E.T. THE ALIEN AND THE AMAZING NUTELLA PANCAKE

Believe it or not, the book that introduced me to food cultures other than the Cypriot was the novel version of E.T. The Extra-terrestrial! The Cyprus I grew up in was a closed economy (the first "modern" supermarket to open closed down, it didn't do business). Plus, because we have a terrific food culture of our own, we weren't very receptive to others.

E.T., the novel by William Kotzwinkle, taught me about pancakes with Nutella chocolate, M & Ms and peanut butter! I read and read the passages, wondering what those delicacies could be. It's true that books open the world to you!

Here I am today in the world's most amazing Food Hall-- Marks and Spencer's. You can't beat the M &S peanut butter, marmalades, chocolate tea cakes, scones and generally everything!!! The Food Hall we have in Larnaca is just perfect, while those in the UK are pure heaven!

Now you can find many food traditions here in Cyprus, though we also faithfully preserve our own. Personally, I love Italian food more than anything.

And I still read E.T. with the same sense of wonder I read it as a child!

Xxx 💄💋❤️💝💖
‪#‎E‬.T.thealien ‪#‎marksandspencer‬ ‪#‎food‬ ‪#‎foodhall‬ ‪#‎peanutbutter‬ ‪#‎teacakes‬‪#‎marmalade‬ ‪#‎foodculture‬ ‪

#‎nutella‬ #cyprus #cyprusfood

NEWS FROM THE LIPSTICK FRONT

Okay, here is a lipstick addict who has found her perfect lipstick!!! This is Red Revolution by Maybelline! Debenhams at the Mall would not let me pose at the counter, so here I am wearing the lipstick over a cup of coffee!

Because of the light, the lipstick doesn't show its full glory in the pics. Have a look at my pics with the rose merchandise too. It's the perfect lipstick for me. Amazing color, the finest texture, stays on the lips, and cheap too!

I love Maybelline, a company created from scratch by a young man who loved his sister Mabel so much he gave the company her name. His motto was "maybe it's nature, maybe it's Maybelline". Read all about Maybelline in any credible cosmetics history book. I think only Debenhams has the line in Cyprus, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Enjoy your Sunday! Xxx 💖💋❤️💝💄
‪#‎lipstick‬ ‪#‎maybelline‬ ‪#‎thelipstickpapers‬ ‪#‎costacoffee‬ ‪#‎coffee‬

NATIONAL ROSE MONTH AND BOOK READING IN DREAMS

How lucky I am to be born in the month of June, which is national rose month!!! The rose is my number one flower, and I have three rose tattoos!

Here I am posing with merchandise from the Agros rose festival which happens annually here in Cyprus. The merchandise is at Soloneion book center in Nicosia, but Agros village (the actual location of the festival) is high on the mountains. I feel so piqued I didn't go, that I didn't look at the merchandise properly. But they include home made rose cordial and rose syrup. Yummy!

Rose cordial is truly amazing with iced water, even more so with cold milk. It is a bit fattening though 😇

Apart from my famous rose tattoos, I have books about the rose and rose figurines around the flat. I read something about wild snow roses in a book, but I don't remember which book. I am not even sure I was awake at the time - maybe it's something I read in a dream. I often read books in my dreams, and they are the most amazing books ever!

Have a good evening and be well xxx❤️💖💝💄💋
‪#‎nationalrosemonth‬ ‪#‎rose‬ ‪#‎roses‬ ‪#‎agrosvillage‬ ‪#‎agrosrosefestival‬ ‪#‎books‬‪#‎dreams‬

FAMOUS CUSTOMERS

In the 18th century, French artist Elizabeth Vigee Lebrun admired the Russians for their cleanliness: they had a bath once a month!!! In other parts of Europe they bathed less often. :-( Soups with diamonds inside, court intrigues and other historical anecdotes are all found in Vigee Lebrun's memoirs. But is the book good??? As promised, here is my review of the Memoirs!

Vigee Lebrun was an 18th century famous French artist, who was particularly admired for her portraits. Marie Antoinette was her most famous customer.

The book is honest, clever and covers a large part of Vigee Lebrun's life, including her long years of traveling across Europe.

However, I found this book rather boring. There are pages and pages of endless descriptions of landscape: in the end, I thought that if I had to go through another 5,000 words on how a lake looked like I would go insane!

Plus, we get to read a lot about the people Elizabeth meets, but not too much about herself. This is rather depressing, as if she somehow doesn't exist.

I would recommend the Memoirs only if you are interested in reading about landscapes, European history and history of art. Even so, the book is like a boring textbook and not like a piece you might enjoy.

Have a good evening and be well! Xxx 💖❤️💝💄
‪#‎frenchart‬ ‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎femaleartists‬ ‪#‎thelipstickpapers‬ ‪#‎history‬ ‪#‎frenchhistory‬‪#‎eighteenthcentury‬ ‪#‎vigeelebrun‬

SHAPED MY IMAGINATION

The woman's bag is so close to her identity, that the protagonist in an Italian photo romance, who wanted to disappear, threw her bag in the river, on the spot where they had found another young woman's body. The protagonist is presumed dead, and a long line of interesting events begins!

Here I am with the lovely Killah bag given to me as birthday present from my friends Salina and Demetra! I love this beautiful bag, which can fit in all my stuff and reminds me of friendship and common tastes.

I have to say that I love all my bags, even the plain ones, because they help me navigate through the day. They have all the basics for survival on a desert island, from lipstick to scissors.

As for the Italian photo romances, they were the first stories I read after fairytales, and they definitely shaped my imagination. Now I write what can be called photo romances myself, in narrative form, of course.

The only problem with this bag is that it is too pretty to use!

Have a great start to the week xxx
‪#‎Killah‬ ‪#‎Italy‬ ‪#‎Italianphotoromances‬ ‪#‎birthday‬ ‪#‎thelipstickpapers‬ ‪#‎friends‬ #birthday

ESPECIALLY BAD BOY PARIS

Today I got one of the best birthday gifts ever, from my cousin Nicola! This was a Lulu Guiness LIPSTICK key ring!!! Perfection! I love gifts, giving and receiving them. I never understood why Anastasia Steele is so sour about Christian's gifts in Fifty Shades. I would have let him present me with all those designer outfits and red Audis and I would sign any bloody contract he wanted. You say I have no dignity? Think again. Christian is beautiful like a Greek God, and a billionaire to boot. I have all the dignity in the world!!!

Still, in literature gifts are often ambivalent, ever since the Greeks gave the Trojan horse to the poor people of Troy (I always go for the Trojans in the Iliad, especially bad boy Paris. You too? Great. I am glad my home country Cyprus stayed neutral and did not participate in the Trojan war).

Miss Havisham's gifts to Estella are sinister in Great Expectations, while Jane is not very happy with Mr Rochester's generosity in Jane Eyre. But I am more like little Adele myself, who can't wait to see the things Mr R gets her from Paris!

The amazing lipstick key ring is now among my most valued possessions, and there it is on my coffee table!

Another great birthday gift for me coming soon in another post! Xxx

#birthday #Iliad #Homer #FiftyShades #ChristianGrey #lipstick #LuluGuiness

DID I MENTION

Writing in The Lipstick Papers while watching Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal vs Iceland: great fun! I'm writing to present the exhibition of the art and fashion students at Alexander college, where I teach!

I really loved the exhibition. Most pieces were great, as you can see. My favorites were the pottery vases, in imitation of the ancient Cypriot technique.

What I loved most was the breath of fresh air and energy that comes from young people who are passionate about what they do. As lord Henry says in The Picture of Dorian Gray, I never ask advice from the old, only from the young. Youth has its own wisdom. (Since we cannot all have a portrait in the attic and stay always physically young, we should at least try to stay young at heart!)

There was plenty of food, too. Yum!

Attendance was great and the rooms and corridors of the Art department building were full.

Did I mention that it was also my birthday??? ❤️💋💝💖🎂

Have a great evening xxx
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎artexhibition‬ ‪#‎collegeart‬ ‪#‎ancientcyprus‬ ‪#‎antiquity‬ ‪#‎ronaldo‬

NEW TATTOOS

Premiering the new tattoos! Here I am seated like the "head girl of a nicely run orphanage", quote I got from a book!

The two new tattoos are a small rose on the lower leg and another pet's name next to Lady's (on the other leg). The pet name is "Gatoula", Greek for little kitten, which was the name I had for the most amazing little cat. I had raised her in my building block's parking, until some crazy driver killed her as she was trying to cross the road. Gatoula was the cleanest, kindest, best-mannered and most devoted of cats. Now she will be always with me, like Lady.

All my tattoos have great personal significance.

The head girl quote comes from the Rosamunde Pilcher novel, The day of the storm. I had liked the novel the first time I read it, not so much now. My standards have changed. Still, the quote is perfect.

Have a fantastic Friday! Xxx ❤️💄💖💋💝

FULLY AT IT

Ironing lesson at my aunt's house! I can't iron anything, while my aunt has ironed the clothes of four generations. She started ironing for her siblings when she was only 9 years old. As a result, she knows everything there is to know about it, while I don't even own an iron.

Still, I don't think that you need to iron everything. Nowadays, most clothes come out of the washing machine looking fantastic. In the future, the washing machine will release the clothes fully pressed.

This future is not here yet, though, and brain washing from Fashion TV has made me realize that some pieces need to be ironed. I have to learn! Here I am fully at it.

Don't imagine that I have cracked the secrets of the practice yet. I still need to go buy an iron and a board.

Scenes of ironing in literature are full of good feeling and warmth. Yet don't be fooled. It's a tough thing, as my aunt can testify.

Plus, I am not in any way suggesting that ironing is a woman's work. Any person over 14 in the house who wants their clothes pressed must do it for themselves.

Have a great time for mid-week!

Xxx 💖💝💄❤️

A LIFE IN FASHION

Sitting at the VIP lounge of a fashion boutique feels so cool! Here I am with my friend Cristina Karekla, fashion designer! Her fashion boutique is "a little corner of Milan", as the Cyprus Weekly called it 😀

I met Cristina last year, and immediately I thought how amazing it would be to feature her and her work in The Lipstick Papers!

Cristina's fashion boutique is right off Ermou street here in Larnaca. The boutique itself is divided in three areas: the VIP lounge, with exclusive designers (Cristina and others). It's the lovely room where Cristina will also do client image consulting. Then there is the room with the Cristina Karekla collection, which is all about an urban and youthful look. Finally, Cristina's own atelier, where all the hard work happens!

I had a terrific time looking at the lines and clothes. My favorite is the powder color dress you can see me holding in some of the pics!

Cristina is lively, hospitable and kind. Apart from her fashion line, she's also a freelance stylist at the Milan fashion week. I think we share an obsession with fashion and a love of the artistic and authentic. Also a love of dogs!

Larnaca: home of fashion designers! Alongside Milan, London, Paris, New York City... 😎

P.S. Many thanks to Cristina, for kindly posing for The Lipstick Papers!
#fashion #fashionatelier #fashionblogger #fashiondesign #designergown 

BEAUTY AND A BOOK

Wearing the coolest hat at the Parga bookshop book bazaar! Which book? The seamstress, of course! I try to buy novels that have to do with fashion. The fashion theme is the only reason I still keep books like Mystral's daughter and Scruples in my library. They are trashy novels, but the research that has gone into fashion and beauty is incredible.

Anyway, the book bazaar was quite incredible too, with up to 35% discounts. I think today was the last day, but I'm not sure about this.

Along with the cool hat I'm also wearing my amazing pink top!

Have a good evening, always with beauty and a book  :)

💝💖💋