Beauty Pop Volume 1

Beauty Pop 1 by Kiyoko Arai, 2005; 200 pages. Published by Viz Media. Source: Borrowed.

In Kiri's school there are 3 boys who carry out transformations on random pretty girls; Narumi Shougo, the hairstylist, Minami Kei, the nail artist and Ochiai Kazuhiko who balances the overall look. They are adored by the girls because they are so good at making them beautiful. However, Kiri is also a master hairstylist who is willing to 'add some magic' for those who need it, but in disguise. Now Kiri is forced to face the three in a showdown with Narumi.

First off I would like to thank M, from my local library for lending me her copy of Beauty Pop.

Having never read anything by Kiyoko Arai, I was quite impressed with the first volume of Beauty Pop. so much so that I fell pretty much in love with the characters and story after only reading a couple of pages. 
What really caught my attention with Beauty Pop was that it kind of reminded me in ways of one of my absolute favorite mangas, Ouran High School Host Club.
While some of the characters and how they reacted to each made me think of Ouran High, it still managed to be original and  a completely absorbing read (I'm pretty sure I read it in about one hour).

I liked Kiri, the MC. I'm not sure if she was supposed to be so funny or if maybe she just came across that way to me, but either way I liked her.
Each of the members of the Scissors Project reminded me at times of certain Host Club characters. Every time Narumi got mad it made me think of when Tamaki would get all sulky...and they were both the creators of their respective clubs.
When I had first heard about Beauty Pop I was a bit concerned that the story would come across as shallow (since its called Beauty Pop), but Kiyoko Arai did a brilliant job.   

Artwork: One of the things I liked best in Beauty Pop would have to be the artwork. I just love how Kiyoko Arai drew the characters...and well just everything. I especially loved how each character was easily recognizable from the other and that I wasn't left trying to figure out if that was so and so or else,which can get kind of frustrating in some mangas.

Beauty Pop earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.