SIX EASY WAYS TO KEEP YOUR SKIN LOOKING GOOD FOR SUMMER

Summer’s here and with it comes the opportunity to get into your mini and onto the beach. But as the hemlines go up, will your skin let you down?

Never fear. With a few simple tricks, you can take years off your looks without the need for amputation or expensive cosmetic surgery.

Here are six tips from Serena, chief beautician at Looks-U-Like, to keep your skin looking youthful, healthy and radiant.

• Increase the amount of time you spend in the sun - use hi-fat tanning lard when the sun is at its hottest - between 10am and 2pm. For that added glow, wrap your head in aluminium foil before starting your sunbathing session.

• Make sausages, beer and Danish pastries part of your regular diet – these will cause you to gain weight and so stretch out any of those little tell-tale wrinkles.

• Use an abrasive to remove dead skin, particularly from the face. This will restore the youthful bloom that tends to fade with the passing of years. As a way to save both time and money, use a dry Brillo pad or, for those particularly stubborn, scaly patches, a Surform.

• Drink lots of water - dehydration is a classic cause of dry skin. It’s well-known in the supermodel trade that for every gallon of water you drink, your skin looks three and a half weeks younger.

• Bloody good stuff - keep your skin fresh and glowing by smoothing a little warm blood on your face every night. Choose blood that is highly oxygenated and bright in colour. Rodent blood is particularly effective, so why not pop along to Cull-U-Like in Froghill High Street and invest in a trap or two?

• Don't sleep on your front - the continuous pressure on your facial skin will eventually cause wrinkles and, if you’re a heavy sleeper, suffocation. To make sure you don’t spend too much time in the face-down position, place a tennis ball in either cheek before retiring for the night.