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Free Gift with Purchase: My Improbable Career in Magazines and Makeup
Everybody loves beauty products. Even if you think you know nothing about them, or even if you think you hate them, you actually know plenty about them and, in fact, have several of them that you love. You have major opinions that lie barely beneath the surface. Women who modestly/moralistically claim to “never use all that beauty stuff” are big Clinique ladies, usually with a healthy helping of Neutrogena.
From the beloved beauty editor of Lucky magazine comes a dishy, charming, and insightful memoir of an unlikely career. Combining the personal stories of a quirky tomboy who found herself in the inner circle of the beauty world with priceless makeup tips (Is there really a perfect red lipstick out there for everyone? Which miracle skin potion actually works?), Jean Godfrey-June takes us behind the scenes to a world of glamour, fashion, and celebrity.
Godfrey-June’s funny, smart, outsider perspective on beauty has set her apart since she first started writing her popular “Godfrey’s Guide” column for Elle magazine. In Free Gift with Purchase, she invites us into the absurd excess of the offices, closets, and medicine cabinets of beauty editors. From shelves upon shelves of face lotion, conditioner, lipstick, eye cream, wrinkle reducers, and perfume to thoroughly disturbing “acne breakfasts” and “cellulite lunches”; from the lows (a makeover from hell, getting pedicure tips from porn stars) to the highs (the glamour of the fashion shows in Paris, lounging in bed with Tom Ford, a flight on Donald Trump’s private jet, and landing her dream job at Lucky magazine), we see it all.
Like a friend sharing the details of her incredibly cool job, Jean lets us in on the lessons she’s learned along the way, about the eternal search for the right haircut and the perfect lip gloss, of course—but more important, about what her job has meant to her and why she loves what she does, blemishes and all.
From the beloved beauty editor of Lucky magazine comes a dishy, charming, and insightful memoir of an unlikely career. Combining the personal stories of a quirky tomboy who found herself in the inner circle of the beauty world with priceless makeup tips (Is there really a perfect red lipstick out there for everyone? Which miracle skin potion actually works?), Jean Godfrey-June takes us behind the scenes to a world of glamour, fashion, and celebrity.
Godfrey-June’s funny, smart, outsider perspective on beauty has set her apart since she first started writing her popular “Godfrey’s Guide” column for Elle magazine. In Free Gift with Purchase, she invites us into the absurd excess of the offices, closets, and medicine cabinets of beauty editors. From shelves upon shelves of face lotion, conditioner, lipstick, eye cream, wrinkle reducers, and perfume to thoroughly disturbing “acne breakfasts” and “cellulite lunches”; from the lows (a makeover from hell, getting pedicure tips from porn stars) to the highs (the glamour of the fashion shows in Paris, lounging in bed with Tom Ford, a flight on Donald Trump’s private jet, and landing her dream job at Lucky magazine), we see it all.
Like a friend sharing the details of her incredibly cool job, Jean lets us in on the lessons she’s learned along the way, about the eternal search for the right haircut and the perfect lip gloss, of course—but more important, about what her job has meant to her and why she loves what she does, blemishes and all.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 6, 2011
Jean Godfrey-June likes to refer to herself by her full name. Jean Godfrey-June wants you to know that she isn't pretty. Jean Godfrey-June wants you to know that she doesn't even use much make-up. Jean Godfrey-June wants to be cool enough to not care that she's into beauty but can't quite let go of that part of her that feels like she is so above this. Jean Godfrey-June is a native of Palo Alto and if you know the area you know what I'm saying here. Jean Godfrey-June tells tales out of school but won't name names but will tell you everything but the name. Jean Godfrey-June is kind of a coward like that. Jean Godfrey-June's book started out promising but got hard to read as her interest in writing the book waned. Jean Godfrey-June probably didn't want to write this book but was pressured to do so by the huge success of the book and movie, "The Devil Wears Prada", after which every fashionista in the industry penned a boring tell-all. It is my job to read them all this summer. I guess. Nothing else explains why I'm doing it.
March 12, 2017
I read this book because Cat Marnell recommended it in her amazing "How to Murder Your Life" memoir. I don't share Cat's obsession with Jean Godfrey-June. She's hardly likable nor relatable. I liked the personal anecdote beauty "tips" she scattered throughout the book in big breakout text boxes. I liked her honesty about the French vs. American work dynamic at Elle while she worked there. I did not like her recommendation that those with acne should simply just go on Accutane. It's less of a book and more a collection of her random thoughts and adamant opinions. Her blatant apathy toward the beauty industry and makeup is the ultimate irony.
January 30, 2008
A frank and funny memoir of life as a beauty editor. The author is the daughter of scientists and has a healthy skepticism about most beauty product claims. She includes some good information on what works and what doesn't.
May 12, 2019
I downloaded this one, after reading Cat Marnell's excellent How to Murder Your Life.
This is nothing like the author's former intern's book. This might be the first non-textbook I read that had no story, structure, or point. I could excuse that, if I was reading a published version of someone's diary. This is not the case.
I think the main purpose of this....well...I can't tall it a memoir...or advice book...or a narrative, since there are hardly any scenes. Whatever. I don't care enough to come up with a category. This was clearly written to give a peek behind the scenes of what it's like to work at a magazine. I assume to aid future girls who want to work in such an industry, just like Marnell. I don't even think it did that well.
I learned a lot about how magazines are dumped with beauty products. I learned about all the different parties beauty editors are invited to. I learned about how desperate beauty companies are to woo editors, which include lavish lunches and parties. That's all fine to write about, but it felt like Jean was rubbing it my face, sometimes. I know this wasn't intentional. I felt this way, because she didn't write about much else.
The chapters on how someone as unconventional as her got such a job were sparring. She didn't even really say much on how to write about beauty products. It was all just her opinions and facts about beauty products themselves, which is what I thought we were supposed to read the magazine for.
It was just a very weak read, with not enough legs to support a good story.
This is nothing like the author's former intern's book. This might be the first non-textbook I read that had no story, structure, or point. I could excuse that, if I was reading a published version of someone's diary. This is not the case.
I think the main purpose of this....well...I can't tall it a memoir...or advice book...or a narrative, since there are hardly any scenes. Whatever. I don't care enough to come up with a category. This was clearly written to give a peek behind the scenes of what it's like to work at a magazine. I assume to aid future girls who want to work in such an industry, just like Marnell. I don't even think it did that well.
I learned a lot about how magazines are dumped with beauty products. I learned about all the different parties beauty editors are invited to. I learned about how desperate beauty companies are to woo editors, which include lavish lunches and parties. That's all fine to write about, but it felt like Jean was rubbing it my face, sometimes. I know this wasn't intentional. I felt this way, because she didn't write about much else.
The chapters on how someone as unconventional as her got such a job were sparring. She didn't even really say much on how to write about beauty products. It was all just her opinions and facts about beauty products themselves, which is what I thought we were supposed to read the magazine for.
It was just a very weak read, with not enough legs to support a good story.
May 28, 2018
This book is at once enjoyable yet not-all-that compelling. Despite this magazine beauty editor's pleasantly pithy and journalistic style, I had some trouble focusing. It took me longer to read than memoirs of this type usually do. A lot of it is inside baseball about people who aren't identified and whom I didn't know/care all that much about. Her tales of working with both French and American staff are probably the most interesting part of the book, and my interest definitely waned as the book went along. Sprinkled throughout the editorial politics (there's not a lot about the actual craft of editing) are little beauty/makeup tips. I find the author to be interesting and likable in her own mockingly self-deprecating way. Hearing about the magazine world from the inside makes me glad I stayed far, far away from it.
March 16, 2020
Pointless, fluffy, and dumb. Glad I just borrowed this one.
Cat Marnell recommended this book in her book, and because I loved Cat’s so much I thought I would give it a try.
June wants you to think she’s as laid back and cool as possible, but I get the vibe she’s not. The whole tone of the book just irritated me, and her stories were absolutely pointless and rambled. I never read Lucky magazine and I’m glad I didn’t.
Cat Marnell recommended this book in her book, and because I loved Cat’s so much I thought I would give it a try.
June wants you to think she’s as laid back and cool as possible, but I get the vibe she’s not. The whole tone of the book just irritated me, and her stories were absolutely pointless and rambled. I never read Lucky magazine and I’m glad I didn’t.
October 12, 2020
I was gifted this a couple years ago from a friend and finally got around to reading it. I know Godfrey-June is considered an icon in the magazine world but reading this 15 years after it was initially published, it feels quite.... tone deaf. I just couldn't with her snobby opinions and heavy handed asides. I finished it for insight into the old world of magazine publishing, but this is not of interest for any other reason.
June 14, 2024
i wanted to like this soooo much because of kat marnell’s memoir but it just didn’t click. i think the major difference is that jean godfrey-june didn’t want the career she fell into? kat’s love for fashion and beauty and magazines was palpable, but this just felt like an accidental career and she would’ve moved into another role at another magazine if it didn’t work the first time.
July 19, 2017
A must for anyone like me who has an obsession with beauty and beauty products. Sometimes her sentences were rambling and confusing, and her attempt to duplicate the style from the short story Orientation was a disaster, but otherwise I absolutely loved it.
January 12, 2022
Chapter 11 was the best chapter in the book. It was the author’s review of spas. I couldn’t figure out the gray call-out boxes — sometimes they were tips, sometimes commentary. It was an easy read and I enjoy listening to the author on the GOOP podcast.
November 23, 2017
This is a fun book to read. Plus, I will buy whatever Jean uses and suggests; she’s a goddess.
September 3, 2021
This book, while almost pointless and meaningless, is also a lot of fun. It’s kind of like dvd extras, only the dvds are 90s and early 2000s fashion magazines.
July 25, 2023
glam!!!
Read
May 4, 2024DNF
March 9, 2020
i found this book at the library, at a time when i've been getting reinterested in / slightly obsessed with beauty and make up products...the idea of reading about the dazzling stacks of samples of a beauty editor sounded like just the thing. and the first half of this book was delightful! jean godfrey-june is clearly an excellent writer - she had some thoughtful analyses of the beauty industry. sometimes, her anecdotes and writing made me laugh out loud (this is really rare for me!).
but thennnnn we get to the second half of the book...and i really wish i'd simply stopped reading at some point, because the second half of the book reveals the writer to be...a little..embarrassing? certainly "not-PC", and a product of her time/identity, oblivious, self indulgent, entitled, no longer skeptical but fully drank the kool-aid in the beauty world she used to mock. also, just all these grating, unnecessary scenes: the moment when she brags about getting a four day workweek, while having a baby, and still making lots of money (why aren't there enough stories of mom who manage to have everything? it's reallly quite simple!), the casual mentions of token black friends (/her friend who decided to give a dark skinned doll a racist name/persona...), a whole chapter on how she thinks of herself as a good boss...complaining about an employee who quit on the day her grandmother died. a whole chapter that sounded like a press release for Lucky magazine...her judgement towards certain aesthetics or procedures (she's anti sex workers and boob jobs, but happy with tasteful botox and vampy pedicures?)....and not to mention just the complete lack of narrative coherence and any hint of a point ruined the book for me. i am mad about it! it had so, so much potential - but i guess jean isn't really interested in thinking about things deeply. she always was just a vehicle for product marketing -- and these days, fittingly, she's the beauty director of goop...i enjoyed parts of this book, but i think her current job really tells you all you need to know.
but thennnnn we get to the second half of the book...and i really wish i'd simply stopped reading at some point, because the second half of the book reveals the writer to be...a little..embarrassing? certainly "not-PC", and a product of her time/identity, oblivious, self indulgent, entitled, no longer skeptical but fully drank the kool-aid in the beauty world she used to mock. also, just all these grating, unnecessary scenes: the moment when she brags about getting a four day workweek, while having a baby, and still making lots of money (why aren't there enough stories of mom who manage to have everything? it's reallly quite simple!), the casual mentions of token black friends (/her friend who decided to give a dark skinned doll a racist name/persona...), a whole chapter on how she thinks of herself as a good boss...complaining about an employee who quit on the day her grandmother died. a whole chapter that sounded like a press release for Lucky magazine...her judgement towards certain aesthetics or procedures (she's anti sex workers and boob jobs, but happy with tasteful botox and vampy pedicures?)....and not to mention just the complete lack of narrative coherence and any hint of a point ruined the book for me. i am mad about it! it had so, so much potential - but i guess jean isn't really interested in thinking about things deeply. she always was just a vehicle for product marketing -- and these days, fittingly, she's the beauty director of goop...i enjoyed parts of this book, but i think her current job really tells you all you need to know.
July 28, 2015
Jean Godfrey-June is the reason I subscribed to Lucky magazine for 15 years. Her insane run-on sentences are over the top but awe-inspiring. One time her entire article was just 2 enormous sentences. Her page (buried more than half-way through the magazine) was always my favorite part, which is strange since I'm not into makeup or beauty products. I finally figured out I don't care what she is writing about, but I cared about her writing and I still needed to read her writing every month. She writes the way I think. I feel we are kindred spirits: anyone who can reference the depressing smell of Band-aids in the same way I do and in possibly the same sentence transport you to a tomato planter in a rooftop garden in Manhattan has matched my brainwaves.
Month after month the magazine shrunk until they actually combined months together into even thinner magazines! I knew things were going downhill but I had hope that Lucky would pull through. When I figured out that Lucky would be no more, I felt I needed to own a permanent copy of the genius woman's writing. Now I feel bad that I've thrown away old copies of Lucky... I hope I find her writing again soon!
Oh, and about the book- very Devil wears Prada/tooth and nail fashion survival/swanky NY cocktail parties and all those free beauty product samples. Fun (and sad?) to read an insider's perspective of an endangered/soon to be extinct industry.
Month after month the magazine shrunk until they actually combined months together into even thinner magazines! I knew things were going downhill but I had hope that Lucky would pull through. When I figured out that Lucky would be no more, I felt I needed to own a permanent copy of the genius woman's writing. Now I feel bad that I've thrown away old copies of Lucky... I hope I find her writing again soon!
Oh, and about the book- very Devil wears Prada/tooth and nail fashion survival/swanky NY cocktail parties and all those free beauty product samples. Fun (and sad?) to read an insider's perspective of an endangered/soon to be extinct industry.
October 1, 2007
So far, so good... I love the part on page 34, where the author talks about, "Why Beauty Products are the Best Presents".
"#2 - The person thinks of you every time he or she uses them, which in many cases turns out to be quite often. (I've alwas been a big proponent of giving a man you have a crush on either shampoo or shaving cream; not only will he be reminded of you every day, but it'll be at a time when he's a little dreamy, potentially more impressionable, and, perhaps most critically, naked.)"
Love it Love it Love it.
It is slow at times, but your learning - not just about the business of Free Gifts with a Purchase, you're also learning about how she got there - and it wasn't because the author has been a make-up diva from age 2.
Typo on page 82. Second to last paragraph. Instead of saying, "A month or two..." it states, "A month of two..."
"#2 - The person thinks of you every time he or she uses them, which in many cases turns out to be quite often. (I've alwas been a big proponent of giving a man you have a crush on either shampoo or shaving cream; not only will he be reminded of you every day, but it'll be at a time when he's a little dreamy, potentially more impressionable, and, perhaps most critically, naked.)"
Love it Love it Love it.
It is slow at times, but your learning - not just about the business of Free Gifts with a Purchase, you're also learning about how she got there - and it wasn't because the author has been a make-up diva from age 2.
Typo on page 82. Second to last paragraph. Instead of saying, "A month or two..." it states, "A month of two..."
October 18, 2008
this memoir by the beauty editor of lucky is subtitled "my improbable career in magazines and makeup," so if you're not interested in either of those things, then don't bother. the writing isn't so exquisite nor the themes so universal that free gift with purchase will appeal to a mass audience. but if you're ever wondered what it's like getting all those free samples or trying to write something original about a perfume, here's your insider view. this book inspired me to (1) reorganize my makeup case [a tin curious george lunchbox], (2) wear eyeshadow and mascara for the first time in forever, and (3) consider that maybe botox isn't such a crazy idea. an easy, breezy read. just like cover girl.
June 16, 2017
Easy read. Jean Godfrey-June really gets it, that the beauty business is not all serious and that there is always a need to stand back, take stock and be real. From the normal society's perspective that is, not from the supermodel, glamourific wannabe perspective.
It got a little tiresome halfway through though. And the boxed beauty tips scattered along the way made for erratic reading. Good fun anyways!
It got a little tiresome halfway through though. And the boxed beauty tips scattered along the way made for erratic reading. Good fun anyways!
August 11, 2021
Changed my rating on re-reading in 2021. This kind of privileged vacuity is only funny if it's ironic now; Godfrey-June was eccentric in 2006; nowadays her worldview is painfully ignorant, and ignorance is only readable if it's self-conscious.
Recommend Godfrey-June's protégé Cat Marnell's How To Murder Your Life instead; a beauty editor killing a speed-hallucinated rat is much more palatable than socialising with Donald Trump on purpose.
Recommend Godfrey-June's protégé Cat Marnell's How To Murder Your Life instead; a beauty editor killing a speed-hallucinated rat is much more palatable than socialising with Donald Trump on purpose.
June 2, 2008
I got a kick out of this "witty, confectionary memoir" (as the NYTimes accurately described it). Sometimes I found her flitting between stories a bit too quickly, but in general this was a fun and fluffy thing to read on my vacation, and I kept turning over pages to remind myself to share stories with my husband once I returned home.
June 24, 2010
A cute, quick read. I think, however, that this book would have gotten on my nerves if the author hadn't been such an antithetical beauty editor. Her insights and experiences were interesting and she's fairly witty, at times. Some parts were a bit boring and brown-nose-ish, but overall, not a bad read.
April 17, 2010
This is a light and fluffy skimming of the author's life as a beauty editor at Elle and Lucky. However, don't expect an indepth look at the world of a beauty editor. Personal memories, experiences, mentions of gift bags and freebies with some beauty advice make up this book. While I did enjoy it, I probably would have enjoyed a copy of Allure just as much. It's a very easy read.
July 20, 2012
This is my favorite kind of memoir. The author is fun and likable, the tips and stories sound like they're coming from a cool older sister, and there's a little bit of gossip thrown in for good measure. The envy factor also made me gobble this up- I wish I had her job with endless access to beauty products to try!
September 7, 2018
She gets that beauty (to be more specific: the cosmetics Industry) is a crock of shit, and yet she continues to peddle it. It’s a perfect picture of cognitive dissonance. As always, I wanted more. I wanted a more explicit rebellion. But... this book made me buy Creme de la Mer. So, I suppose it worked perfectly.
October 25, 2009
A magazine beauty editor's memoir with some pretty funny stories about the fashion industry. The personal background stories are great, especially as I also have a mom who just doesn't care about "putting all those concoctions on your face". etc.
September 28, 2010
I think the fact that I read this only a month or two ago and don't remember much about it speaks volumes. It had some nice beauty tips, and Jean Godfrey-June is a little snarky/funny, which I enjoyed.
February 27, 2011
Funny and smart, Jean definitely calls it like she sees it when it comes to the beauty industry. This book is a must read for any beauty addict, beauty industry employee or anyone remotely interested in a career in beauty.
February 2, 2012
This book was just ok. There were some juicy insights into the magazine and beauty industries but it got a bit repetitive towards the end. Plus, I wasn't sure that I could trust the author. I liked her self-deprecating humor but it didn't seem totally genuine.
August 8, 2012
The girl is a beauty editor. Talks about the importance of wearing makeup and all this stuff about people pushing makeup on people.
and she doesnt wear any and constantly tells you.
its just annoying.
kinda a little deglamourization of my dreams. so thanks jean..
and she doesnt wear any and constantly tells you.
its just annoying.
kinda a little deglamourization of my dreams. so thanks jean..
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews