*Please note this is a sponsored post but as always, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

I can still remember the time I looked at my optician in amazement, when he told that my vision was perfect. And that no, I didn’t need glasses.

I’d been suffering from blurred vision in the evenings for a good few weeks. Nothing too serious thankfully. I just found it near impossible to focus properly on small print in a book for example and struggled to make out the time on the oven’s analog clock.

At this point around 5-6 years ago, I’d hit my mid thirties so when this happened I promptly booked myself in for an appointment and fully expected to be told that it was time for me to embrace glasses. (I’d even created a Pinterest board of frames that I loved!) So I was shocked to hear my vision was absolutely fine but more shocked to discover what the culprit was for the blurriness…dry eyes.

Dry eyes syndrome or dry eye disease ( I prefer syndrome!)  is according to the NHS,  “a common condition that occurs when the eyes do not make enough tears, or the tears evaporate too quickly.”

The good news is, it’s not serious, but it can make your eyes feel pretty terrible – gritty, itchy and sore for starters – and can indeed cause blurred vision as it did for me. (More about the symptoms at the end.)

Since being diagnosed by my optician, I’ve spent the past 5-6 years using eyedrops on a regular basis. And when I say regular, I basically mean every day. Popping a few eye drops in my eyes, once or twice a day, has become as part of my daily routine as brushing my teeth or applying some lipstick. It’s just what I do. And it helps me enormously, to feel and look my best.

The eye drops I’ve been using have always been regular eye drops, however, over the past four to six weeks, I’ve been trying and testing out a new range of eye drops from global eye health experts Bausch & Lomb. Eye drops that have been specifically created to help dry eye sufferers like me.

Artelac is a new range of preservative eye drop products that have been created by the experts to help relieve, protect and hydrate dry and irritated eyes. There are three products in the range – Artelac Every Day, Artelac Protect and Artelac Night – and I’ve been busy testing out the first two, to see if they really do make a difference.

So, how did I get on with them, I hear you cry? Well in a nutshell, incredibly well. Truly, my eyes and I are thrilled.

The two products I’ve been using for the past month or so are the Artelac Every Day and the Artelac Protect.

I’ve been using Artelac Every Day, well almost every day! I generally use it twice a day, first thing in the morning just before I apply my make up and late afternoon / early evening when my eyes are feeling like they could do with a helping hand. I’ve also been known to use the drops three times a day, on those busy work days when I’ve been staring at a computer screen for most of the day or taking part in too many Zoom calls.

It has become a real hero product for me and where my eyes are concerned, ( sorry mascara!) a new best friend. It’s soothing, refreshing and restorative and does a fantastic job of making my long suffering dry eyes feel immediately better in seconds. What’s more, in my opinion, it provides far superior long-lasting relief too in comparison to past eye drops that I’ve used.

It contains something called sodium hyaluronate – a natural moisturiser found in the healthy tear film – and I could definitely tell the difference.

Artelac Protect is another great product. Admittedly, I didn’t use this as much as the other product, only occasionally when I felt my eyes were particularly irritated or on those times when I realised I’d rubbed my eyes after stroking our pet cat, but it’s really very good.

Like it’s sibling, Artelac Protect helps to soothe dry eyes but also reinforces your eyes’ natural barrier against allergens, helping to reduce inflammation and irritation. Seriously, when hay fever season rolls around next year, this is going to be a godsend for me!

If I was forced to pick a favourite of the two, then for me it would be the Artelac Everyday. But I really want to point out here that both products are pretty damn smashing and most definitely worth considering if you too suffer from irritated, gritty or sore dry eyes.

As eye drops go, they are easy and super quick to use and provided relief to my eyes in seconds. I like to keep mine in my make up bag or in my bathroom cabinet, so they’re always close to hand.

Does my story ring any bells for you? If so, here are the most common causes and symptoms of dry eyes to look out for from the experts at Artelac.

If they do sound familiar to you or if you’re worried about your eyes in any way, please do seek expert advice from your doctor or optician ASAP.

***For more information or to purchase, visit Amazon or Superdrug.