Mine eyes! They feel as though they’ve been replaced with shrivelled up conkers – the inside of my lids are like pieces of sandpaper. It’s all so dry in the orbital region that it’s amazing I don’t start little fires in my eye sockets when I blink.

It must be the pollen, though I don’t usually get hayfever so that’s odd. It probably doesn’t help that I’m up all through the night, tending to the baby, and that my “entertainment” of choice is scrolling through ASOS (or Rightmove) on my iPhone. There’s nothing more wearing on the eyeballs than hours of relentless, fruitless window shopping. (Does anyone else get motion sickness if they scroll too fast?)

So yes, my eyes are tired and sensitive and I’m trying to treat them kindly and soothe them with lovely things. And when I take my eye makeup off, I’m really making an effort to be gentle, pressing the remover-soaked cotton pads over my eyes and waiting for fifteen, twenty seconds before taking them away, rather than rushing the process and wiping frantically, which always results in my sore undereye problem.

Current soothing favourites, at the risk of repeating myself, because I have mentioned these a few times recently:

Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion from Liz Earle, £13.25 here*: perfect for a morning pep-up when I feel as though I’ve just done a twenty hour stint in a Vegas casino. (Happened.) I have no idea what Eyebright is, but it does what it says on the tin, and you can’t ask for better than that. Keep one in the fridge if you can remember to actually use it; I hate it when I’m told to keep beauty stuff in the fridge, because it gets forgotten about, only to be found when I do my annual chucking-out of weird, novelty Christmas chutneys and packets of feta that have slipped behind the salad drawer. But Eyebright, when chilled, is a thing of wonder. Hangovers, hayfever, general malaise: soak two cotton pads, press them over your eyes (closed, obviously) and hold them there for a couple of minutes, or however long you can bear. (If you’re as impatient as me you’ll manage about thirty seconds.) I promise you’ll feel instantly refreshed.

Sens’Eyes from Make Up For Ever, £19.75 here*: this is great stuff. Creamy, so you wouldn’t think that it would work on stubborn makeup, but it really does. It feels far too kind to be useful, but the proof is in the pudding and this cuts through mascara like a dream. If you (like me) get raw bits under your eyes if you apply and remove makeup too frequently, then this is a good product to have in your emergency kit. It’s definitely a must-have for models.

Stubborn Makeup Remover, currently £3.95 at Superdrug here*: this isn’t actually for sensitive eyes, but it’s here by virtue of the fact that it removes makeup so quickly that you don’t have to wipe or press repeatedly with your cotton pads. Marvellous and a true bargain – especially at the current price. It’s usually £7.99, but even that is very good considering how easily this dissolves heavy makeup.

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