Lusty desires

Anyone who knows me, can well tell you how much time I invest in surfing around websites of The Body Shop, Boots, Victoria Secrets etc.
So, while I was browsing through the newest collection of TBS, I saw this...

... and my heart let out a melancholic sigh.
[To, the insufferable, odious, klepto PIG, (Piglet, as I was staying in an all girls P.G when the event culminated) : I cannot, believe anyone can be so disgusting as to steal a beloved bottle of perfume. REALLY? This is beneath even you, whoever you may be. I hope you never have the pleasure of smelling fabulous, and I hope that bottle broke before you could spray it on your criminal hands]
Well, I am sorry for the outrage but as Mr Khaled Hosseni has written, quite marvelously, I may add, " There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. " And when you steal a bottle of perfume, you steal the buyer's right to enjoy her purchase and smell amazing.

Anyhow, I am currently lusting after the new Sweet Lemon range of TBS. I love citrus-y smells, especially in soaps and shower gels! I am currently using a Lime soap, and I can't get enough of my own self when I am just out of a bath. It smells so fresh. Energising and invigorating. Like a breath of air, a ray of sunlight, No? I am dying to get my hands on the moisturiser, especially. I am very loyal to Body Shop lotions. They are very light and fluff, and their smell lingers on while not being particularly strong.

I, don't usually use a lot of Body Shop make up, but their latest "Baked-To-Last Colours" sounds pretty good. The jade baked eye colour, in this range looked particularly appealing. It has a great blend of green and blue, and will look fabulous worn with dark or complimentary colours. It will be perfect for evening outings!


What a pity, that my birthday has passed.

Aww.

Love the background score.
The short movie is beautiful! Gives me hope

Aisha

I have been super excited about the movie "Aisha" ever since I got to know that it is to be an adaptation of Aunt Jane's Emma, and that none other than the charismatic and the very very sexy Abhay Deol was to play Mr Knightley. And, contrary to most reviews and opinions, I wasn't disappointed. When I go for a movie, I am not looking for anything but entertainment. Weather that be from serious questioning cinema, a mindless comedy, chick flick, a rom-com, I have no qualms. Though I do love the classic Bollywood formula of singing and dancing with a heavy dose of melodrama the most, I am happy to take whatever I get as long as I get thoroughly entertained!

Aisha, was in and out a chick flick, but unlike most movies of this genre, this one did not sideline the men (read : ample Deol footing, so happiness) However, they could not do this, seeing as it was after all about match making or shall I say mismatching. Sonam Kapoor, is Aisha, who does not believe in not meddling. Living in elite South Delhi, is the much loved daughter of a widowed father, and the woman of the house as her elder sister is married off. She believes that she has a penchant for matchmaking, as one effort resulted in wedding bells. She also believes , with good intent, that everybody's business is her business. Arjun (Deol) begs to differ. He is brother-in-law to Aisha's sister, as well as being a favourite with her father. A suave, designer dressing, New York return investment banker. He see's Aisha as someone with a lot of potential who wastes it on her meddlesome quests. He never fails to point this out and reprimand her whenever needed and often when not needed. And then there is the gang (for a lack of a better word). Her quirky, sarcastic, very hot best friend Pinky Bose (Ira Dubey) She lives to throw caution at the winds, and insults at people's face. Never bitten, Never shy. She knows what she is and most importantly what she's not. And loyal to the core. The Harriett here is Shefali Thakkur (Amrita Puri) who comes from the back and beyond and begins to idolise Aisha. She is Aisha's project of the month, and Aisha's word is law for her. Then there are some other men who prance around , moving the plot but not this blog post. Matters not, because there is not much originality in the script, save for Ira Dubey who I did not find in the book. So obviously, a good original script is not what stuck with me, and neither is the movie a good adaptation, a good movie but not a good adaptation. It's almost a scene to scene copy, so anyone who has read the book or seen Clueless will know without a doubt what is to come.

But Aisha scores in almost every other dimension. The OST is a hit, though the choreography is a miss. I dare you to survive, gal mithi mithi bol, without bursting into peals of hysterical laughter. Good, fun song though. The dialogues are very much in line with the whole chick flick, uber elite Delhi, witty, sarcastic, humorous theme.

The character sketches, the director draws are definitely a big strength for the movie! Aisha, as in Emma, is a constant surprise. You love her, dislike her, admire her, and wish to reprimand her. But she does not leave you feeling sour, Cause she's what we all are. Human and very real. But one question, you cannot help asking is that, wy isn't se interested in boys herself? The sketching of all the characters, has been done brilliantly down to the last minute detail. You feel like, you know them. You can relate with them, you want to chill with them! Arjun, like his inspiration, Mr Knightley is a very sorted, very fearless person, but I found this inspiration of Knightley to be more realistic. You can see his reasons for criticizing Aisha, He is hard on her, but but it upsets him that both of them are upset with each other. But in the book, sometimes I found Mr Knightley doing exactly with Emma, what she did with Harriett. Just the style was different.

The clothes and accessories, oh please don't get me started!! Love, love, love. Maybe lust too.

What with my new love for all things yellow (excluding nail paint, that will never happen) I adored the strapless dress. And it did wonders for Sonam. She is anyway a very classy, stylish person to begin with, so she had just the right attitude and panache needed. Also loved the white and red hearts dress, with the heart shaped cut at the back! Moschino, I would think. The makeup, not on the face, actual tangible bottles, looked delicious. I need to devour L'Oreal soon.

A word for Ira Dubey, though I am not fond of such over the top dressing usually, she did wonders for the pieces! I absolutely loved her!

And now for the cast, Sonam for once satisfied me! She did a good job, we always knew she looked good, now we know that she can act! Abhay Deol, needless to say was fabulous. I cannot imagine another Arjun, but then I am a devoted fan. Oh, you can tell?Also, the chemistry between Abhay and Sonam was amazing! Being the eternal ( you might prefer the word hopeless) romantic that I am, I hope these too get together in real life!

But Amrita Puri, was the one who exceeded all expectations and stole the show! She was fabulous, very natural effortless acting. Very graceful. And I found her to be quite pretty too!

So all in all, I came out satisfied wanting too see more of the debutant director, Rajshree Ojha's work. Good times, so, good movie.

Oh, and I loved the last scene!

All things Valentino

Rosso Valentino. How can such bright, fiery red be made up yellow? Surprising, this.
My preference bends towards the fuchsia's. I have a thing for satin, and satin in stilettos just notches up the sexy quotient.

The pink clutch, very sophisticated and elegant. No?

Love the dresses, not so much the model.

Angela Lindvall, supermodel. I think she is one of the rare supermodels, I find pretty.Very defined features. I like sharp, stand alone features, which would look good in any face, any shape. She possesses that. And, especially her cheekbones! Love them. She, along with a windblown lavender, make an immensely pretty picture.

Along with Isabella Orsini. I love these two shades of blue, midnight and royal, right? And their expressions. Give so much away, yet so little.

Well it could be Angela, or this could be the magic of Peter Lindbergh

I love how he has broken the monotony of black and white, by black and white itself. I saw some of his other work at his website, and it surely calls for a post of its own!

Love, love, love the red dress! Whatever their red is made up, nobody makes red like Valentino. Or shall I say, made. Quite depressing. Why did they have to omit out the rosso to revamp the brand.

As a fanatic for the brand and Valentino Garavani, I am sure I'll love the movie. The movie apparently captures the madness of the fashion world, the designer's iconic wit, humor and relationship with business partner and life long companion, Giamatti. (Who, according to a tabloid, is truly the yin to his yang)

Valentino : The Last Emperor. Flanked by gorgeous models, sporting, not surprisingly the iconic Valentino red.

The 2010 adverts.I like black and white fashion photography, but somehow I prefer the previous Valentino, colourful vibrant advertisements.

Not a scarf person, but this one is exceptionally pretty. And the shades are nice,too.

One day, I shall do I/O for this haute couture brand. No harm in dreaming a little dream!

May you know peace.

Seen, The Prince and Me? Julia Stiles and Luke Mably? Well, if you have , you would have certainly not missed the huge map Stiles has up in her room, in which she has marked the places she wants to go to, to help restore proper medical conditions. I have a similar map in my room, Only its not for medical practice, and nor is it so huge. Nevertheless, it serves the purpose. I have marked all the places I've been to , and all the ones I want to be to. But, more about this later.
Anyhow, one of the first places which I had marked was Jammu and Kashmir, India.
My parents went honeymooning there and my home was adorned with pictures of Pahalgam, Srinagar, Dal lake. And infact still is, though not as much. Before I discovered Paris (virtually)I always thought J&K to be the paradise of the romantics. And how can it not be so? Such beauty on Earth, such pure virginal beauty, at a place not so out of the reach for me, and yet there is a shrill of terror everytime I mention wanting to visit. It is disheartening, how two nations can make a piece of land an ego issue. Forgive me for seeing it as anything more. Its certainly not a religious one, because I refuse to see how any God could ask for millions of innocent lives, and still fit deem to be worshipped. Besides, the population of Kashmir also has a good amount of Hindu citizens. It is not even a political one, because the decision regarding Kashmir was taken a good 63 years back, and there are papers to prove it. Somewhere, Raja Hari Singh is rolling in his grave, but while I agree he could have annexed India earlier, this fight is certainly not because of him. It is because of people who are too numbskulled, incompetent to comprehend the legality of a situation. And when logic, innocent lives, legal documents hold no weightage, you can be sure that its nothing but an ego battle. Because one has wasted a number of years( not to mention, billions of lives, energy and state finances) it would be fruitless to now withdraw, so why not continue wasting more of what has already been wasted, and fight a losing battle. ( You might notice the emphasis on the word waste.) And no, I do not direct this to Pakistan. I direct it equally to both the countries. I do not know who is more at fault, but I do know who is not at fault. The Kashmiri's. the breathtaking land.
Can you imagine living every single day in fear?Living in the heart of such God blessed beauty, yet not having the right to live whole heartedly, without inhibitions, as you and me do?Being fearful not of only the neighbouring country, but also of your own soldiers, your own government, who take a solemn oath in front of Country and God to protect you. The soldiers, who get the most honourable funeral there is, who are revered in the eyes and hearts of every citizen, what do they do? Not be on a constant lookout for danger, not safeguard the country, but brutally rape the women and children of Kashmir. Rape her of her self respect, rape her of the hopes of ever having a fearless life. I would not wish this fear on anybody, and yet some people have only known this fear.
I can only hope that someday this land and all of its beautiful people may know peace. And that someday soon, I can visit.

Don't these photographs look more like a job of photo shop than real natural landscape? I don't know, yet.