Beauty - Andrea Byrne: Five of the best Blowdrying creams

Before you choose a pre-blowdrying product you need to ask yourself what it is you want from your blowdry, because most have specific functions – be it sleek and straight or big and voluminous.

You also need to be mindful of your hair's texture. You don't want to overload the hair. Too much of the wrong product could mean having to wash your hair all over again. Hairdressers advise that you use a pea-sized amount of product and work it into the ends of damp, but not soaking wet hair. Most blowdrying creams have a built-in heat protection so you really shouldn't need to apply any other product to the hair.

What you'll love about Redken's Satinwear and Kerastase's Resistance Ciment Thermique is that they also condition the hair, leaving it really soft and smooth. With both of these products, you pay for what you get.

For curly, unruly hair, which I happen to have, I'd recommend Ojon's Supersleek Restorative Blowout Perfector as it works wonders on hard-to-smooth hair and halves the drying time. VO5's Smoothly Does It is also a super frizz-fighting product. It's thick so you really don't need much product.

If you're a lover of volume, you'll be amazed at what a few pumps of John Frieda's Luxurious Volume Thickening Blow Dry Lotion and a good barrel brush will do. Good blowdrying brushes are worth investing in.

Best Buy

Even Better Dark Spot Defense SPF45, €38, Clinique, available in selected department stores nationwide

Even if you don't suffer from dark spots, your skin will thank you for feeding it with this little tonic. It provides optimum UV protection whilst leaving the skin looking really fresh and radiant.

Best Value

Stripped Nudes, €9.49, Maybelline, available in pharmacies and grocery stores nationwide

Thought you couldn't wear a nude lip? Yeah, me too, that was until I discovered this gorgeous collection for Maybelline. They're creamy and there is at least one in the six-strong collection that you'll fall in love with.

Satinwear  Blowdrying  Lotion, €16.25

Redken, available in selected hair salons nationwide. Light enough to use on even the most fine of hair.

Take 5

Supersleek  Restorative  Blowout  Perfector, €26

Ojon, available in Arnotts, Dublin. Heavy duty. Works really well on curly and coarse hair.

Resistance  Ciment  Thermique, €24.30

Kerastase, available in selected hair salons nationwide. Dual functioning: it works to reconstruct as well as smooth the hair.

Luxurious Volume  Thickening Blow Dry  Lotion, €7.99

John Frieda, available in |pharmacies and grocery stores nationwide. Small in size but big on volume.

Smoothly Does It Frizz  Free Cream, €5.09

VO5, available in pharmacies and grocery stores nationwide. Successfully tamed the smallest and most stubborn of baby hair.