{beauty icon : elizabeth taylor}

There was absoloutley nothing subtle about Elizabeth Taylor's beauty; ample cleavage, deep tan, huge violet eyes - and her fashion sense was just a bold. 

The 1940s and 1950s were undoubtedly her heyday, many of Elizabeth's favourite outfits are still celebrated and reinvented today; plunging necklines, bejewelled dressed, clinched waists, beautiful fur jackets and of course - diamonds galore.

Places : Backstage | Dennis Basso spring 2013, new york

I have promised not to bombard you with fashion week looks as I eventually catch up on the catwalk action of September, but I couldn't resist sharing with you the most beautiful New York show, with ceilings painted as the sky, gilded archways and yards upon yards of silk drapery, golden chandeliers, and the most exquisite gowns, embellishments, beading and lace, an intermingling of tulle and ballerina buns. There are no other words other than magical.

The penthouse of the St. Regis is plenty fabulous without the newest and prettiest faces of New York's upper east side model agencies, decked in what is in my opinion, the best Dennis Basso collection yet. The dresses were bigger, the adornments were shinier, the fringe was fringier…. 

Backstage Beauty: Fall 2012 Haute Couture | Christian Dior

Inspired by Christian Dior's architectural vision, Simons' designs boasted familiar silhouettes with new, contemporary touches—a message he translated to hairstylist Guido Palau and makeup artist Pat McGrath. Gone were the coiffed couture updos, the perfect red lips, and the winged black liner of old. In their place: air-dried, blunt-cut middle parts; matte, multi-tonal mouths; and electric cat-eyes with coloured lashes.

Designed by Dior creative director of makeup Tyen, the palette of colors employed backstage was positively futuristic. Using a full-coverage skin tint, like CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation dusted with its Pressed Powder, Pat McGrath kept complexions paled out and matte, save for a slight contour on cheekbones that she created with a pink blush. She then turned her attention to eyes that came in four different iterations, all of which boasted two unifying factors in the form of white kohl liner along the inner rims and a thick slick of chrome cream eye shadow, like CoverGirl Intense ShadowBlast in Platinum Pop.

Backstage Beauty: Diane von Furstenberg SS12

A few pops of colour in the form of statement lips were obvious at the likes of Prabal Gurung & Jason Wu, yet besides the usual suspects, there has undoubtedly been a more muted makeup trend for spring - the tonal palette. The process requires the complementary and contrasting neutral shades with both cool and warm undertones - demonstrated perfectly at Diane von Furstenberg.

Makeup artist, James Kaliardos smudged about ten different shades of MAC's versatile Cream Colour Base  (£14.50) on a plastic plate/mixing tray to create custom blend pigments to suit each models skin tone. Inspired by "modern Africa", Kaliardos sculpted cheeks & with colours slightly darker than each girls complexion and added dimension to eyes by building in a lighter centre and inner corner area. 

Backstage Beauty: Valentino SS12

The SS12 Valentino show was a collection of dresses boasting hand-painted floral prints, each more one more gorgeous than the previous, so a charming beatuty look was essential. Cue makeup pro, Pat McGrath who focuses on a simple and pretty soft palette of pink cheeks and light grey lids.