February Elle UK - Dakota Fanning

There's nothing like the latest issue of one of your favourite magazines landing on the doormat to herald the start of a new month, and indeed the start of a new year! I've said it before, but I really love the subscriber covers that Elle do. As they don't have all the text and coverlines that you get on the standard copy of the magazine, you can really focus on the great photography.

This month's cover star is 17 year old Dakota Fanning, featuring on her first UK glossy magazine cover. I am seriously coveting her makeup look. I love the matte red lip (Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in Rouge Odysee - £19.50) and the red nail polish (Rimmel Lycra Pro in Hot Gossip - a very purse-friendly £3.99). I have one matte red in my collection (Revlon Strawberry Suede) so I think I will give that another wearing after seeing Dakota's lip look.

This month's magazine also comes with a 'Front Row: The Runway Edit' supplement, which highlights the key trends for S/S 2012 and the key designers from each Fashion Week. I love these supplements as they give a really good flavour of the style highlights to come over the next few months. It's the perfect read to get 2012 off to a stylish start.

I love the 'Techno Print' trend that is featured, as it includes one of my favourite designers, Mary Katrantzou. I recently had to choose a non-work related topic to give a presentation on, and I chose Mary's work as my focus. I opted not to have any text in my presentation so as not to distract from the beautiful clothing, which meant that I was wholly reliant on knowing my topic inside out. I'm happy to report that it went really well. Given that nobody else in the group was interested in fashion, they hadn't heard of her. But by the end of my 25 minutes, they all said they had found it really interesting and enjoyable and loved hearing about her work. A few more converts to the Katrantzou cause!