Liz Earle Eyebright

Liz Earle's Eyebright is marketed as a gentle eye make-up remover that can refreshen and brighten tired eyes when used as a compress. It contains a combination of natural herbs (including, needless to say, eyebright itself) and it's meant to sooth your eyes, cause no irritation to sensitive eyes and remove even stubborn mascara.

In my experience, not one of these claims was true.

When cleaning my face at night, I use Eyebright as a first step in removing my mascara. It's very effective -- at smudging mascara all the way down my face. It removes it from your lashes but no matter how much you wipe, scrub or pray, it leaves virtually the whole lot splattered below your eyes. To get rid of the panda look I have to follow it up with cleanser as soon as possible.

As for soothing tired eyes? Dream on! I'm not squeamish when it comes to eyes -- I stick contact lenses in mine every day -- but this stuff really *hurt*. Get even the tiniest drop into your eyes and it stings like mad. For something that's supposed to be "gentle" and "suitable for sensitive eyes" this is incredibly vicious. Even a hint of it means I can't open my eyes for several minutes and have to sit down clutching a tissue to them with the stinging driving me mad. It's really painful, and as this product offers no benefits to balance that out it doesn't seem worth it.

In general, Liz Earle is good, but don't waste your money on this!