This happy hue is one of Spring’s hottest trends and certainly the colour to wear if you want to get noticed. Lemon, mustard, saffron, mango, neon and canary shades all have a prominent place this season.

Yellow items of clothing can be overwhelming, sallow and unflattering. It’s all about the shade you choose and what you pair it with. Match yellow with:

• Neutrals like black, white, cream, stone, grey, khaki, brown and denim. This sophisticated combination will not fail. It’s nice to freshen up the black and white combinations that most of us already have in our wardrobes with the warmth of a yellow hue.
• Blues like navy, periwinkle, and cobalt are particularly striking on those of you with blue eyes.
• Brights like fire engine red, hot pink, key lime and kelly green. This combination is for the ultra daring individual who is confident making striking statements with bold colours.

Buying a shirt, blouse, camisole, T-shirt, tunic, cardigan, pullover, dress or trench in some shade of yellow is a good way to update for Spring. Don’t be afraid to give this rather controversial colour a chance – you might be pleasantly surprised.

Casual and smart casual combinations in yellow and neutrals from  J. Crew, Nordstrom and Esprit.

While you don’t need to have a bag for every outfit, using one handbag for all occasions simply does not work. Women often ask me to recommend a handbag that they can use 24/7. I disappoint them by replying that there is no such thing as “one bag fits all”. It’s easy to ruin an outfit with the wrong handbag. Heavy dark bags look super in autumn and winter with a coat or jacket, but will overwhelm a soft pretty dress. You’ll also want a change from your everyday work bag to something smaller and smarter when you go out at night or attend a fancy occasion.

For those of you that want to have style with the fewest number of bags in your wardrobe, my suggestion would be to invest in a timeless “3-bag-complement”:

• Black or brown bag for colder weather
• Metallic, white or coloured bag for warmer weather
• Small evening clutch for smarter occasions

If your lifestyle also demands a briefcase then you’ll need to add that as a fourth bag. And if bags are your very favourite thing like they are for me, you can never have enough. The right bag can pop the most mundane outfit into the next season – the only thing you’ll want to consider is your budget!

You could go more funky or designer, but these handbags from Kenneth Cole are a safe choice if you don’t want to think about handbags again for a while.

While I believe that less is more when it comes to wearing make-up, wearing nothing at all can leave you looking tired and sickly (especially if you are). There are a few exotically beautiful women in the world that can pull off “the absolutely no make-up” look, but most of us can benefit from a bit of polish.

Here’s how to do it in under 30 seconds:

• Cover the odd spot with concealer
• Pop on a bit of blusher
• End with a dab of lip gloss

If you can spare another 15 seconds, I’d throw in the mascara as well. This fast and simple make-up ritual can make the world of difference to how you look. Buy mini size cosmetics with built in applicators that you can keep in your handbag and refresh the blusher and the gloss mid day. The next time you catch yourself in a passing mirror – you’ll look fab instead of drab.

Hollywood’s swankiest event once again glittered with glamour. The night was filled with flawless designer gowns, radiant skin, bare necklines, jewel encrusted clutches, Jimmy Choo shoes, Chopard bling and lots of style. It was nice to see variety amongst the dress styles (tired Grecian-goddess looks did not reign supreme this time around). 

My favourites of the night were:

• Reese Witherspoon in Nina Ricci was a petite picture of perfection. Her form fitting strapless eggplant gown ruffled romantically into diagonal toned layers of elegance and grace. The contrast of this classic dress with her simple, super-straight modern hairstyle was genius.
• Nicole Kidman was superbly statuesque in her flaming red, catwalk couture halter gown. The neck bow on this dress was overwhelmingly delicious and wouldn’t have looked right on anyone else but Nicole Kidman. Her surreal mannequin-like presence is breathtaking and she too sported super simple straight hair (a new red carpet trend).
• Penelope Cruz in Versace was a classic Spanish beauty. Her strapless blush corset gown erupted into a train of pretty and playful tulle feathers. Her slicked back hair was timeless and complemented the drama of her dress well.
• Cate Blanchett in her metallic slate, Armani Prive off-the-shoulder sheath gown was once again the red carpet risk taker who always gets it right. Cate’s style is avant guard and I love seeing her award ceremony choices because they are so unconventionally glamorous. Anyone else would have looked like a gladiator in this dress, but Cate looked  fabulous.
• Kate Winslet was beautiful in her mint green Valentino. Her asymmetrical gown draped immaculately over her curves, and she matched it up elegantly with a side parting and pulled back hair.

This international lineup proves that redheads look stunning in red, and that milky cream, satin skin is better than bronzer. That concludes this years award season. Reese Witherspoon and Cate Blanchett get my youlookfab award for being the best dressed celebrities on the red carpet this year.

Cate, Reese and Penelope on the Oscars red carpet, courtesy of E! Online.