How To Be Beautiful: Get right to the root of the problem

It's tempting to take a similar line on your beauty routine as you might on household cleaning. Which is to say, prioritise things other people can actually see.

That's not slovenliness; that's a pragmatic response to modern life's demands on your time. If you have a job, it's perfectly acceptable to have neither swept under your bed nor exfoliated your knees since last summer.

In bodily terms, though, we know the connection between what you can and can't see is important. Your scalp may get fewer compliments than your hair, say, but it's the site of the follicular action that determines the eventual state of your tresses and demands a bit more attention than we're wont to give it.

Don't worry: this time investment has decent returns – a little TLC for your scalp now means a lot less will be necessary to make your hair look half-decent later on.