THE recent trend in magazine covers seems to be telling us something, or so say Hollywood’s pundits.

If you didn’t know, mature and scandal-free women like Halle Berry and Julia Roberts will be gracing the covers of magazines like Vogue and Elle respectively in September.

It is an oh-so-important edition for the magazines, advertisement-wise, and choosing both over-40 ladies for the cover is a big thing — for the actresses and the editors as well.

Say cheese!

Jennifer Aniston, 41, is also set to flash her pearly whites on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar next month, which brings this question to mind: What happened to under-30 magazine cover staples such as Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox and Miley Cyrus?

I mean seriously, a magazine cover with no Kim (usually flanked by her two sisters) flaunting her assets in a teeny-tiny bikini next month? What is the world coming to?

Editor of More magazine Lesley Jane Seymour, told Reuters: ”Who is there with any kind of longevity in their 30s or 20s right now? Britney Spears? Kim Kardashian? These are flashes in the pan. Many are shallow reality stars like Snooki. Style icon? Um, talk to me in a year. Frankly, it’s here today, gone tomorrow. Lindsay Lohan? What’s to look up to?”

Wow, a little harsh, isn’t she? But if you think about it, there’s some truth to what she says. Even in this day and age of fashion crazy ladies such Lady Gaga and Rihanna, it is older celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker and Madonna who are seen as the real style icons.

So, is there anyone, in their own age groups, that kids can look up to today?

Some gossip blogs claim that readers rather read about older women and their accomplishments instead of about younger celebrities. There are also claims that the younger generation is suffering from a lack of positive influence in the entertainment scene; what with Lady Gaga admitting that she occasionally experiments with cocaine and Britney Spears going loco now and then.

It seems that they’d rather not take a risk by putting someone like Megan Fox or Kristen Stewart who have yet to prove that they’re able to sell movies, unsupported by any franchise, on the cover.

So, by featuring these sensible, credible and successful actresses on the cover, the magazines have a sure hit issue in their hands.

On another note, are the Kardashians finally on the brink of over-exposure? They’re already on television, magazines, radio, the Internet, food wrappers, toilet paper and an inch away from our brain cells. Enough is enough, really.

The ubiquitous Kardashian/Jenner sisters.

Recently, racy photographs of Kris and Bruce Jenner’s 13-year-old daughter Kendall surfaced on the Internet. The pictures, promoted by Kendall’s three famous half-sisters on their blogs and Twitter accounts, got parents all riled up, saying that the Kardashians are proving to be bad influence on their children.

Another artiste who is receiving severe backlash for her decision to grow up quicker than Mother Nature intended is none other than Miley Cyrus. The first week album sales for her more adult-oriented Can’t Be Tamed sold a mere 102,389 copies which was 72% lower than her 2008 release, Breakout. Rejected, much?

Not everyone can accept Miley's new image...

An article by The New York Times claims that kids as young as 10 and 11 years old (the average age group for Miley’s core fan base) are refusing to accept the singer’s new wild child image. However, the singer still got some love thrown at her direction while on location to shoot het latest film, LOL, which she co-stars with Demi Moore.

One actress who could do with some loving from her fans once she gets out of rehab is Lindsay Lohan, who surpringly has graced more magazine covers while in the slammer than when she was not.

Currently in rehab, Lindsay’s Maxim cover for September shows the actress looking kind of demure. But does she look trouble-free enough to drive magazine sales? I bet many parents are trying to scrub their kids’ mind off any traces of Lindsay, praying that they would forget such a wild, law-disregarding and troublesome celebrity even existed, let alone call her an icon.

OMG, do you realise what this means? There isn’t really a stand-out young celebrity the younger generation could look up to today!

Sharm says: Hmm … I wonder who looks up to Donatella Versace? And do tell me which young celebrity you think is the icon of his/her generation. Follow Sharm On The Scene on Twitter: @sotscene.