I’m from Russia. The territory of my country is obviously huge and there are many nationalities living here. Every nation has unique idea of beauty and that led to the fact that Russian standards of beauty are really diverse and interesting. I wouldn’t say that there is something particular that could be defined as beautiful here. Everything is acceptable: different shapes, colours, sizes. Probably, if somebody else from Russia would answer this question he/she could list such features as plump lips, big eyes, slim body, but in my personal experience such things are not important if somebody’s face and body look harmonious. Also, I think I could mention that Russians like “special” features and interesting, bright faces. For example, if you have round face, there will be people who will say that you have cute cheeks, if you have blonde hair and brown eyes or you have asian eyes which are green or blue it will be automatically perceived as your charm, highlight.

So, in the first place I’d like to mention Erich Fromm’s «The art of loving». I think there are a lot of life lessons inside this book. This book teaches you how to go beyond the common stereotypes of what love is, how to be sympathetic, how to analyse the difficulties of your relationships, and how to give graciously. And it’s not only about romantic relationships, but also about being in love with life itself. It totally changed my perception of love, and there were many situations when I could apply knowledges which I gained from this book. The second book which I believe has changed my life is «The little Prince» by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I’ve read it several times and every time I could find some new details which amazed me. It’s such a sweet, sincere and cautionary story. The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize how genius this book is. It’s easy to read, it’s easy lo learn from it and it definitely has lots of parallels with real life.