Nicola, an office administrator from Newcastle, was involved in a bad road accident that caused serious facial injuries. Her four-year-old daughter escaped with a broken collarbone.

Nicola needed 158 stitches in hospital and, as she was eight months pregnant, she couldn't have any anaesthetic to ease the considerable pain.

She said: "I had to grin and bear it – I still haven't really recovered, even now. I felt really devastated when I realised that I would have a scar eight inches across one side of my face. One part is really bad, where the skin is more jagged than the rest."

Fortunately, the young mother gave birth to a healthy boy a month later. However, she was still upset by the prominent scar across her face. Nicola visited her doctor, who referred her to the Red Cross’s skin camouflage service.

At the clinic, a Red Cross volunteer spent an hour showing Nicola how to use the camouflage creams, which are designed to cover disfiguring skin conditions.

Nicola remembered: "I just wanted to give it a try. I hadn't heard of anything I could use – normal make-up didn't hide the scar. After finding the right shade, the volunteer applied the cream for me. She then cleaned it off and I had to put it on myself, while she checked that I was doing it right. I was soon able to do it at home quite easily.

"I apply it every morning now before work – it takes 5-10 minutes to apply. It definitely makes me feel more confident than I did before. I'm looking forward to having an operation soon to correct the worst part of the scar, but when I go out the make-up is really good for hiding it. When I have the make-up on and pull my hair over that side of my face, you almost can't see it at all!"