›what goes on backstage just before the models hit the runway

›how and why “Seminar,” the storied annual convention of Mary Kay Cosmetics, works thousands of women into such a fever pitch

›how magazine editors cheat to make makeup work for layouts

›how Bobbi Brown went from working-mom makeup artist to millionaire makeup mogul