Scotland is tops for fake tan, Leeds ladies carry £256 of cosmetics and West Midlands women can't do without their UV nails! How does YOUR area fare in our A-Z of what makes Britain beautiful

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A... is for Anti-ageing

Turning the clock back starts as young as 26 in Northern Ireland, which, according to beauty brand The Sanctuary, is where the most wrinkle-wary women live — with nearly 30 per cent spending £51 to £100 a month on anti-ageing skincare.

And according to the Office of National Statistics, 36 per cent of 20 to 34-year-olds there live with their parents compared to 25 per cent in the UK overall.

Not paying a mortgage means spare cash is more likely to be spent on affordable treats.

Reading is the UK’s tooth whitening capital, Leeds women carry £256 of cosmetics and Liverpool ladies are the least likely to be made-up: The A to Z of what makes Britain beautiful

B... is for Bikini lines 

Whether you prefer to go ‘au naturel’ or remain wedded to wax depends on your postcode, apparently. Online pharmacy UKMedix.co.uk found that while more than half of UK women leave well alone, a few regions still subject themselves to the eye-watering treatments.

Despite the backlash against blitzing your bikini line, Glasgow girls are most likely to wax, while Newcastle ladies — famed for their party-hard attitude — favour a Hollywood (where everything is removed). Ouch, pet!

C... is for Ceramic brushes

Glamorous waves demand serious styling skills, but good-quality ceramic hair straighteners are the next best thing as they can smooth and curl.

A third of British women own a pair. Salon brand GHD says Londoners are the big spenders, followed by Brummies and Glaswegians. Only one per cent of women still use that Eighties staple, crimpers.

Belfast women are very keen to minimise heat damage because they are more likely to go blonde, spending £1,400 a year on peroxide and highlights.

If laid end to end, the Batiste 200ml dry shampoos sold by Boots last year would stretch from London to Blackpool

D... is for Dry shampoo

If laid end to end, the Batiste 200ml dry shampoos sold by Boots last year would stretch from London to Blackpool. Brits wash their hair on average three times a week. Gymgoers, however, are the biggest users and ladies in Oxford — where 75 per cent of the population works out three times a week or more — are the most prolific.  

E... is for Eyeshadow 

Online beauty retailer escentual.com found that Leeds ladies love an expensive eye colour, favouring products such as Dior’s 5-Colour Professional palette (£43.50) above more budget brands.

The Yorkshire city boasts some of the most expensive properties in the region, which explains why, when it comes to beauty products, it’s a Northern powerhouse.

F... is for falsies 

Thanks to Katy Perry and X Factor’s Nicole Scherzinger long, luscious lashes are popular nationwide, but the queens of falsies are Essex girls, who, according to Superdrug, are 13 per cent more likely to wear fake lashes than other British women.

They love false lashes so much, that sales of the ‘double lash’ look (eyelashes designed to appear as though you’re wearing two pairs at once) are up by 39 per cent in Lakeside shopping centre and a massive 300 per cent in Romford.

The practical ladies of Worcestershire, Somerset and Wales, are, says Superdrug, most averse to eyelash-wearing.

The further North you go, the more natural-looking eyelashes become, according to false eyelash brand, Ardell. Bambi-like lashes are loved in London, Bristol and Brighton but in Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds they prefer to flutter naturally.

G... is for Guerlain 

Four centuries ago in India, Emperor Shah Jahan fell madly in love with Princess Mumtaz Mahal. He had the Gardens of Shalimar built for her and also dedicated the Taj Mahal to her.

His ardour captured the imagination of Jacques Guerlain, who created his Shalimar fragrance in 1925, which is still very popular — particularly with older ladies. Given that Christchurch in Dorset and Eastbourne in East Sussex are said to have the UK’s biggest concentration of senior citizens, there is sure to be a fug of the perfume over those towns.

The 'Scouse brow' - a strong dark pencilledin eyebrow beloved of Colleen Rooney — remains rife in Merseyside

H... is for Hairdye league 

According to hair salon chain Toni & Guy, it’s the ladies of Guildford who book in for the most colour treatments, leaving an average eight-and-a-half weeks between treatments.

Close contenders are Brighton and Exeter, where ladies also stick to two-monthly treatments. Up North, hair dye is a top priority for salons in Manchester and Chester — both cities noted for having footballers’ wives living there.

I... is for Illuminating powders 

While the trend for contouring — using light and dark shades to ‘sculpt’ your face — is waning, illuminators have become the ‘in’ thing for young city folk in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool and Dublin.

Alexia Inge, co-founder of cultbeauty.co.uk, says: ‘We’re seeing the beginnings of a massive highlighter trend. Those with a slight lilac tone (to counteract dullness) will be big for next year.’

Cult Beauty has seen a 95 per cent growth in searches for illuminators and highlighters on its website in the past 12 months.

J... is for jowl lifts 

The impact of computer screens and phones is felt by all ages when it comes to droopy jowls and ‘tech neck’ — the lined, crepey skin attributed to staring down at screens and phones for hours on end.

A quarter of women reported feeling more confident when wearing red lippy and, according to online beauty emporium escentual.com, Dior Addict Lipstick Vibrant Colour Spectacular Shine (£20.40) is among the top sellers

Corrective procedures such as tightening radio frequency treatments and fat transfers are up by 13 per cent according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

There’s no North-South divide when it comes to this kind of lifting and plumping, according to WhatClinic.com. Dermal fillers are the number one growing beauty treatment in cities and towns including Cambridge, Cheltenham, York and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

K... is for Keratin hair straightening

Liverpool is the best groomed city, spending more on beauty treatments across the board than any other place, according to beauty booking site treatwell.co.uk.

Top of the list is a miracle, semi-permanent hair smoothing treatment which delivers a dose of keratin (the protein that makes up the hair) into the cuticle. A blast with a hair-dryer and a once over with ceramic straighteners seals it in, leaving frizz-free locks.

L... is for Lipstick 

Sales are higher in London — driven up no doubt by the higher number of singletons who live there.

Of the top ten UK areas with the most single females, the first eight spots are taken up by London boroughs, with Islington in prime position with 57 per cent.

A quarter of women reported feeling more confident when wearing red lippy and, according to online beauty emporium escentual.com, Dior Addict Lipstick Vibrant Colour Spectacular Shine (£20.40) is among the top sellers.

Ladies from Leeds love indulging in expensive slap with Debenhams finding they carry the most make-up in their handbags, costing an average of £256

M... is for Make-up bags

Ladies from Leeds love indulging in expensive slap with Debenhams finding they carry the most make-up in their handbags, costing an average of £256. And that’s just the make-up they haul around, not the total they own. This weakness for premium- price products is fuelled by the city’s high-end stores like Harvey Nichols.

N... is for No-make-up make-up 

Surprisingly there’s not a lorra, lorra slap in Liverpool — or not as much as you’d think. Merseyside women, according to Superdrug, are the most likely to go bare-faced in public, with 55 per cent saying they go out without any make-up on at least 17 times a month.

And this statistic reveals a fascinating beauty phenomenon, one highly specific to Merseyside, as this is all in the quest of a glamorous night out. Liverpudlian women are happy to venture out without their make-up while their precious fake-tan is developing ahead of their weekend of partying, or when heading back from the salon.

As Laura Flynn, manager at Toni and Guy hairdressing salon in the city centre, says: ‘Scouse women love to be ultra-glamorous for a night out and they’ll spend all week getting ready. It really doesn’t matter to them if they’re seen walking around during the day with their rollers in and their fake tan freshly applied as long as they look gorgeous on the night.’

Xen-Tan, a U.S. brand which doesn’t leave that tell-tale biscuity smell, is selling well in Scotland as well as in Northern Ireland and Wales, according to online store and beauty adviser Cult Beauty

O... is for Olay 

The iconic baby pink Olay lotion was created in 1952 by South African chemist Graham Wulff and sold as an anti-ageing ‘beauty fluid’.

Sixty-four years on, Olay is still going strong and is sold in to an estimated 60 million women worldwide. An enduring Olay bestseller is the wrinkle-busting Total Effects range.

In the past year, 1,693,204 Total Effects products were sold all over the UK, at a rate of roughly three every minute. The nation’s favourite product is the Day Moisturiser SPF15 (£14.99).

P... is for Primer 

Designed to help keep your make-up on for longer, primers started out as a niche product for the seriously glamorous in the South-East ten years ago.

They have since been embraced up and down the country as a beauty staple, says Alexia Inge of Cultbeauty.co.uk: ‘Multipriming is the new thing: you have one primer for oily parts of your skin, another for dryer patches. It’s all about preparing your canvas properly.’

Q... is for Quinoderm 

his £5 cream was a skin saver for the thousands of acne sufferers who swore by it until it was discontinued in 2014 after concerns about non-EU approved ingredients.

It was popular among businesswomen in major towns, where stress is said to cause acne among high-flyers in their mid-30s. The main ingredient of Quinoderm is benzoyl peroxide, considered the ‘gold standard’ of acne treatments. An anti-inflammatory, it worked by injecting air into the pore to remove dirt and bacteria.

At one time, benzoyl peroxide products were found selling for as much as £299 for a small tube on eBay, but the good news is that it’s due back on British shelves by next summer.

The outdoorsy women of South Yorkshire (and Northamptonshire) prefer traditional rosy cheeks to a sunkissed glow, buying up the biggest supplies of blusher from Beautybay.com

R... is for Rosy cheeks 

It is fitting that the white rose county boasts the most English roses.

The outdoorsy women of South Yorkshire (and Northamptonshire) prefer traditional rosy cheeks to a sunkissed glow, buying up the biggest supplies of blusher from Beautybay.com.

Sorry, Lancashire, despite adopting the emblem of the red rose, this is one war of the roses that you didn’t win.

S... is for Scouse brow 

The 'Scouse brow' - a strong dark pencilledin eyebrow beloved of Colleen Rooney — remains rife in Merseyside, accounting for 25 per cent of total sales at Beautybay.com. Award-winning brow technician Nicole Francis says: ‘Brows are still big in Liverpool, but other trends are changing; Liverpool lashes are becoming much softer-looking’.

T... is for Threading 

London was the UK’s threading capital. Eyebrow threading is the ancient hair removal technique that uses cotton thread to remove unwanted facial hair. But it’s fast becoming the hair removal method of choice for beauty-conscious women throughout the United Kingdom.

According to market analyst Mintel, women from the West Midlands are second only to Londoners when it comes to getting regular gel nail manicures

Threading and tinting have become the most popular facial services on online beauty bookings service Treatwell, which has seen 40 per cent more bookings for eyebrow appointments this year compared to the past six months of 2015.

U... is for UV nails

According to market analyst Mintel, women from the West Midlands are second only to Londoners when it comes to getting regular gel nail manicures. Intriguingly, there is a regional brand war afoot with the demand for Shellac gel nails proving particularly popular in Scotland and rival cities Edinburgh and Glasgow boasting the largest Shellac sales. Further south, it’s the women of Chelmsford, Southampton and Bristol who remain most keen on the high-gloss manicure, which starts from £20.  

 V... is for Vaseline

Some products transcend regions. Nearly seven million tins of Vaseline are sold across the UK every year at a rate of 13 a minute. Founded in 1870 by a 22-year-old British chemist, Vaseline is the hydrating beauty staple that’s soothed and smoothed the skin of generations of women.

The classic jar hasn’t changed much over the years, but by introducing pocket-size tins, Vaseline has secured its place as Britain’s number one lip care brand.

Touche Eclat is the hero make-up multi-tasker that’s been enhancing, highlighting and illuminating ever since it launched in 1991

W... is for Wellbeing 

When they find a moment in their hectic schedules, stressed-out Londoners shun pedicures and preening in favour of massaging their cares away.

Those living in the capital are three times more likely to book in for wellbeing treatments — therapies like acupressure massage or reflexology that soothe more than your skin and muscles — than those living in the more relaxed city of Birmingham.

 X... is for Xen-Tan

Scotland has the greatest number of fake-tan addicts, with Edinburgh accounting for up to 16 per cent of all the Fake Bake tanning lotion sales in the UK, with Glasgow coming in a close second.

Scottish make-up artist Gillian Galbraith isn’t surprised: ‘We don’t get so much actual sun here. Having a sun-kissed glow makes you feel better and look healthier, with none of the skin damage that can be so ageing.’

No wonder, then, that Xen-Tan, a U.S. brand which doesn’t leave that tell-tale biscuity smell, is selling well in Scotland as well as in Northern Ireland and Wales, according to online store and beauty adviser Cult Beauty.

Y... is for YSL Touche Eclat

In an age of gloopy foundation and heavy powder, Yves Saint Laurent launched its revolutionary little brush-on pen that has since illuminated the beauty world.

Touche Eclat is the hero make-up multi-tasker that’s been enhancing, highlighting and illuminating ever since it launched in 1991.

By 2012, one was being sold every ten seconds and while other brands have tried to copy the concept, devotees in their millions worldwide wouldn’t use anything else. It’s loved throughout the UK.

Whatclinic, the online resource for finding dentists and cosmetic suregons, has revealed that teeth whitening is the number one cosmetic procedure in Reading

Z... is for Zoom! Teeth whitening 

Whatclinic, the online resource for finding dentists and cosmetic suregons, has revealed that teeth whitening is the number one cosmetic procedure in Reading, which saw an impressive 350 per cent rise in patient inquiries over the past year.

This Berkshire town alongside the M4 is rapidly becoming the UK version of Silicon Valley, with a high level of investment from the technology sector. While this might not explain the residents’ desire for a Simon Cowell mega-watt smile, it might explain why they have the cash to invest, since the average treatment costs from £331.

Zoom! is one such treatment, where a hydrogen peroxide gel is applied and a lamp delivers UV light to penetrate the enamel and lighten it by up to eight shades.