Famous for her Bambi ‘double lash’ look, The Only Way Is Essex star Sam Faiers is rarely seen without her heavy duty eyelashes.
But her love of fake eyelashes isn’t driven purely by vanity – it’s because she secretly pulls out her natural lashes and without them, she has no eyelashes at all.
Talking to The Sun, the 21-year-old admitted that she suffers from an impulsive control disorder called Trichotillomania, which gives sufferers an uncontrollable urge to yank out their own hair – and in Sam’s case, her eyelashes.
“The all-important thing for an Essex girl is false lashes,” Sam told the newspaper.
“But for me false eyelashes are especially important because I suffer from trichotillomania, which means I pull my eyelashes out. That sounds weird, I know.
“Although not many people know it, I don’t actually have any lashes at all.”
Sometimes the urge becomes so strong, Sam unwittingly pulls them out in her sleep - something she has been doing since she was 8 years old after being told to make a wish as she blew away a stray eyelash.
“It is hard to explain. I do it without thinking. I do it when I am nervous or bored or even when I am asleep. I don’t even realise I am doing it.
“My mum saw what I was doing but didn’t understand why and wasn’t sure how to stop me. She’d get pretty frustrated with me but I carried on doing it, so in the end she took me to the doctor.
“I can’t remember what they said, but it didn’t work. And another time I went to a hypnotherapist. That worked for a bit and my eyelashes started to grow back, but then I started doing it again.”
As a result, Sam is an avid devotee to the double lash look – which involves wearing two pairs of heavy duty eyelashes at the same time.
“I normally wear two pairs to get a really thick, dramatic look.”
Trichotillomania affects around 3.4% of women worldwide and 1.5% of men, according to Trichotillomania Support.
It is generally a long-term, impulse control condition in which people feel an urge to pull their hair out (either from the head, eyebrows or eyelashes) during times of anxiety, stress and upset. After the hair has been pulled, sufferers feel a sense of relief.