OBSESSIVE, GORGEOUS, CONTROL FREAK

What a grand feeling when a gripping new novel comes along!!! I call The Girl Before the thriller version of Fifty Shades of Grey, and I love it!!! I don't read too many novels anymore, coz I normally find them stereotyped and repetitive. I think the last novel I read was The Book of Ivy last year. I am not even a fan of so-called "Girl Noir", the genre to which The Girl Before belongs. (I hated Gone Girl so much, I just stopped reading). So I was more than happy when The Girl Before proved as chilling and exciting as promised in the blurb ❤️💄👠

There are many resemblances to Fifty Shades, including the obsessive, gorgeous, control freak and bdsm loving protagonist. Edward Monkford reminds me of Christian Grey a great deal. Bliss!

I was surprised to read negative reviews of The Girl Before in Goodreads. How odd!

Personally, I recommend the book. If you liked Fifty Shades go for it! 😀

#thegirlbefore #fiftyshadesofgrey #christiangrey #books #girlnoir #bookblogger #bookblog #thriller

CLEARLY MISUNDERSTOOD

One reason sweets are so special, says Tim Richardson, is that they are probably the first thing we own! New old picture from my visit to the Limassol Marina. What a beautiful sweets store! I always thought the house made of candy in Hansel and Gretel was a stroke of genius. I'm sure the witch was not that bad; she was clearly misunderstood. Why is she more culpable than the parents, who left Hansel and Gretel to starve in the forest????

Generally, fairy tales use the figure of the evil witch to condemn and demonize powerful or unmarried women. The woman who wants power is either an evil witch or an evil queen and has to die. Not very imaginative, is it? A brilliant analysis of this is in the book The Madwoman in the Attic.

The last photo is a lovely sculpture I saw in a Limassol Marina gallery. I loved the Limassol Marina, and the sculpture is all about female beauty and power!

Have a great start to the week, always with beauty and a book! 💋👠❤️💄💄💄
#limassol #cyprus #limassolmarina #sculpture #feminism #femalepower#beauty #lipstick #books #sweet #sweets #candy #fairytales#themadwomanintheattic #timrichardson #books

A STAR IN THIS BLOG

Cosmetics are valuable ever since the Goddess Hera guarded her special beauty cream with extreme jealousy! Lipstick is a star in this blog, so any new addition is an event. Here is the Inglot lipstick number 176, a lovely color as you can see.

Inglot has cosmetics at fantastic prices. Some info about the history of the company is in the U.K. website - where else? The Brits love history, and this is one reason why I love them too ❤️ So Inglot was founded 30 years ago in Poland; their make up was lately used for stage musicals like The Lion King and Mamma Mia!

There is nothing better than finding a good new lipstick. Have a great evening, taking beauty always with you! 💄❤️💄💋
P.S. In CYPRUS, Inglot can be found in the Mall in Nicosia, and in Limassol Anexartisias. 😀

#lipstick #Inglot #Cyprus #beauty #beautyblog #beautyblogger#cosmetics #Nicosia #mall #Limassol

GIFT WRAP

This beautiful traditional embroidery comes from Greece, and did not originally belong to me. How I got to have it? Read on to find out! Objects carry with them cultural energy and life stories, as any good cultural theorist will tell you (If you like cultural study buy A History of the World in 100 Objects: it's fantastic).

The embroidery belonged to a colleague with whom I shared an office at a college years ago. I don't even remember her name, but she was from Greece. Also, she gave me some life advice I now wish I had followed!

Anyway, at some point this colleague left - left CYPRUS or just the college, I'm not sure. She left this beautiful embroidery behind.

Some time later, I moved my office to another floor, and thought to take the embroidery home.

I never saw my colleague again. I hope she is well, and thank her for this little gift! 💋💋💋

Have a great Sunday, taking beauty always with you 😀
#embroidery #tradition #greece #cyprus #gifts #friends #culture#cultural #ahistoryoftheworldin100objects #books

BUT NOT WITHOUT LIPSTICK

Of course, I have this dream that I have mastered the art of make up and I use it to enhance my face and skin. Sadly, I'm useless. My girl students often offer to give me lessons, but what with the work and the marking, semesters come and go and I never take advantage of my students' skills, which are considerable!!!

At the same time, I feel confident without make up. (But not without Lipstick). Birthdays are supposed to make people -especially us women- sad coz we grow old and lose our beauty. This is pure nonsense. Real beauty is never lost, it just gets better with time!

Still, I believe men have it worse than women, coz they don't use make up.

The times I have worn make up in my life are so few that I remember them all. Yet this is because I don't have make up skills. Those of you who do, just enjoy it!!! As Naomi Wolf said, make up is repressive only when you feel inadequate without it 💄💄💄

Have a great afternoon, always with beauty and a book! Xxx

THE BEST ANSWER

In Raymond Feist's Magician fantasy series there is one day special in the year, when everybody celebrates their birthday. It seemed to them odd to actually celebrate the birthday on the specific day. This is not for us here, and the grand question on Saturday was where best to place the best birthday cake? In a Whittard decorated plate is the best answer! I bought this magnificent plate with assorted mug from Exeter in 2005 and I love it so much! But then, I love all my possessions. When/ if I have a house of my own I will place this plate (with 2-3 others) on the wall 😀

For birthday philosophy check out the next post! Xxx 

❤️❤️❤️

E.G. NOW (THE CAKE TO END ALL CAKES)

Here's the cake I plan to use as birthday cake tonight, the cake to end all cakes, the Victoria sponge! Originating in the Victorian era, it was Queen Victoria's favorite as well. The Victorians invented afternoon tea, the light meal taken at 5 in the drawing room and the nursery. Literature is full of references to cake and the nursery. Who can forget the nursery scenes in Jane Eyre? No one, they are unforgettable! According toteainengland.com, the Victoria sponge cake originated in the 19th century nursery tea. The Victoria sponge was created as a healthier alternative for kids than the traditional tea cakes (fruit and seed cake).

I hope the mad neighbors will allow me to have a small celebration tonight. Sometimes (e.g. now) they are so noisy and obnoxious you think you are in a Victorian lunatic asylum.

As for my birthday, which is today, I don't much believe in the Zodiac- yet I am a typical Gemini. How odd!

To return to the Victoria sponge, or Victoria sandwich, cake. It's very difficult to find in CYPRUS, no one knows it and no one makes it. The only one I could find was from Marks and Spencer. And it is fantastic!

Have a good afternoon, always with beauty and a book! 💋❤️💄👠🌷🌷🌷

#cake #victoriaspongecake #tea #afternoontea #UK #england#lovenegland #teainengland #janeeyre #victorians #queenvictoria#marksandspencer #janeeyre #teacake #bakeoff #thelipstickpapers#cyprus #gemini #thezodiac #birthdaycake #birthdays