Tyra Banks has admitted she regularly gets complimented on her flawless skin and has joked it’s because she started exfoliating as soon as she when she was born.

Tyra Banks started exfoliating when she was born.

The 42-year-old model – who began her modelling career at the age of 15 – has admitted she regularly receives complements on her flawless skin and how young she looks, and the catwalk icon believes her youthful visage is because she began scrubbing at her skin “at birth”.

Speaking about her beauty hacks, the former ‘America’s Next Top Model’ host said: “A lot of people have told me that I look younger than I am. I really think it’s because I started exfoliating at birth.”

And the star has revealed she cleanses her face thoroughly “every night” because her mother, Carolyn London, has always advised her to get the “canvas” right so her skin doesn’t look “clumpy, lumpy, patchy and dry”.

She added: “I do it every night because I love that deep-clean feeling. My mom always told me it doesn’t matter how much make-up you wear, if the canvas isn’t right, you’re going to look clumpy, lumpy, patchy and dry.”

Tyra – who has 11-month-old son York with her partner Erik – has also revealed she swears by the Instant Gratification face masks from her eponymous cosmetics and skincare range, because it leaves her looking radiant despite having only “two hours” sleep.

The mother-of-one said: “My son is teething, so some nights I barely sleep. The next day my face will look swollen and I’ll have bags under my eyes. My trick is to use my Instant Gratification mask to illuminate and smooth my skin. Then I walk into my office, and everyone’s like, ‘You look great!’ I’m like, ‘What? I slept for two hours!'”

And Tyra has admitted she regularly experiments with wigs, but is scared her tiny tot will pull the hair piece off when he plays with it.

She told PEOPLE: “I don’t look at hair as hair. I look at it as an accessory, like a hat that you put on and take off. So I’ve been wearing a lot of wigs. My assistant thinks that my son is going to pull off my wig in public because he holds my hair like reins on a horse. I pin it on really well so it doesn’t move, but I feel like one day it might, just a little bit.”