Make-up map of Great Britain

Liverpudlian women love bronzers, while Mancunians prefer nail varnish. Kate Youde reveals who is buying the most beauty products

Thanks to the orange hue often sported by WAGs Coleen Rooney, Alex Gerrard and Abbey Crouch, Scousers have a reputation for being heavy handed with the self-tan. But it seems Liverpool, home of reality TV show Desperate Scousewives, is not the only city to overdose on a particular type of make-up.

New research suggests women in Newcastle, the setting for Geordie Shore, buy more moisturiser than shoppers elsewhere; women in Manchester purchase the most nail varnish; Cardiff ladies love blusher. Department store John Lewis compared sales of different cosmetics at branches across the UK with the national average to pinpoint the biggest users.

"I think stereotypes exist for a reason," said Vivienne Rudd, head of beauty and personal care insight at research analysts Mintel. "I am not saying that all the women in the North-west and North are the same as you see on the reality TV programmes but there is a grain of truth there, that the women in these regions do like to be seen to have a flawless appearance."

Mintel predicts sales of colour cosmetics will near £1.7bn in the UK by 2016, up from £1.3bn last year.