Angie Vu says New York prison 'torture' without moisturiser

A woman dubbed "Asia's sexiest DJ" says life in a New York prison is "torture" without access to moisturiser or expensive high heels.

Angie Vu, 32, has been in a Brooklyn jail since November after trying to board a flight to China with her nine-year-old daughter Isabella, The New York Daily News reports.

She is being held on parental kidnapping charges.

"I have been under the harsh light 24/7 and turned pale. I need a good supply of Guerlain's (skin) moisturiser in here," the Vietnamese model told The New York Daily News.

"I miss my Versace dresses and Louboutin heels. My nails are nicely trimmed but I'm dying to have some colors on them. The torture is real."

Vu said she finds it hard to believe she has gone from posing for Playboy Magazine to reading the Bible and discouraging lesbian inmates from approaching her.

"There's no real mirror in prison … I haven't looked at myself for months. It's cruel," she said.

Vu is fighting extradition to Paris, where the child's biological father Richard Froger was granted custody.

She said she is getting through the hard prison time only by the amount of gifts sent to her by fans, including teddy bears and lingerie.

After starting in modelling in 2007, Vu was ranked in the top 5 of Asia's "sexiest supermodel DJs" in 2012 by dance website Clubbing9ine.