I?m not mad, because I am sure most people will have experienced gratey eye even if they were not aware of it at the time.

Gratey eye is my personal name for that feeling when you are tired and your eyes are all dry/sore and it feels like ever time you move your eye it is being rubbed against a cheese grater. Ok, perhaps that is a slight exaggeration but do you know the feeling? I used to experience it all the time when I went clubbing and stayed awake for the majority of the weekend, it?s just a shame I never thought to buy eye drops then!

Enter Rohto Zi Extreme. I vaguely recall seeing the TV adverts a few years ago and remember them being rather eye catching, but I never investigated further into the product until now.


ZI EXTREME

After experiencing a rather uncomfortable level of gratey eye last Saturday night I thought I would make it my mission this week to hunt down a gratey eye antidote.

Perusing the shelves of Boots I was bombarded with numerous products promising to refresh, reinvigorate etc. etc. but one packet in particular caught my (non gratey at the time) eye. ?ROHTO ZI EXTREME? with the words EXTREME COOLING emblazoned across the top. Yes! That?s exactly what I needed to relieve my tired eyes, because along with the grating sensation I often experience a hot feeling occasionally accompanied by red eyes.


PACKAGING

If the promises of cool eyes weren?t enough, how about this for cool packaging? The outer cardboard box has its entire surface area covered by an image of many shards of ice. Inside the box is a small plastic sachet (which keeps the container sterile) and inside that, a

n ultra modern clear square with one blue corner acting as a lid. However, when turned the correct way to read the writing on the bottle (if you would call it such a thing) it is a diamond with a funky blue cap. I?m sold.


METHOD OF USE

£2.13 and a car journey later I was sat in the living room ready to test the eye drops. There was no gratey eye present but it was mid afternoon and refreshed eyes wouldn?t go amiss, so here is how you use them:

1. Wash and dry your hands thoroughly.
2. Hold the bottle upright and twist the lid off (either way).
3. Lean back and open your eye wide.
4. Hold the container right over your eye and squeeze one drop in.
5. Repeat for other eye.
6. Repeat for both eyes if you require two drops.
7. Replace cap by pushing it straight down onto the container.

It might be worth mentioning that I don?t mind applying things to my eyes, and although I don?t use them, I have no problem with inserting contact lenses into my eyes. I don?t know whether applying these drops to your eyes may prove difficult to other people who have not applied things to their eyes before, or have a fear of inserting things into their eyes, but I found it very simple.


THE RESULTS

Today is a warm sunny day and I have been sat in front of the computer for a couple of hours. Before applying the drops my eyes did feel slightly warm. Having applied the drops they now feel cool and refreshed. It is hard to explain the sensation as we don?t generally sense many things in our eyes other than pain and/or fatigue.

I would liken the sensation to how your head feels when you use Original Source shampoo, how your mouth feels when you chew minty chewing gum and how your face feels when you s
plash it with very cool water on a warm day.

I find it very pleasant and not overpowering in the slightest (as the name ?Extreme? might suggest).

The cooling sensation lasts a variable amount of time, depending on how warm your eyes were to start with. If your eyes were just normal then I would say the intense cooling lasts for around 5-7 minutes. If your eyes were quite warm and tired then maybe between 3-5 minutes. However, after this initial cooling the eyes still remain well moisturised and I find that reapplication is quite infrequent.

Although I have not tested these drops on full-blown gratey eye I have no doubt it would relieve the symptoms enough for me to endure the rest of the day with slightly less discomfort.


FREQUENCY OF USE

It says on the packet that these drops are suitable for frequent, everyday use. I wouldn?t estimate that I will need these every day, but having used them I feel no adverse effects later in the day or the following day.


CONTACT LENS USERS

These drops CANNOT be used whilst wearing lenses, but can be instilled five minutes prior to inserting lenses.


ONLY DISADVANTA GE

The container has to be discarded one month after opening, which is a shame because I won?t need to use these all the time ? they are just handy to have around when a bout of gratey eye catches you unaware.


PRICE AND STOCKISTS

I bought my Zi Extreme for £2.13 from Boots. As it is a big brand name in eye drops I am sure you would be able to obtain it from most chemists. The c
ontainer size is 8ml, which is quite reasonable, as discarding it after 30 days you don't want to feel like you are wasting a lot of product.


VERDICT

So far, I love them! I will almost definitely buy them again during the summer to keep my eyes from feeling uncomfortably hot. The only thing I can complain about is the 30-day shelf life, but this is not exclusive to Zi, it?s just a requirement for reasons of hygiene which you cannot risk when it comes to eye care. For this reason I will give the 5 star rating.


 carly_pussycat - dooyoo UK ©