How Angelina Jolie uses a cosmetic sturgeon on those unsightly veins

As one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses, it was only to be expected that Angelina Jolie would develop a taste for caviar.

But instead of eating it, she rubs it into her skin.

After losing a drastic amount of weight, the 32-year-old star has recently displayed bulging veins on her arms, hands and forehead while her normally-glowing appearance lost its lustre.

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To combat this, she has become a fan of a £200-a-time treatment extracted from the eggs of Baerii sturgeon, reared on farms in the South of France.

In sessions lasting up to three hours, Brad Pitt's other half is swaddled like a mummy to sweat out toxins before being smothered all over in the body cream. It promises to 'drench the skin with moisture and nourishment' and combat 'loss of firmness and slackened skin'.

Because of the high oil and protein content of caviar, it is thought to be especially moisturising. The fish smell is removed as extracts of caviar are used instead of whole roe.

She has also been indulging in 90-minute facials using La Prairie's caviar-based creams.

Miss Jolie became a fan of the treatments earlier this year in Venice, after discovering them at the Hotel Cipriani's Casanova spa centre. Sir Mick Jagger, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney and Kate Moss are also devotees of caviar facials, while Catherine Zeta Jones has been smearing the stuff on her hair to add instant gloss.

The caviar-based creams are produced by extracting vitelline - or yolk sac - from the sturgeon eggs.

The substance contains phospholipids, which are fats key to hydrating and softening the skin, as well as proteins said to contribute to the regeneration of skin cells.

TV beauty expert Nick Ede, who gives tips on shows ranging from GMTV to Project Catwalk, said: "Caviar is packed with proteins and salts, and has lots of vitamins. The nutrients in it make it one of the best things to put on your skin."

But Jenny Harding, a skincare specialist from the London-based Dynasty clinic, said: "It is true there are omega 3 fatty acids in caviar, but you might as well put cod liver oil on your face.

"The best thing you can do with caviar is put it on a plate and eat it. By the time it reaches a cream, it has been doctored so much you are getting little benefit.

"You would do just as well swallowing a cod liver supplement every day to make your skin glow."