How To Be Beautiful: Put your neck on the line

Pity your neck – it's a part of the body that gets little attention while it's in its prime. It's only when indelible creases start to form that you begin to study it in the mirror, realising that here's another part of your body on which to track the passage of time. It's then, too, that you look at models and envy the smooth skin on their throats as much as their svelte thighs.

Of course, in ye olden days, when we tended to expose less flesh, women knew the value of looking after their neck and décolleté – I remember a period drama in which a feckless husband spitefully told his wife he'd been having a fling with "a Spanish beauty, with a neck line a swan". Ah, those were the days, when fancy women were chosen on the basis of such subtle attributes.

In many cases, the anti-ageing properties of your facial moisturiser will do nicely for your neck, too. But if you think you need something a little heavier duty, a dedicated cream isn't as frivolous as it sounds.