RBL Housewives of Tudor England Collection

by 1:33 PM 13 comments
These is the latest releases from Rescue Beauty Lounge, the Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty collection. I thought since these are available now at the RBL website, I might also turn this into a bit of a history lesson. I find all this fascinating however you might not, so if you don't care about the past, the descriptions are in italics and you can ignore the rest.

Catherine
Royal purple with a fine pewter sheen and hints of blue and fuchsia shimmer. Inspired by and named after Catherine of Aragon, the first of King Henry the VIII's six wives. She was also the first female ambassador in European history. (Have you seen The Other Boleyn Girl? Catherine was the wife that he had before Anne (Natalie Portman) came along.)
Why she's awesome? Because when her husband tried to annul their 24 year marriage due to his mail heirs dying in their infancy and against the Pope's wishes, she pretty much said "Screw you". She refused and she and many others considered her to be the King's rightful wife and the true Queen of England until her death.

Catherine H
Shimmering Wedgewood blue hue with a hint of a gold- and pink-flecked darkening sky. Inspired by and named after Catherine Howard, King Henry the VIII's fifth wife. She was married to King Henry for less then two years before he had her beheaded for treason, which in this case was adultery. She was about 18 when she was executed. The two men whom she had had her affairs with, Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were also executed.
Why she's awesome? Following the trend of Catherine of Aragon, she stuck it to the King when she allegedly said as her last words "I die a Queen, but I would rather have died the wife of Culpeper."


Anne
Olive green with a pink-gold metallic iridescence. Inspired by and named after Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry the VIII. She lasted as Queen just under three years. Anne was the cause of the collapse of power of the Catholic Church in England. As mentioned before, Henry wanted to annul his marriage to his first wife Catherine so that he could marry Anne, who refused to be just another mistress like her sister Mary Boleyn. The Pope said no, Henry chucked a tantie and decided that he was above the Church anyway and married Anne so that he might have a legitimate male heir. The Pope decreed a sentence of excommunication against Henry causing the break between Rome and the Church of England. After that, the Church of England was under Henry's control. Anne gave birth to Elizabeth the first, yes, that Elizabeth. However, three miscarriages later, Henry was looking elsewhere and Anne was investigated for high treason. She was found guilty on charges of adultery and incest and beheaded, however modern historians find these charges and the evidence presented as unconvincing.
Why she's awesome? Incredibly gracious to the very end, even the executioner was so enamoured with her that he apparently called "Where's my sword" as he swung so she never knew it was coming.

Jane
A pale gray pearl with sheer washes of pink and gold. Inspired by and named after Jane Seymour. She was the third wife of King Henry and succeeded Anne. She ruled for just over a year and died due to postnatal complications less then two weeks after the birth of her son. They were married ten days after the execution of Anne, however Henry did not crown her due to a plague in London where the coronation was to happen. Honestly, the girl seemed a little bit like a stick in the mud who banned all the fun stuff introduced by Anne. She is described as strict, conservative and formal. However she was incredibly loyal to her former mistress Catherine of Aragon. Why she's awesome? As mentioned, she was loyal. Incredibly so. She reunited Henry with his first child from his marriage with Catherine and tried to restore Mary, Henry's child with Catherine, as heir to throne over any child she might bear as his wife. It didn't work since the son of Jane was future King of England Edward VI, but it was a good try anyway. (Although that may have been a smart move, because once Mary got to power, she caused a bit of strife, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary", which can never be a good thing.)
Ok, that's it for today.
Be awesome to each other.

Bec

Makeup Artist

I am a fully qualified makeup artist who is internationally published, and I have worked with and been mentored by some of the very best in the business! Now I'm ready to share my tips and tricks, answer your questions and most importantly, help you make every makeup moment a memorable one.

13 comments:

  1. The first and third are my faves!

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  2. I'm saving up for Catherine and Anne. I'm so happy those are the only colors I liked, because those are the only wives that I have any historical interest in. I loved Spanish Catherine best...she was such a classy woman. Out of all the wives, she's the only one I really felt for. She didn't deserve what she got at all.

    And I liked Anne because she was an OG and did whatever she wanted. Plus she was supposed to be really clever. But I wasn't that sad for her, because she kind of deserved it a little. With all the people that she unfairly sent to the block, it was only a matter of time before the universe paid her back. Also, she was soo mean to Catherine. :(

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  3. I do love the Anne and Catherine, for its colour and cause I´m big fan of Anne Boleyn and Catherine of AragĂłn too!!!!!! 2 very different women that share a big personality and strength.

    Bec, don´t worry about the Spanish, I speak english everyday and do like to write it (plus I need it in my job) cause I have a lot of friends in US.
    Big Kiss.
    I just love your blog ;)

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  4. Wow, I just appreciate the indepth info on these ladies. I knew nothing about them. So thanks for that. I think Jane is my fave. Love neutrals like this.

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  5. Hi Chaos,

    I am a fan of Spanish Catherine too! She was just such a classy woman, she handled being screwed over with such grace. Apparently Catherine of Aragon and Anne were both highly educated women, so go them!

    I agree about Anne, while I liked the fact that she was different, she got bitten in the ass by karma big time.

    Hooray for other history buffs!

    Bec

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  6. Hi Andrea,

    It seems everyone loves those two polishes the best. Understandable, they are pretty unique, much like the women they were modeled after.

    Phew, that's good to hear about the Spanish, because I suck massively at it. It's so impressive that you speak English so fluently that you can use it in your work life, I can't imagine being able to do that. You are so talented!

    Bec

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  7. Hi Eileen,

    No problem, I love sharing random stuff like this that I know, but finding someone who has enough interest to listen to my rambling is another issue. They are impressive ladies that are relatively unknown in modern times and I think that it is such a shame.

    For some reason the Jane polish reminds me of mushrooms. I don't like mushrooms, but I do like that polish.

    Bec

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  8. i love to read about this period as well. i have tried to read as many different points of view as i can, so that i can form my own opinions!

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  9. Hi Jess,

    It really is a facinating period, it's hard to imagine that it was ever really like that.

    And you are absolutely right about reading as much as you can from as many different sources. Every modern historian and authors of the work salvaged from that period have their own opinions, bias and see thing diffently which means every version we hear will be slightly different and we will never know 100% for sure what's what. But I like that about history, it allows you to interpret the past into something more meaningful to you.

    Bec

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  10. What are your favorite books on the subject? Naturally I have read every single Phillepa Gregory book out there, some much worse than others!

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