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Oil on card by Celia Turner. My beloved grandma always wore red lipstick, she would not leave the house without a full face of make-up crowned by her lush red lips. It must be in my genes because for as long as I've been wearing lipstick (which is a long time) it's been red. Now it's Alarm by Rimmel to walk the dog around the park and Gabrielle by Chanel for special occasions. Chanel lipsticks are an extra special treat as they come in lovely little boxes tucked into lovely little Chanel bags. A beautiful present to yourself. Although this doesn't apply to me, red lips have been seen for centuries as a stamp of immorality. In more God- fearing medieval times, it was believed that creating a plump sexualised mouth would take you on a one-way ticket to the devil's doorway. Several hundred years later, Parliament passed a law condemning lipstick, considering it a sign of witchcraft. Good job I wasn't alive in those times, yet another reason to pop me on the ...

My Glamorous Grandma, My Stylish Mum and Her Sisters and Brothers circa 1960. Grandma never left the house without applying full make-up including her trademark red lippy! I'm loving all those handbags. Elizabeth Taylor, photographed by Henry Clarke, 1967 Since the earliest movies shot their stars to fame, women have been inspired by what they've seen on screen, which by its very nature demands larger than life beauty, charisma, and style. After visiting the cinema, women gave themselves Louise Brooks haircuts (they still do) and dreamt about Garbo's otherworldly beauty. A few years later they dyed their hair platinum blonde after Jean Harlow and longed for legs like Betty Grable's or a bosom like Sophia Loren's. Nothing has promoted the idea of glamour in all its forms more than the cinema, whether we are watching Audrey Hepburn's gamine charm or Liz Taylor's more-is-more fireworks, or Marilyn Monroe's- well - Marilyn Monroe. Au...