Bringing sexy back

Whatever "sexy" may mean to you (and it is certainly very subjective), there are many little tips and tricks to give you a confidence boost and make you feel amazing. Sometimes all it takes is a coat of your favourite lip colour and the right attitude, and other times you may need to really step it up and go the full monty!

The kind of "sexy" I love is the sex kitten-ish look worn by blonde bombshell Brigitte Bardot in the 1960's (pictured above). The sultry smoky eyes, nude lips and sexy bed hair.... To pull off such a look a certain level of confidence is required, and it's important to note that being "sexy" is more about attitude than anything else. However, I like to take all the help I can get, and there's no doubt clever make up application and hair styling boost confidence. A modern, pared down version of this look is my absolute favourite for night time.

HOW TO BECOME A SEX KITTEN (in a few easy steps)

• Work the eyes, keep the lips simple. Use a large eyeshadow brush and apply a pale shimmery eyeshadow over the entire upper lid, take some along the lower lashes and in the inner corners of the eye to open the eye up.

• Apply a darker shadow, using a smaller eyeshadow brush (grey or brown, but black is best) along the upper lashline, and blend into the outer half of the lid, along the crease. Blend over this with the larger brush. Repeat until you have the desired depth of colour. Blend, blend, blend so the darker shadow merges seamlessly with the nude shadow.

• Using a black liner, line the top and lower lashline and smudge gently. I like to go over this with a little black shadow on an angle brush to set the liner and soften the lines.

• Finish with two coats of mascara, wiggle the brush through to separate the lashes and evenly distribute the product. False lashes look outstanding if you can master them, a wee bit of practice may be needed first to get these babies on! I like to cut a full set of lashes in half and use half on the outer corners of each eye to open the eyes up.

• Keep lips natural, a pinky nude lipstick topped with a dab of gloss will allow the focus to remain on the eyes.

• Pop some velcro or heated rollers into hair before you do your makeup, once you've taken them out, lightly tease the roots at the crown. Loosely curl the ends of you hair, and mess hair up slightly with fingers so it's not too perfect (we want bedroom hair, not 6th form school ball ringlets) finish by flipping your head upside down and spritzing with hairspray for ultra volume.

• Every woman worth her Jimmy Choos knows that high heels make for extra confidence, so put on the highest pair you own and strut!

I leave you with a funny little quote that I know to be true (and have also heard Tyra Banks agree with) -

"If you're going to be sexy in a photo, you'd better be thinking about sex rather than about being sexy!"