Take two women, one in Tokyo one in Frankfurt. Watch them cleansing, applying a serum or moisturiser and - if they are good girls - sun block. See them pout, frown and pucker in the mirror and you'll soon find that thedifferences between thetwo are more than simply geographical.

Our lady in Tokyo will brush her eyelashes with mascara 80 to 100 times; her Frankfurt counterpart will apply the wand fewer than a dozen. In Tokyo, she will use between 16 and 20 products;in Frankfurt she'll use just five to eight.