Lust, Caution - a visual feast

I saw Ang Lee's latest film, "Lust, Caution", recently. Despite the lacklustre reviews I've read, I very much enjoyed the film. But rather than reviewing the film here, I want to talk about the visual feast of fashion and beauty it provides. Set in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the 1940s, the women of the film wear a wonderful mix of traditional Chinese (gorgeous cheongsams in numerous different fabrics):





... and Western styles (classic trenches, chic hats and very covetable oversized clutches):







I wasn't able to locate more detailed pictures of the makeup, but during scenes where the women play gossipy games of mahjong, I was admiring their glossy, berry-tinted lips and perfectly lacquered nails in juicy shades of watermelon and blackberry, while pondering the best type of brush to achieve that subtly-lined eye with the tiny perfect flick.



How advantageous, then, that the languorous pace of the film allowed me to focus on the visual aspects of the film without missing what was going on in the plot!


Images courtesy of Yahoo! Movies

Japanese Garden at Powerscourt

While visiting Powerscourt House & Gardens a few weeks ago, I was very taken with the Japanese Garden there. Here are some of the pictures I took of my favourite features.

The view from above of the garden with its pagoda:



Small streams winding and falling around the different levels:



Little wooden bridges crossing the streams:



Stone arches leading into secluded mossy alcoves:

Giorgio Armani Spring 2008

Armani's Spring collection is out and although I haven't seen it up close and personal yet, the ad campaign featuring model Sasha Pivarova makes it look seriously pretty. Featuring a naturally luminous base, with iridiscent highlights and just a hint of colour, this look is all about perfecting the flawless base and then gently highlighting the features. The new Luminous Silk Powder will be a welcome companion for the already popular Luminous Silk Foundation, and the limited edition Radiant Pigments Fluid Sheer adds a hint of colour and illumination to the cheeks. I'm already a fan of the Fluid Sheer highlighters, so I look forward to trying this new formula out.

As alway, theAdvisor feature on the website describes in detail how to achieve the look.

In Ireland, this collection should be available from Brown Thomas towards the end of the month, if not earlier.

APC Sunglasses

I'd been impatiently awaiting the APC sale to see if the gorgeous black patent wedges I'd been coveting for months would come down enough for me to justify buying them, but unfortunately they were sold out in my size by the time it came around. Still, I did get my paws on this pair of sunglasses:



The light frames will make a refreshing change from my usual black or brown frames and I'm picturing them in my mind's eye with jeans, a navy t-shirt and a sheer, glossy red lipstick.

If you like them too, they're one of the few items still in stock in the APC sale!

Winter Cherry Blossom at Powerscourt Gardens

At Powerscourt Gardens the other day, I came across cherry blossom in bloom. I thought the recent mild weather had tricked the tree into blossoming early, but I looked up the variety later on (they had helpfully labelled the trunk of the tree) and discovered Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis' (yes, the name might have given the game away, had I thought about it) does generally flower between November and January. In fact, the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK has even named it Plant of the Month for January!



Cherry blossom is probably my favourite type of flower and this variety is a lovely one. In the bud, the blossoms are a pretty shade of pink, hence the common name of rosebud cherry. In bloom, the blossoms are white with a hint of pink and very delicate in appearance. Very pretty, particularly as not much else is in bloom at the moment in the very green Powerscourt Gardens.

One Hundred Aspects of the Moon

Yesterday I went to the see an exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints at the Chester Beatty Library in the grounds of Dublin Castle. 'One Hundred Aspects of the Moon', by the artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, is a collection of 100 portraits, each linked to phases of the moon. The fine detail and vibrant colours of the prints, as well as the links to Japanese history and folklore, make this an exhibition worth seeing, particularly if you have an interest in Japanese culture.

The collection will be on show until February 17th, 2008.



Images courtesy of the Chester Beatty Library website

Happy New Year, Happy New Diary

My favourite thing about New Year's Day is getting to start a new diary. I always make a resolution to keep a daily diary and then get lazy after a week or two, but with my brand new red Moleskine Pocket Diary, I'm sure I'll last until February at the very least this year...



Not only does this diary come with a limited edition red cover instead of the usual black, it also contains sheets of stickers and labels, so you can customise it to your heart's content. Highlight banner days with birthday cakes, love hearts or cocktail glasses; add smiley or frowny faces to good or bad days; decorate your shopping hauls with cute little shopping bags... or be practical and highlight dentist appointments and meetings in your calendar.



Also included is a removable tabbed booklet which you can categorise with labels included, such as music, books or movies, or with headings of your own choice on the empty labels provided. I'll definitely be keeping lists of the movies I see and books I read throughout the year.

With a full page per day, plus calendar overview pages for 2008 and 2009, travel planning pages, a list of international holidays and the international timezones among other useful extras, this is the perfect little red book for keeping a complete record of 2008.

Also available in black, and in a larger format. Check the Moleskine website for a complete guide to their offerings.