How to combat City Skin

City living bombards our complexions daily with a cocktail of chemicals that can trigger premature ageing, spots and sagging.

Dr Daniel Maes, vice-president of research and development for Estee Lauder, says: 'Pollution is as damaging to skin as exposure to UV light.'

For city-dwellers who smoke (or live with smokers), there's a double-whammy of damage. Every time you light a cigarette you press the fast-forward button on ageing, as skin is bombarded with about 4,000 chemicals when tobacco burns.

Smoking and pollution also sap the skin of vitamin C, which is essential for healthy collagen production. A deficiency leads to skin that is less plumped-up and more lined.

It is now believed that exposure to the ozone of city pollution can decrease the level of vitamin C in the skin by 55 per cent.

Patricia McKay, education director for skincare brand Guinot Paris, who is based in Los Angeles, one of the world's smoggiest cities says: 'Sulphur compounds [from car exhausts] are converted into sulphuric acid on the skin, which is extremely dehydrating. And this sets off a chain reaction of premature lines and wrinkles.'

Fortunately, many people use sun protection products on their skin. But experts say we should also be dosing our skin with antioxidant-rich creams.

The compounds that show the most potential for both protection and damage-reversal are A, C, E and coenzyme Q10. Other effective antioxidants include 'plant polyphenols' - from grapeseed, pine bark and even tomatoes.

FACIAL MASSAGE

Facial massage improves circulation and helps eliminate toxins from the complexion. Aromatherapy pioneer Daniele Ryman suggests a nightly facial massage.

Use a facial oil such as Espa Concept Regenerating Face Treatment Oil, £45 (01252 741600 for mail order) or Neal's Yard Tibetan Apricot Seed Oil, £8.55 (0161 831 7875).

Secure hair back from face.

Using the pads of your first and middle fingers, and starting between the brows, massage out towards the temples using long, smooth movements. Stop at the top of the middle of the brows and press firmly. Stop again at the outer corner of the brows and press firmly. Move up the forehead and repeat the movements, covering the whole forehead.

Slide your fingers down your nose and press gently on the sinus pressure points.

Put your fingers under your cheekbones and move towards the ear. Move fingers along the bone and press firmly at three points along the cheekbone, between where you started and just below the temples.

Holding skin around the eyes taut with the fingers of one hand, use the ring finger of the other hand to massage lightly round the orbital bone of the eye, making three circles in each direction.

Holding the mouth slightly taut with the fingers of one hand, massage lightly in a circular direction around the lips using the first two fingers of the other hand, then reverse direction. Swop hands, 'mirroring' these movements.

Using your first two fingers, press the pressure points just under the nostrils.

SIX STEPS TO CARING FOR CITY SKIN

Cleanse skin gently but very thoroughly at night. The dust in pollution can clog pores and trigger acne.

Your best bet is a rich, make-up melting cleanser which can be removed with a gently exfoliating cloth, like certified-organic Spiezia Organic Cleansing Treatment, £15.25 (01326 231600), Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, £10 (01983 813913), or Eve Lom Cleansing Cream, from £22.50 (at Space NK).

Don't overload your skin with chemicals by using an SPF cream on dull winter days. Sunscreen is a must from April to early October. Use a vitamin-rich cream during the rest of the year. Some incorporate a special pollution complex, usually a cocktail of antioxidant vitamins, such as Clarins Multi-Active Day Cream, £30. Other good bets are RoC Hydra Plus Vitamins Active, £14.95, Elizabeth Arden Good Morning Skin, £21, and Origins A Perfect World White Tea Skin Guardian, £25 (0800 7314 039 for stockists).

The Caudalie range, from France, contains grapeseedderived polyphenol antioxidants, said to be 10,000 times more effective than vitamin E in protecting skin from free radicals. Their star product is Vinolift, £39.50 (020 7304 7088 for mail order/stockists).

If skin appears damaged, treatments with large quantities of antioxidant vitamins may help.

Try Helena Rubinstein, Guinot Longue Vie Cellulaire, £63 (01344

873123), which features 17 amino acids, Environ C-Boost, £24.95 (020 8450 2020), the Nivea Visage Q10 range, from £9.25, and Olay Total Effects Intensive Restoration Treatment, £19.50.

Or check out the range launched in the UK by Dr Nicholas Perricone, author of The Wrinkle Cure: The Formula For Stopping Time (Vermilion, £8.99). As a leading U.S. dermatologist, he has his own line (020 7329 2000).

Wear foundation - it creates an extra barrier between your skin and chemicals in smoke or city air.

Exercise regularly - a minimum of 20 minutes a day, five times a week (brisk walking is fine), to help deliver oxygen to the skin and restore vibrancy.

Take a daily multi-antioxidant vitamin with vitamins A, C and E.

PROTECTION FROM WITHIN

The dirt we swipe from our faces is only half the story. 'You can't wash pollution out of your lungs,' observes Ian Marber, author of The Food Doctor In The City: Maximum Health For Urban Living (Collins & Brown, £14.99).

'The best defence we can have is to ensure that we have good levels of antioxidants in our bodies and a generous intake of nutrients from fresh vegetables, unroasted nuts and seeds, and whole grains.

'We should all be eating five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day, drinking water, getting enough sleep, but if you live in a city - and especially if you smoke - you need to build on that prescription for healthy living.'

The 21st Century Beauty Bible by Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley is published by Kyle Cathie at £25.