Step 1: Cleaning

Clean your face with make-up remover or lotion, massaging it on your skin for five minutes then removing it gently with cotton wool.

Step 2: Steam your face.

Take a pot of boiling water and place it on a hotplate on a low table. Sitting in front of the steaming pot, take a large towel and make a tent over your head. Holding the edge of the towel about six inches in front of your forehead, lean over the pot, but keep at least one foot away – if you get too close you can burn your skin or come out looking a bit lobsterish. After ten minutes pat your face dry.

Step 3: Apply a mask.

You can use either a proprietary brand or a natural home-made one. After ten minutes, remove the mask with damp cotton-wool balls. Try not to talk or move your face while the mask is on. Spray your face all over with a fine mist of Evian water or dab with damp cotton wool. Gently pat your skin dry.

Step 4: Apply moisturizer.

Lastly, apply a light moisturizer. If possible, do not apply make-up for several hours after your facial. Let your skin breathe.

Some tips for winter skin care

We often forget that cold weather can be just as harmful to the skin as the burning rays of the sun. Protect lips and under eyes with a chap stick and under-eye cream. The tissue around the eyes is extremely vulnerable, and usually the place where lines first appear. I have even seen ten year olds with lines under their eyes, and I’m sure it wasn’t from too much television.

Always protect against the drying effects of wind with a strong barrier cream or moisturizer, and apply these under make-up too. You should always wear sunglasses in very bright wintry sunlight and especially in snow. Squint lines occur just as much from the reflection of snow as they do from sand and water.