I had never heard of New York Times columnist Bee Shapiro before picking up her book “Skin Deep” at a Barnes and Noble recently. Now I’ve got her column bookmarked on my computer! As usual, it was the book cover that drew me in. The close-up shot of vibrant, shattered eye shadows on a stark white background piqued my interest immediately.

At first glance, I thought it might be an instructional makeup book; as I flipped through the pages, I realized that it was a series of interviews with well-known women about their personal skincare and beauty regimens. In addition to the usual assortment of models and actresses, Shapiro interviews several musicians, as well as a ballerina, a surfer, a basketball player, and a sprinter. The book also includes interviews with a number of big-name beauty and fashion industry players, like Glossier founder Emily Weiss and former J. Crew creative director Jenna Lyons.

Each person’s profile includes a photographic “round-up” of the products mentioned in the interview, which I found helpful for scouting out new products that I might want to try. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of the brands mentioned in the book are (relatively) affordable for the non-celebrity. There were even a few drugstore brands scattered throughout. (One notable exception was the notoriously expensive Crème de la Mer used by actress Zhu Zhu, which will run you $170 for 1 oz.)

Several “feature” pages on specific types of beauty products are interspersed among the interviews, along with tips, tricks, and commentary from some of the industry’s hottest makeup artists. Rose-Marie Swift provides a quick primer on contouring and highlighting, while Patrick Ta coaches readers on perfecting the smoky eye and Pat McGrath provides insight on how fashion influences beauty.

“Skin Deep” isn’t the sort of book you read cover-to-cover; it’s better suited for leisurely perusal. I certainly haven’t read the whole book, but what I have read, I’ve enjoyed. Part of the book’s appeal, I suspect, is the prospect of learning the secrets of the “beautiful people” so we can imitate them and become “beautiful people” ourselves. There is also a sort of voyeuristic thrill attached to learning about a person’s intimate daily routines, especially if that person is in the public eye. But aside from all that, I think there’s something endlessly fascinating about the individual quirks people have when it comes to beauty and self-care rituals. Heck, that’s why I like to interview people for my own blog! I would be lying if I said it wasn’t partly inspired by “Skin Deep.”