Modern beauty lives under a microscope. Possibly never before in the history of civilisation have gorgeous women in the spotlight received so much scrutiny. Be they royalty or rap star, we know them from the red carpet and we know them from the 7-11. We know them from their hacked cell phones and leaked sex tapes and we know them from the endless mill of gossip that fuels their fame. Somehow this is accepted as the price of contemporary stardom and the kitten/siren/starlet/muse keeps her lovely head up, maintaining some unexpected views and some unpredictable responses to the adulation and the media mauling. But compelling beauty begs this question: why this face and not other?

Why are some women radiating sexual goddesses and the rest merely accomplished, pretty or…just very nice? The mystique of sexual attraction transcends time. And despite the almost forensic attention to diet, exercise and surgical enhancement, there is no scientific formula for that essence of desire.