TODAY I finally got my copy of Grey, the Fifty Shades Story as told by Christian! Just arrived in Cyprus!
I started reading when I got back home, and my first impressions are very good! I loved to be dragged into Christian's dark world. He's dark and twisted, but hey, this is what is so good about him!
After a bit of reading, I went for my daily jogging routine. The evening sky was downcast, but in a nice, summery way. Not the dark, ominous, ugly downcast of autumn and winter, but downcast in bright melancholy hues.
I very much like the spot where I go jogging. It's kind of dilapidated, though the avenue is new, and there is the great Cineplex on the one side with the football stadium on the other. Still, many buildings are dilapidated, while unpleasant rows of wrought iron extend as far as the eye can see. I find it a mess, in a poetic sense.
I will review Grey for The Lipstick Papers soon! xxx
HELLO and welcome to The Lipstick Papers Book Review! Today we have An Angel a Day, by Margaret Neylon!
This book is "the daily magic and inspiration of angels", as the subtitle says! It's set out like a diary, with some very nice advice for each day, together with a suggestion connecting you to the angel world. There is a diary entry for a leap year too, 29th February!
I really like this book! It's comforting, clever and easy to use. I bought it about twelve years ago, and I never tire of it.
Apart from advice, some days feature recipes -- angel cake, angel hair pasta, gingerbread angels.
What's the angel advice for today, 28 June? Here it is: "... look out for a feather in an unusual place. Carry it with you in your wallet or purse. Whenever you see it, remember your angels are always close by, helping you to iron out problems in the most loving way".
It may not be true, but it is at least comforting. If you are into angels, this book is definitely for you! xxx
MY FAVORITE passage from literature is from Great Expectations, and it is one beautiful moment towards the end of the novel! It's where the protagonist, Pip, explains to us how he came to realize his mistakes, especially that he had done his friend Herbert a great injustice by always supposing him to be inept, "until", Pip says, "I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me".
In Great Expectations, Pip loses his character when he gains a fortune; he gains back his character when, poor and hunted, he chooses [SPOILER] to risk everything to help Magwitch, who had been his benefactor. Great Expectations is a story of a great redemption, and one of the masterpieces of world literature.
For me, the novel also shows, perhaps more than any other novel, Dickens's mastery of the language. You need to read the whole paragraph I am quoting above, but the passage is one where the rhythm of the words precisely mirrors the feelings and voice of the protagonist. It is a perfect blend of form and content, the "what" and the "how". As the language slows and calms down, so we feel Pip calm down: he has reached the end of his journey towards character and integrity.
Dickens's is the master's touch! You feel that the artist is, at that point in his fiction, in complete control of his medium; that he is with words like Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael were with oil paint.
What is my second favorite scene from literature? I think it is the interview between Christian and Anastasia in Fifty Shades of Grey, or maybe their meeting at Clayton's!
See you all tomorrow evening for The Lipstick Papers Book Review xxx
LET ME tell you about my afternoon, which was full of adventure!
First, I went for a coffee with a special friend! The clutch I am holding is her gift, and she also very kindly took these lovely pics.
My friend had been to the Robbie Williams concert in Athens, and told me that he was amazing. I love Robbie too, so I was naturally very interested. Apparently, there were 30,000 thousand people!!!
The second adventure was not so good! It all had to do with a wardrobe malfunction. After coffee, I was heading for the college graduation (the college where I teach). I thought I had been very clever, and wore trainers downtown, keeping a pair of sandal heels in the car. I put on the heels as soon as I arrived at the graduation venue (a cool reception venue up on a hill).
However, as I walked towards the entrance, both my heels gave way! The front of both shoes went off! Can you believe this??????? I had to walk barefoot about 100 meters back to the car. AND there were shards of broken glass all the way!
Please do not think that the shoes were a cheap pair or that I had worn them many times. I had bought them about three years ago, from a medium price shop, but I had worn them only three times. Yes! ONLY three times!
Luckily, I managed to get to the car without injuring or cutting my feet. I drove back home, freshened up, put on a pair of good heels, and went to the graduation.
The graduation ceremony was lovely, I saw colleagues and friends, and amazing fashion, including a peach, flouncy skirt, a cream, tight toilette, and a dark blue, tight dress.
There was a band singing, an amazing jazz band called Mood Indigo!
What a fantastic afternoon! I hope yours was too ;-)
P.S. The horrid shoes were from the (Greek, I think) chain Migato. Neither cheap, nor expensive, about average priced, I would say, but horrid. Don't buy!
IT'S NOT OFTEN that you have the opportunity to picture yourself with a classic star! Here I am posing with an old sewing machine!
The sewing machine is inextricably intertwined with women's history. Though seamstresses were usually badly paid, and worked in bad conditions, seamstressing and sewing have always been among the ways for women to make a living. What I wouldn't give to know how to cut and sew!
In the Olympian religion, spinning, weaving and the thread were the province of the Goddess Athene. Athene the weaver was called Εργάνη Αθηνά (Ergane Athena), the Athene who protected weavers, crafts and craftsmen/women.
In the Christian religion, tradition has it that the beautiful scarlet robe Christ wore had been woven with special care by his mother, the Virgin Mary herself! For this reason the robe was excessively beautiful, and the Roman soldiers threw a dice upon it. Saint Marcellus, who won, was converted to Christianity, having experienced visions and intense emotions after wearing the robe.
The thread of cloth goes a long way back, to religion, history and sacred traditions. I learnt sewing at school but I have forgotten everything about it. Now I study and write about sewing academically. However, re-learning the craft is in my "to-do" list!
Have a good evening and be well! xxx
HELLO and welcome to The Lipstick Papers Book Review! Tonight we have Shadow of the Moon, a romance novel by M.M. Kaye!
I read this book years ago, and enjoyed it very much. It is set in the Victorian era, and tells a long and romantic story between Alex Randall, a young English officer in India and Winter de Ballesteros, the young woman who later becomes his superior's wife. The superior is, of course, a proper villain, while Alex is not only very good-looking but also everything which is heroic, noble and good. There is a lot of adventure, danger and romantic deeds, before the happy end!
Shadow of the Moon was first published in 1957 -- my own edition is quite old as you can see in the pic; it's faded and turning yellow. It's a book of the 20th century looking back at the Victorian era, which it presents vividly and quite accurately, I think. Alex is a progressive thinker, insisting that it is better to follow common sense rather than good manners and Victorian propriety/ prudishness.
There are two faults in this book. The first has to do with protagonist Alex Randall. Though his character is drawn very well, and is interesting and attractive, sometimes he is also too heroic. There is nothing he cannot do, and nothing he does not excel at. I would have preferred him a bit flawed. The second problem is that the book is a conventional take on imperialism, arguing that there is "good" and "bad" imperialism. Alex supports a benign, "good", imperialism, while his superior is everything which is evil about it.
Coming from a postcolonial country myself, I am not sure I am convinced by this argument. At any rate, it's something which does not ring well to 21st century ears.
Other than this, Shadow of the Moon is a fantastic romantic adventure and I totally recommend!
Have a good night, always with beauty and a book! xxx
I WENT, the other day, to see the fashion show and fashion creations of Fashion students from the college where I teach! This was at the Apothikes (Αποθήκες, Warehouses) art and cultural space in my hometown. I had a great time, saw art and met interesting people!
The exhibition featured outfits from a wedding dress to grunge, and sample interior spaces from the Interior Design students!
I had a brilliant time, and was particularly impressed with an art work made entirely from cloth by Cypriot artist Mr Renos. Here it is in the picture below:
Isn't it amazing? One of the symbols on the painting was adopted by Apothikes as their own logo.
Apothikes is in a renovated building in the historic part of the old town, and very beautiful it is too. Have a look at their website:
http://ww.loveapothikes.com/home.htm
More on sewing, fashion and art in a later post! xxx
IN Mary Elizabeth Braddon's The Doctor's Wife, George, the protagonist Isabel's husband is beyond the pale early in the book -- that is, the moment he insists that Isabel is married in a plain brown dress instead of a beautiful wedding dress!!! Isabel is poor, so George, who is better off, will buy her the wedding clothes. He comes up with a pitiable brown dress, telling her that it is the best wedding dress ever since, "you can wear it afterwards as an ordinary dress".
This is the first cloud in a marriage which is not good for Isabel at all. George is the most unromantic character imaginable -- no wonder that Isabel eventually falls in love with a beautiful and gallant young man, who understands her need for romance and beauty, and is willing to die for her.
If you are looking for a happy ending, The Doctor's Wife is not for you. :-( Given my addiction to happy endings, I wonder why i like it so much. Maybe because it is a book with character, a book which is odd yet attractive.
Central to The Doctor's Wife is the idea that beauty, romance, fashion and beautiful things are not superficial or unnecessary, but can make life better and lovelier.
Here I am at my friend's boutique (Pearls and Shells) having a taste of fashion! I am sure you probably know by now that I am crazy about fashion and outfits and that, the only thing which prevents me from becoming a complete fashion freak is lack of funds.
Still, being dressed nicely is not only a matter of money. Because of the need to economize, I set priorities, and buy pieces which I love and which are of good quality.
Have a good afternoon and be well! xxx
SUMMER is here, which means that I change the shower curtain from the plain white to the Marilyn Monroe! The Marilyn Monroe curtain was a gift from a special friend; plus, all my shower curtains at home are fraught with meaning. The white is for the dark winter months, because the color reminds me of the light I miss so much. The sky blue is for spring, while in the summer, where we have hours and hours of golden light, I put the curtain with Marilyn, in shades of grey!
Marilyn Monroe is, for me, a figure of mystery and fascination: like the Princess Diana, a hugely talented and tragic woman, a woman who left this world too early, who had much more to give, and deserved much more. I guess both women prove that money, power and fame cannot buy happiness. If there is a lesson to be learnt, it is, I suppose, that happiness is a great and rare gift and can be found only in the so-called "small" things.
I have two books about Marilyn -- one it is Blonde, Marilyn's biography by Joyce Carol Oates (good, I'm sure, but too depressing to read) and another book with extracts from Marilyn's poems and letters. I will review the latter at some later point for The Lipstick Papers!
Here is a sketch I once made of Marilyn, adding reading glasses and a different hairstyle. Some people who see it recognize Marilyn, others think it is myself, i.e. that it is a self-portrait.
This doesn't say much for my talent for taking likenesses: however, it is certainly one of the best compliments I have ever heard! ;-)
Have a good afternoon and be well! xxx
HELLO and welcome to The Lipstick Papers Book Review! Tonight we got a pamphlet by Charles Baudelaire, published in 1860 and called Eloge du Maquillage! This is French and means "in defense of makeup".
In this little essay, the famous poet supports makeup and cosmetics, saying that, like civilization, they improve nature and are therefore valuable and good! This was a brave statement in the 19th century, which was quite anti-makeup. It was only towards the end of the century that makeup started to be considered acceptable, and even then it had to be discreet. Women were expected to be beautiful, but if they did anything to enhance that beauty they were condemned.
Baudelaire's pamphlet states clearly that nature can sometimes be unjust on the skin -- makeup is there to help! He also defends fashion saying that it forms part of the search for the ideal and the charming.
The only negative thing with Elogu du Maquillage, is that it continues to see the woman as an object to be stared at: though it does not deny women personality and intelligence, it says that it is their business to look beautiful.
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you will know that feminism's answer here is that, 1) women are subjects, not objects, 2) they can be beautiful and love their own beauty too, i.e. they can be beautiful because they like and choose to, and, 3) there are many kinds of beauty, not just one.
I have this pamphlet in Greek, from the publishing house Agra (Άγρα), which has done a lot to bring international research to the Greek-speaking public. Their translations are excellent. Baudelaire's work belongs to their pamphlet series, (which also includes Virginia Woolf's Letter to a Young Poet). In Greek the title for Baudelaire is Εγκώμιο του Μακιγιάζ.
Have a good night, always with beauty and a book! xxx
LAST NIGHT, I went to a politics event and discussion, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Always on the lookout for fashion tips, I saw everything from jeans, to the little black dress, maxi summer dresses and an amazing pink-peach Christian Dior lipstick!
Personally, I wore a pair of light beige shoes which I have had for a very long time and which I love very much. The moment you see them, they shout to you: "we are vintage"! This is because they come from the era of pointed-toe fashion. I think I bought them more than a decade ago.
The politics event was very interesting. My MA was on politics (International Studies) so I like political talks. I don't agree with the current "I am not interested and I don't vote" vogue. As Pericles, the great Athenian statesman once said, "whoever says that politics is not his [or her] business, we say he [or she] has no business here at all".
Though I would not take Pericles's extreme view, I do agree that we should take interest in the affairs of the state. Feminists have fought for decades for women to be admitted into the political life: I would do them a disservice if I rejected the benefits they gained for me -- benefits which the first feminists (19th century) never had.
About the shoes. Last night, I noticed that they are really getting old! :-( I am not sure if I should keep them. I love them so much, it breaks my heart to throw them away. Maybe I will just keep them in the closet as a memory of fashions past...
:-)
YEARS AGO, as I was walking somewhere between Bloomsbury and Piccadilly in London, I took a wrong turning and found myself in Diagon Alley! Yes, Diagon Alley from Harry Potter, or something very close to it.
It was a long and narrow cobbled road, full of tiny stone shops, arcades and colonnades, tall and narrow shop facades and color, color everywhere. The shops sold the most amazing things: handicrafts, toys, candy, everything that is fantastic, pretty and artsy. The road reached down endlessly: you could walk forever, and it would never end. I know you are thinking what I am thinking: Diagon Alley!
For me, shops which come close to fairy tale are all chocolateries, coffee- and tea-shops! Yesterday I visited Coffee Cantata in the Mall in Nicosia and I was amazed. The shop drew me like a magnet. I was again in Diagon Alley: dark boxes and drawers full of coffee and tea reaching up to the ceiling, the most amazing chocolate sweets you can think of, tea sets and tea things, flowers made of colored paper, and little glass phials full of mysterious things. I had a fantastic time!
The kind shop lady explained to me about the rich history of the store, and treated me with the most wonderful chocolate sweet I had in my life: sugared, dried orange covered in tasty and velvet chocolate!
Sweets for me have a great deal of magic, especially chocolate. I marveled at the tea blends available at Coffee Cantata, especially a brew called --what else?-- Fairy Tale!
When you find yourselves in London again, spread the word: Diagon Alley is somewhere between Bloomsbury and Piccadily. Just take the wrong turning, and you will find it!
Have a good afternoon and be well! xxx
HELLO and welcome to The Lipstick Papers Book Review! This week we have a Greek book, Cooking Cosmetics (Μαγειρεύω Καλλυντικά), by Maria-Marina Serafeimidou!
This is a lovely little book, where the author explains her philosophy about how natural and home-made cosmetics are as good as manufactured cosmetics. She also has advice for natural beauty, and a list of equipment and materials you will need in order to make your own soap and cosmetics.
Then, there are the recipes themselves, for each part of the face, and then for the body and the hair. There are recipes for baby: did you know that you can make baby powder with a cup of cornflower, a teaspoon of almond oil and six drops of lavender oil? You can apply this on the baby with make-up removal pads.
Importantly, there is a section for men, including home-made shaving foam and after-shave! The writer is from Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), where the tradition for beauty goes back not centuries, but millennia. Beauty is for both male and female!
Cooking Cosmetics is a pretty edition, in lovely, thick yellow-cream paper, and printed in attractive fonts. I would have liked to have seen more illustrations, though.
This book is in Greek only, yet it belongs to a wider context of lovely books promoting natural beauty and do-it-yourself cosmetics. If you know Greek and are interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend!
Bye for now, and have a good start to the week -- always with beauty and a book! xxx
MARY QUANT who, before inventing the mini, worked in a millinery, says "every hat I made was a little sculpture". And you know what? She is right!!!!!! Hats are sculptures. My passion for hats is well known, and today I found A PERFECT HAT. Here it is!
In Jane Austen, a mania for bonnets is associated in Pride and Prejudice with frivolous Lydia Bennett (though she is absolutely crazy, I personally like Lydia).
Still, women took frivolous bonnets very seriously throughout the 19th century. A bonnet was a most essential accessory, and no woman could get outside the home without wearing one over the hair. Fashion magazines always devoted space for bonnets and hats, describing the new arrivals in lavish detail. Velvet hats with plumes and pins, bonnets with Brussels lace, with black lace, blonde lace, ribbons, feathers, fresh roses, bonnets with tulle pleatings -- there was no end to the milliners' imagination!
I bought this beautiful hat today from my local Marks and Spencer's. It was love at first sight, and I'm so happy! Yes, happiness does not always reside in grand things, and there can be happiness midst problems. Indeed happiness can sometimes take the form of a simple, and pretty hat! xxx
P.S. Special thanks to my talented hair stylist, who cannot only do my frizzy hair so nicely, she also took these amazing pics!
CAN there be erotic love between diametrically opposites? Between sworn enemies? Yes, says this children's book, which charts a love affair between a cat and a gold-fish! I bought it today and I just had to share!
In the story, the cat falls in love with the gold-fish; the gold-fish is reluctant at first but, when the cat frees him by taking him to sea, he realizes that he is in love with her too! They stay together forever in the beautiful sea.
Here I am in the picture, with the pretty book, at the Croissanterie cafe in my hometown. Lipstick for today was Lancome's L' Absolu Nu 304, a kind of dark pink, dependable color, with a lovely texture on the lips! With me I have the always favorite frappe (φραπέ, Greek iced coffee), though for me it's decaf frappe as real coffee causes me arrhythmia.
A la folie (Τρελά, Madly, in Greek) is by Belgian writer Emile Jadoul and it is published in Greek by Nefeli (Νεφέλη) press.
Have a good Thursday night! xxx
MY LIPSTICK KISS T-shirt is probably the world's most beautiful T-shirt! I am sure there are T-shirts which are also beautiful, but this is the most beautiful! I premiered the lipstick kiss T-shirt today and here it is!
You know what else made me happier than happy this week? Apart from my lipstick kiss T-shirt, that is? It was the announcement that there is going to be a fourth Fifty Shades book, the story told from Christian's perspective! I am so excited! Fifty Shades is my favorite book and Christian Grey my favorite fictional character. We are talking real love and true obsession.
Other favorite male characters from fiction are Jace Wayland from the Mortal Instruments series -- who can resist his toned body, the tattoos, the martial arts, the golden hair and the cool demeanor? None.
Having said that, I only liked the first two books of the Mortal Instruments series, and not the others. Especially I hated the shift of attention to Clarie's friend Simon and his love affairs. Yawn.
From classic literature, I think my favorite character is Dorian Grey from Wilde's novel. I know that Dorian is flawed, and sometimes also evil, but I still love him. The Picture of Dorian Grey is a lovely moment in literary fiction -- Wilde has created something mysterious, disturbing, yet incredibly attractive. Like Dorian Grey himself, indeed like Christian Grey too. If you have been reading this blog for a while you will know my idea that Christian Grey is a direct allusion to Dorian Grey.
Of course, I have pre-ordered Grey, and I can't wait for June 18! xxx
"THERE were velvet dresses ... and lace dresses, and embroidered ones, and hats ... and muffs, and boxes of tiny gloves and handkerchiefs and silk stockings ...". In A Little Princess, the protagonist Sarah Crew has a perfect wardrobe, looked after by her French maid Mariette: "petticoats with lace frills on them -- frills and frills". Today, I visited my friend Sadaf in her boutique Pearls and Shells, and felt a little like Sarah myself!
In the 19th century, women were advised to be modest and circumspect, and luxurious fashion was viewed with suspicion by some moralists. Not so in A Little Princess! Lace, muslin and lace trimmings are happiness, while austere and worn out clothes are misery. Sarah remains strong and dignified, whether in richness or in poverty. Yet, fashion is an index to the from rich-to-poor-and-back-to-rich plot. In the final scene, Sarah appears again happy and glittering, like a princess!
Sadaf's boutique is lovely and full of amazing clothes --lace, embroidery, ethnic, jeans-- as well as accessories, some imported and some handmade. My friend was kind enough to let me try on these spectacular clothes and we took pictures! It was tremendous fun. I felt like a top model!
Personally, I bought an amazing lipstick kisses blouse, which I will wear and show in the blog in a later post!
Have a good Monday evening xxx
SINCE I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, I imagine myself a little like Helen Graham whenever I go out to draw! Here I am today with my Moleskin red artist's journal!
Helen Graham is Anne Bronte's revolutionary heroine, who leaves an abusive husband and starts her own studio. She goes out into the country to paint, and earns her own living!
Though Helen is not my favorite heroine from literature, I do think of her whenever, like Helen, like today, I sit with my pencils and artist's journal to draw landscape.
Today was a beautiful, warm day. It's the day of a grand fair in my hometown, but I never go, because I suffer from nausea and claustrophobia and get ill when I am in a crowd.
While everyone drove to the beach for the fair, I drove to the countryside to draw! I did a simple sketch of the wheat fields with the hills in the distance.
Then I went back to town (carefully avoiding the beach front) and bought a frappe (iced coffee Greek and Cyprus style).
Lipstick for the day was the Pink Lolita herself, the Princess of Lipsticks. Nothing beats pink, and nothing beats the Pink Lolita!
You can see everything in my journal, pictured below.
This was one, beautiful day, the first of June and the first of summer. Hoping for more beautiful days to come! xxx
