Is it just me? Or is the boom in DIY grooming a joyous return to our teen years? Asks SARAH VINE

I have fond memories of me and my old flatmate Lucy, the pair of us prancing around on Sunday mornings in our dressing gowns, bleaching our moustaches with Jolen while bellowing the lyrics to the eponymous Dolly Parton hit (Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Joleeeeeeene, I’m begging of you please don’t take my maaaaan’).

We looked and sounded utterly bonkers, with our white moustaches and hairbrush microphones. Still, we enjoyed it.

Of evenings steaming our faces over bowls of boiling water, of henna-ing our hair and painting each other’s nails in between gulps of Chardonnay.

Back then, an at-home foot spa was the absolute height of luxury, the sort of thing you would gaze upon in the pages of a glossy catalogue and dream of unwrapping at Christmas. Now they languish unwanted in charity shops and skips.

All of which is by way of saying that, when it comes to keeping up appearances during the Corona curfew, I’ve no worries.

For a start, Jolen is about the only de-fuzzing product still in stock in the shops, almost certainly because no one under the age of 45 has a clue what it actually is. 

But mainly because trying to keep the ineffable enthusiasm of mother nature under control is actually a perfectly pleasant way to waste a bit of time in isolation.

In fact, with the exception of hairdressers, I’m not entirely sure how we ended up becoming quite so reliant on the thousands of nail bars and beauty salons that now lie dormant on our High Streets.

Were we really so busy we couldn’t file our own nails?