PREMIERING THE NEW TATTOO!

What else can the new tattoo be except a design of lipstick and nail varnish???? There it is on the lower part of the leg. So happy to get it! It's a perfect fit for The Lipstick Papers, my beloved blog.

I believe that tattoos originated in Polynesia, but I also heard that the ancient Greeks had something similar. Maybe they got it from another European tribe? I don't remember the article very well.

Anyway, all of my tattoos are personal: twice my beloved collie's name (she died in 2008), and some of my personal symbols. Stars, roses, nail varnish and -the best for last- lipstick!!!

This will not be the last tat! Stay tuned 😀

Xxx

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL

In A Little Princess, I have to confess that I prefer "bad girls" Lavinia and Jessie to angelic Sara. The heroine is too good for me. Angels are unreal and annoying. I like Lavinia, who gets angry, spiteful and jealous!

The same goes for fairy tales and films. I love the evil queens and witches! They are the best.

I would never go watch The Huntsman, that new film. I would never want the evil queens to lose out to a man. (Even if that man is gorgeous Chris Hemsworth, yum yum). You will say, he has a woman with him! A powerful woman companion! Yes, he has a woman who fights with him, but she is a character who, in the end, will love and follow him. The message to women is clear: you can be powerful so long as you obey. If you want a kingdom and power for yourselves the penalty is death.

If I had written A Little Princess, in the end Sara would make friends with Lavinia and Jessie, and start a business with them. They were all spirited and clever, and would certainly succeed! If I had written the Huntsman, the evil queens would win!

Xxx

MISS LA CREEVY

Here I am with my amazing Brigitte Bardot sunglasses! I was so happy to get them this winter! As you know, Brigitte is my ideal for female beauty and the only person I draw. I haven't drawn anything for a while, and I hope to get back to my artwork soon!

My favorite female artist from literature is definitely Miss La Creevy, from Nicholas Nickleby, the novel by Charles Dickens. Miss La Creevy is a miniaturist, earns her bread from art and, though poor, she is always fashionable and cool. She saves the day many times in the book, if I remember correctly.

Another interesting artist, real life this time, is Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun, whose memoirs I am presently reading. I will tell you more about the book when I finish it.

Have a good night, always with beauty and a book! Xxx

URBAN LEGEND

It's Earth Day today, so here I am posing with the tree mural at Costa Coffee today! The tree mural is absolutely fab!

As for my new-found fashion sense, I owe it exclusively to two factors. The first is the tattoos. You need to dress to show off the tattoos. The second is brain washing from World Fashion TV. I watch World Fashion TV all day (apart from about 2 hours when I listen to news).

I never tire to watch fashion. I can draw clothes myself, though not professionally. Garments and outfits are pieces of fantasy. Brain washing by World Fashion TV is very pleasant!

So, always within the limits of a tight budget, I try to dress nicely. Though I like so called "fast fashion" I don't go to extremes, such as buying a 2 euro outfit and throwing it away after wearing it once (or is this just an urban legend?). I love my 2 euro outfits so much I wear them all the time!

"Fast fashion" is good, but (like everything) must be produced and consumed in moderation. We must think about, respect and protect nature and the environment.

Happy Earth Day to all!

Xxx

CALL IT WHAT YOU WILL

It's a special day at The Lipstick Papers today, because it is the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth! Charlotte is one of our absolute favorites!

Her novel Villette was one of the major novels of my PhD; Villette is a bizarre text, but it is a treasure trove for material on Victorian women, beauty, education and fashion. Still, my personal Charlotte Bronte favorite is Jane Eyre. Gothic romance, dark fairy tale, call it what you will, Jane Eyre is a masterpiece!

In the picture I am holding my favorite copy of Jane Eyre (I have three). I love the cover, in detail in the pic below. This is John Everett Millais's picture "waiting". It is as if he made it to illustrate Jane herself: a girl who is delicate, other-worldly, thoughtful.

So, thanks a lot, Charlotte Bronte! You've given us so much, and we love you! 💖

Xxx

A VIRTUE OUT OF NECESSITY

New hair length and new research topic for me! I'm writing a piece about female art in the Victorian era which means I'm reading lots of Victorian periodicals! The British Periodicals online are full of scanned print material from the 19th century and I'm so excited!

Because I am obsessed with reading and writing, where I actually write my notes matters. I have the loveliest notebooks. This is one of my favorites, bought ten years ago from my beloved Paperchase!

You can see me also wearing a favorite hat from Marks and Spencer's. As they put it nowadays, I rock hats a great deal. Strong sunshine (and it is quite strong in Cyprus) brings me vertigo. So I make a virtue out of necessity and wear lovely hats!

More about my research work in a later post! 💖 xxx

THE WITCH RING

WINTER is gradually leaving (good riddance!) so today I decided to rearrange (part of) the closet. Now the summer clothes are at the front so I can reach them. It was so tiring! I have been folding and unfolding clothes for an hour and a half. As you know, I am a bad cook, but a great housekeeper! I would make a relatively good Victorian woman -- I love drawing, housekeeping, decorating, and I hate mathematics. More on good Victorian women in a later post.

At the same time as folding and unfolding, I listened to a radio reportage about Request programs. This took me back to the Cyprus of my teenage years, where one of the few ways we teenagers had to communicate with each other on the level of media was the program "Request Time" on the state radio! State radio was the only radio we had, since there was a monopoly and private stations were not allowed. At 15, I discovered the British bases radio, which of course broadened horizons for me. At any rate, Request Time was such fun! The requests were endless and the program was daily. It was the central event for the evening!

Still, I don't romanticize the past. The decades when I was a teenager were not good, for many reasons. Now it's the best time to be a young adult! I wish I were a teenager.

Nevertheless, at whatever age I am, and at whatever age you are, I am sure The Lipstick Papers is a great blog for me to write, and for you to read! ;-)

xxx

P.S. You can see me here wearing my amazing faux bijoux witch ring. It's old and peeling now (coz it is made of plastic) but I love it!!!!!

WAS, AS USUAL, WONDERFUL!

THE HAPPIEST moment for me is, of course, when I buy new beauty products! Clinique has a lovely gift this month, which I got! The prettiest bit is the little bag with the lipstick design. Though the products inside are good and useful, for me the bag says it all!

Shopping is, naturally, one of the great enjoyments of life; because my budget is minimal, I do only one fifth of the shopping I would like to do. Still, I enjoy every minute of it!

I guess my direct literary antecedent is Rebecca Bloomwood, the amazing shopaholic heroine! I loved the first Shopaholic novel: it was something new, feministic and fun. The second was a grand disappointment, and I have not bought any of the others. Don't tell me The Devil Wears Prada is a good shopping book, or good fashion fun. It's a book which belittles and undermines fashion (another of the great enjoyments of life) and presents career driven women in a very negative light.

Though the Shopaholic film wasn't as good as the book, Amy Adams was, as usual, wonderful!

I wish all life was a massive shopping mall, where I could buy lipstick, creams and books for free!

xxx

NEVER SAY GOODBYE

As you know, Costa coffee is my favorite, and I was glad to see the renovated Costa today here in Larnaca!

The new renovated store is bright and lovely. I particularly loved a wall painting with the coffee genres, pictured here, and a tree mural, which you will see in a later post!

I love to study in cafes and I can concentrate better when there are people around. I don't like silence when I read :-)

According to the weather report the summery weather will bid us goodbye tomorrow. No more short sleeves, I guess. Gr! You know how much I hate cold, rain and clouds. I only like summer, high temperatures and light clothes.

Have a good start to the week, always with beauty and a book! xxx

❤💖💝

ODYSSEAS ELITIS TAKES ON BACK TO THE FUTURE

In Amalfi, Italy, they have an amazing digestive delicacy after a meal- a slice of lemon sprinkled with ground coffee and sugar. Simplicity and truth! I read this in the book The land where lemons grow, by Helena Attlee. Another delicacy which I learnt from a dear Italian friend is to pour hot fresh coffee into a plate of ice cream. As usual, the Italians do it better! 😉

Paris in the 19th century was a city where people virtually lived in the cafes -they would go home only to sleep. How great! I like being outside too. I love my home only because I am away most of the time!

Still, I would never want to live in the past. I like this era, though I wouldn't mind living some decades into the future. There were never the good old times. All ages have problems.

As the sublime Greek poet Odysseas Elitis (Οδυσσέας Ελύτης) used to say, "despite its problems, our age is the best. I would never choose to live in the past".

For this and more insights to Elitis's brilliant mind go to his interview anthology Συν τοις Άλλοις (Sin tis allois, Among Other Things).

And have a great Saturday! Xxx

COOL TOO

You can of course see my love for all things beauty in that I use my Estée Lauder packaging for bookmarks! I can't bear to give away this amazing colored paper with the gold sticker, even to recycling. Anyway, it's been some time since we did a book review, so I thought I could talk about A Girl for All Seasons by Camilla Morton!

I bought this lovely hardback edition, in gold paper jacket, years ago from Exeter. I even got the gift that Waterstones would give with the book - a pretty Lily (or is it Lulu) Guiness bag charm which I still have somewhere (you know that the state of my drawers is far from exemplary).

I like A Girl for All Seasons, which is the sister book to How to Walk in High Heels. In fact, A Girl... came out also under the title A Year in High Heels.

Indeed, the book is written like a calendar, going from month to month with beauty and fashion advice. There is a lot on lifestyle too, from new year's resolutions to traveling and going to Glastonbury. There are inserts from Morton's famous friends like Manolo Blanik and Sophie Dahl. Sometimes the book can get too obsessive, as when there are endless pages on starting a book club (not all of us may be interested). But all in all it's a good book, witty and full of great lifestyle tips.

The illustrations are cool too.

Bye for now, and keep beauty always with you!

Xxx

BAREFOOT IN THE SEA

WHAT can be better than Cristiano Ronaldo's goal against Barcelona tonight????? That I had my first walk barefoot in the sea for the year, of course. It was so reviving, that naturally I look extra glamorous a few hours later!

I took to the beach for my favorite walk down from Phonikoudes (Φοινικούδες, Palm Trees) Avenue to Tasos Mitsopoulos Avenue and finally to Croissanterie for a frappe! That was when I decided that the evening was too sweet to miss: I had to get in the water!!!

On my way back, I made sure to fill my bag with napkins from the cafe restroom. As soon as I was on the beach again, I took off my trainers,turned the trouser legs up, put my socks in my pockets and walked back to town from inside the sea.

It was amazing fun! The water was so smooth and cool that I felt restful and at peace. Plus, walking on the beach is the best pedicure after the professional treatment.

Summer is just around the corner, and I'm so glad! Have a great evening, always with beauty and a book :-)

xxx

LIKE MILK AND HONEY

Summer is here, and I thought I could try a new home made beauty treat! I chose to do a honey neck mask for ultra skin protection!

Here's how to do this mask. Mix one spoonful of honey with a little oil and milk and spread on the neck, in massaging hand movements. Leave for 40 mins.

I really enjoyed this mask! At first it's cooling on the skin, then a bit sticky. It leaves the skin feeling velvet and cool.

This is a recipe I got from a Greek beauty book. The writer makes all recipes in her kitchen. However, the original recipe was with an expensive specialty oil and some more ingredients. This is my own version! I love home made beauty treats.

Have a good evening, always with beauty and a book!

Xxx