Oh, my gosh! OK, got a movie recommendation for you. It’s a real gem too.
OK, are you ready? Here it goes: it’s called The Last Letter from Your Lover, and it’s streaming on Netflix. It’s a sweet romantic drama starring Shailene Woodley and Felicity Jones, set in England and France, and it’s all about two women — a journalist in the modern era (Felicity Jones) and a housewife in the ’60s (Shailene Woodley) — and the story flips back and forth between the eras as a mystery unfolds. The story follows both women finding love in unlikely places.
For various reasons, I can’t watch anything too heavy before bed, so I was so happy to stumble on it because — it’s really good! It’s not just sweet and easy to watch, but ooh! — the makeup, the hair, the fashion! It’s totally worth watching just for the visual inspiration IMO, especially with fall makeup just around the corner.
The makeup in the ’60s scenes with Shailene Woodley is just…SWOON. Her character is trapped in an unhappy marriage to a wealthy tycoon, and she’s always dressed to impress from head to toe.
She wears so many variations on winged liner (or cat eyeliner, if ya will!), and she rocks the bold black matte with lots of long lashes and big brows in many scenes, of course, but sometimes she also wears softened versions with subtle smudging along the edges, or with the liner smoked out with a soft gray. Seriously, if you’re a big ol’ makeup nerd like I am, I think you’ll like it.
Oh! — there are also many scenes with very subtle cut creases, which are just too good!
And then there’s the ’60s hair. I mean, none of it looks wash-and-wear air dry (my usual go-to), but I still love how structured it looks, how all the coifs are smooth and perfectly pinned into place with loads of volume and bounce. Sure, does any of it move naturally? Not really! But dang if it doesn’t look fantastic on camera. It reminds me a little of ’80s hair because it’s just so big and bouncy and absolutely beautiful. I love that it looks “done.”
Now, would I take the time and effort to do hair and makeup as structured and intricate as the styling in the movie? Probably not now, but if I had a 24/7 glam team at my disposal like Mariah Carey does (I swear I saw this once on a TV show! She has people around to do her hair and makeup at any time!), I just might. I’d say, “Hey, miracle makers! Please style me like a wealthy woman with a yacht on the French Riviera in the ’60s, and do that every day for the rest of my life.” HA HA HA!
I can’t forget to mention the clothes! Like the hair and makeup, the outfits in the ’60s are very structured and tailored and “done.” There’s lots of next-level matchy-matchy happening, which I adore. Shailene’s character never ever looks sloppy, which I think is super cool.
Anywho, I found this movie in the most random section on Neflix called “movies based on books,” and I stopped because I saw that it was based on a book by an author I like, Jojo Moyes. I recently read a book she wrote called The Giver of Stars and loved it! That’s another thing for you to check out if you’re looking for something not-too-scary to read before bed!
I’m off to do some winged liner now…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
It’s nice to do some “easy watching” sometimes. I always like to see onscreen characters that look put together. There’s not much of that in real life, at least around here, so it’s fun to see. I’m not complaining, of course, being the queen of casual! You probably wouldn’t want to watch the Queen’s Gambit before bed, but I found the hair/makeup/wardrobe in that to be very sharp, too. on Netflix as well. 🙂
You know me so well. I watched that a while back and could only handle it during the daytime hours! The styling in that series was really great.
I had so much dread. It reminded me of Mad Men when I would literally have to look away while saying “oh, please don’t… no, no, NO!!”. The bad decision spirals stress me out! I am not necessarily someone who needs a happy ending but sometimes it’s great to have them. 🙂 I thought of you when she had the Twiggy eye makeup going on. And the all-white in Russia was awesome. Plus, anything with Sam from Love, Actually makes me “awwww”. I so love that movie. 🙂
Oh that ’60’s look. I absolutely loved the look (clothes and makeup) of “The Queen’s Gambit”. So chic.
Stay cool!
I saw this movie the day it premiered on Netflix! REALLY liked it!
I read the book and watched the movie! I thought I was the only one swooning over her look- juuuust gorgeous! The book was better, if you get a chance to read it, I highly recommend it.
It generally seems like the book is always better, right? I’m definitely adding it to my list.
I love the looks from the ’60s! (and the 70’s)! My favorite! I actually feel like the makeup seemed softer then? I don’t think women wore nearly as much makeup (though I could be wrong about that) as say the Instagram looks we see now.
Oh and the fashion! My heart! Yeah if I had a fashion squad around at my beck and call, yep yep. Oh, the dream. I need to check out this movie! The only show I have watched lately was The Home Edit about organization LOL, but IT’S SO GOOD! I am a nerd for the organization even though trying to achieve it seems impossible!
The fashion from that era is beautiful! I would love a few vintage jackets from that era.
Thanks for the heads up on the organization show; I need some inspo!
Definitely going to check this out!
I hope you like it, Bella!
p.s. I just finished watching “Last Letter from your lover,” OH MY GOSH!!
The film was beautiful both story-wise, I mean perfect love story and also visually a really beautiful film. I also may have cried at the end, maybe. 🙂
I got a little teary at the end, too. So glad you enjoyed the film! (I might watch it again this weekend!)
Try the book Karen – I am halfway through it and it is great. Now I need to read faster so I can check out these incredible hair styles, outfits and the 60s makeup! I swear I was born in the wrong era.
Thanks for recommending this movie.
I love 60s fashion, but so far JoJo Moyes wasn‘t a big win for me in terms of books. I read two and both were too much of „girl struggles until man comes to save her“. She has written many books though, so maybe I just picked the wrong ones.
Due to your recommendation I watched this movie over the weekend. I loved it !!! I was very happy it had a happy ending. Loved the make-up, the clothes, hats, gloves and the music. Need to watch it again! I also have already ordered the book! Thank you; thank you.