The sheer work (and hard-earnt cash) that goes into maintaining basic grooming is no mean feat. I’m fair-skinned with naturally very blonde hair, which means that my eyelashes and eyebrows frequently pale into featurelessness unless I do something about them. That means regular four-to-six weekly tinting and shaping sessions, which really burns a hole in one’s pocket when you look at total costs over a year.

I adore my regular beauty therapist. She has the hands of an angel and the skill of a master engineer. But she’s not exactly cheap. I try to rationalise that good grooming is a good investment, but this reasoning has become more difficult to justify since the recession hit my bank account.

She charges £20 for an eyelash tint, £15 for an eyebrow tint and £25 for brow shaping (with threading). This is a total of £60, which works out at an eye-watering  £720 over a 12 month period. Ouch (and that’s not the threading talking). Time to reconsider my options.

I’ve heard some very good things about London’s line-up of beauty colleges, which open their salon doors to the public so their students can get some professional experience.

I must confess that I don’t love the idea of a student using me as a guinea pig, especially when it comes to my face. I mean, eyebrow tinting in the hands of the inexperienced could very well mean that I walk out the door baring a very close resemblance to Ernie’s mate Bert. And we don’t want that, do we? Not unless I’m looking for a career on Sesame Street.

Still, I seriously can’t afford to keep paying £60 every four weeks, so I make a booking at London’s College of Beauty Therapy. Here, I can get the same treatment (eyelash and brow tint and shape) for a total of £15 – a massive saving of £45 (and £540 over 12 months). I’m assured that the students are experienced and supervised, and their “luxurious” salon looks utterly professional. Check in with me tomorrow to see how I go…