There is a small but growing fashion in the United States for "mirror-fasting", deliberately shunning the use of any mirror and those who have done it say that if you stop looking at yourself you become more confident.

Dr Kate Fox, an anthropologist at the Social Issues Research Centre, said that it actually "highlights and increases the fixation on one's appearance".

"It almost feels more self-obsessed and self-absorbed," she told the Today programme.

Columnist Mary-Ann Sieghart, said she would rather deal with the causes of the insecurity "than the symptom of looking in the mirror".

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