How to prepare your skin for the shock of sun, pollen and pollution

Our skin gets a pretty rough deal — for starters, we always complain about its appearance, which seems unfair considering it’s a lot more photogenic than any of our innards. Then we puncture it with metal and inject ink through it — enough to have any other organ heading for legal representation and a hefty tribunal settlement. But as we emerge from home confinement finally to meet friends, family and exciting new variants, it’s time to be kind to our integument.

On the off-chance the weather sorts itself out before autumn, we will almost certainly be spending more time outside than ever, in order to give the virus less of a chance. (Only one in a thousand cases of Covid are transmitted outside, fact fans/virus