What I watched : Miss Austen Regrets

As you may already know if you've read some of my random non-beauty related articles, I'm a big Jane Austen fan. I love her novels and the person herself, and I'm sure we would have been great friends if I had known her (and lived in the same era, of course) !

A few days ago I bought the DVD of the movie Miss Austen Regrets. I couldn't find it anywhere before but I was lucky enough to get it finally ! and I watched it as soon as I could. And I loved it !

The movie is based on the letters Jane Austen sent to her sister Cassandra during her lifetime. It shows the well-known English writer, in her early forties (not long before her death, at the age of 41). As her beloved niece Fanny Knight comes to ask her questions about a boy she met, Jane remembers her own past.

She never married, but in this movie we get to know some of her relationships, or let's say love interests. I won't go too in depth about those, because the film is really worth watching. Olivia Williams, who plays Jane, is great. I particularly love how they put forward Jane's personality, showing that she was a very witty, funny and modern woman in her way of thinking. I noticed that in some scenes, I could relate to her, even though we are definitely not the same age and not living in the same era ! And that's probably why she has been so successful and so much loved (and still is), we all have something of Jane Austen in us ;)

Now that I've seen the movie, it makes me want to read all the letters that we have left from her. Let's see if I can find that !

Julia xx

Wishlist : April '13

Hi everyone !

This is my second wishlist of the year. I always love making these lists because the thought of buying things makes me happy. Yeah, maybe it's a disease like when you play poker too much or something, but what can you do ?
I'll probably don't even buy everything from my wishlist anyway. From my March wishlist, I only bought the dress and the Make Up Forever foundation (which I'll be reviewing soon !). Unfortunately, I didn't find the New Look necklace that I wanted, and I didn't like the chambray skirt when I saw it in the shop.
Concerning the Coalface cleanser from Lush... I may buy it this month, but I'm not sure now that I have spotted another cleanser that seems good. We'll see !
And I'm adding a book in this wishlist, because I've wanted to read it for so long it's now an obsession, I need to get it !

So here is the list :

1. H&M sleeveless blouse from the Conscious collection, here for £9.99.

2. Angels on Bare Skin, Lush, £6.25 for 100g.

or (I'm not sure of what to choose yet)

3. Coalface, Lush, 4.70 for 100g.

4. Tan cat face clip frame purse, New Look, on the website for 4.99€.

5. Ultra Glossy Stylo (SPF 15), Kiko, you can have it here (the brand ships in the UK) for 4.90€.

6. Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen (any edition really, it will not be more than 5€).

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That's all for this month ! again not a huge list featuring loads of Chanel or MAC products, I would be too disappointed if I made a list and ended up buying nothing from it, heh.

I wish you all a very nice weekend !

Julia xx

What I'm loving right now : Pride and Prejudice 200th anniversary

Hello !

This article will not be beauty or fashion related, but these are not the only things I love - and I want to share all my interests on here. So today I'll be talking about Jane Austen !

I'm a very big fan of the 19th century British literature and its adaptations on TV and movies.  And I particularly love Jane Austen.

This year, as you may know already, is the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice, the masterpiece of that fantastic lady. It was published for the first time in January 1813 - anonymously, under the name "the author of Sense and Sensibility" (which was itself published in 1811, by "A Lady").

By this anniversary, we can see how Austen's work has lived through the centuries, and is still very much loved today. Her society was so different than ours regarding many aspects of it (not to speak about civilities and the relationship between men and women, which still amazes me - in a bad way ! - sometimes), but was also in some ways very similar : we all know someone who looks like one of her characters ! a Lydia Bennet, a Catherine Morland or a funny Mr Bennet. 

These books are still very famous and read today, because we can all relate to it in a way.

Pride and Prejudice must be my favourite book by Austen - no surprise ! I like it mainly because of Elizabeth. She is the most interesting of all the characters Austen wrote. She is definitely not perfect, but she is smart and witty, and mocks the society she lives in and how it works. I love her personality, and I wish I looked like her a little more. If I can tell you a secret... well : I like Lizzy so much that if I have a baby girl one day, I wish to call her Elizabeth. Now you can call me crazy, but I'm stuck to this idea and I will make it happen ! hehe.

But this book is not about Elizabeth only, and all the characters are so unique that it is their whole that makes this little society very attaching. And of course the love story between Lizzy and Darcy is so precious : Austen managed to describe the evolution of Elizabeth's feelings step by step in a very natural and realistic way. And that makes things even more beautiful and likely to be true ! As if Elizabeth, Darcy and all their little world and story happened for real. We cannot really believe that love at first sight as described in some romantic novels does happen every day in the real world, can we ?

Anyways, I could speak about this book forever so maybe I should just stop my personal appreciation now. The other thing I wanted to speak about and which is related to this anniversary is... The Pride and Prejudice new stamps ! they are amazing.

There is one stamp for each of Jane Austen's novel. My favourite are the Pride and Prejudice and the Northanger Abbey ones. I would - almost - kill to get this set ! People of Britain, if you read me... you are so lucky.

The drawings were made by Angela Barrett. They are very lovely !

I think this is a great tribute to the work of Miss Austen, whose legacy is definitely going to celebrate a lot more anniversaries in the future !

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 Julia xx