Growing Up with The You Behind the Mascara: a book review

By Christine Stoddard

With words like “acne,” “drama,” and “hormones” bobbing in the waters, nobody ever said puberty was an easy sea to navigate. But Arielle Eirienne’s book, The You Behind the Mascara, promises girls that life doesn’t have to be a shipwreck. This self-described “growing-up guide for teenage girls” encourages young women to sail through high school and college with confidence, optimism, curiosity, and strength.

Eirienne’s smart advice ranges from “Focus on your heart” to “Transform fear into courage” to “Always choose purpose” to much, much more. Her tone dips into both the entertaining and the profound as she touches upon a variety of topics. Erienne explores everything from college to grad school to jobs to studying abroad to romance. Whether you, your friend, or your daughter needs advice about unlocking your personal potential or re-bounding after a break-up, the answer lies within these pages. Maybe it’s not a definite, logical, scientifically measurable answer, but it’s a helpful, soothing answer nonetheless–the kind of answer that urges you to take advantage of life’s natural ebbs and flows. You don’t have to stay stranded on that deserted island forever!

At thirty-six pages, this clever book teaches girls of a certain age to laugh, love, and live–happily and intelligently but not frivolously. It may be a fast read, but it’s a worthwhile one. Treat it like a compass and you’ll go far.

[The You Behind the Mascara (ISBN 978-0-557-09624-4) by Arielle Eirienne is currently available for purchase on Lulu.com.]