Five of the best: New Season Haircare with Andrea Byrne

The Christmas party season is just around the corner

Dual Stylers by Tecni.Art, €17.85. L'Oreal, available in selected salons nationwide. 72 hours of hold without weighing down the hair. Yes, really!

Instyler Rotating Hot Iron, €120. Available from selected retailers nationwide. My GHD has gathered dust because I've become addicted to this multi-functional hair wizard.

Color Lustre Brilliant Glaze Treatment, €50. Shu Uemura, available from Brown Thomas Dublin and selected salons nationwide. An intensive masque that puts much-needed shine and vibrancy into coloured hair.

Instant Hair Strength Tonic, €9.09. Pantene, available in grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide. A brilliant product at a great price. Repeated use is advisable to see results.

Serioxyl, €31.99, L’Oreal, available in selected salons nationwide. A revolutionary new hair system that really does work to combat chronic hair thinning.

thumbnail: The Christmas party season is just around the corner
thumbnail: Dual Stylers by Tecni.Art, €17.85. L'Oreal, available in selected salons nationwide. 72 hours of hold without weighing down the hair. Yes, really!
thumbnail: Instyler Rotating Hot Iron, €120. Available from selected retailers nationwide. My GHD has gathered dust because I've become addicted to this multi-functional hair wizard.
thumbnail: Color Lustre Brilliant Glaze Treatment, €50. Shu Uemura, available from Brown Thomas Dublin and selected salons nationwide. An intensive masque that puts much-needed shine and vibrancy into coloured hair.
thumbnail: Instant Hair Strength Tonic, €9.09. Pantene, available in grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide. A brilliant product at a great price. Repeated use is advisable to see results.
thumbnail: Serioxyl, €31.99, L’Oreal, available in selected salons nationwide. A revolutionary new hair system that really does work to combat chronic hair thinning.
Andrea Byrne

With the Christmas party season just around the corner, it's time to get your tresses in tip-top shape, and acquaint yourself with the latest and greatest in new season haircare and styling. Much like skin and make-up, the key with good haircare is prep.

If your hair is dry, you need to work hard to get the shine and moisture back into it. Pantene's Instant Hair Strength Tonic contains Vitamin B3 and Pro Vitamin B5 to deeply penetrate the hair. I used it repeatedly on my very blonde hair and didn't notice any colour fade.

The key? One use won't make much of a difference; you need to commit to this product for at least a week. The result? Considerably softer, more manageable and altogether better-looking hair.

At €50, Shu Uemura's Color Lustre Glaze Treatment is very pricey, but I promise your hair will thank you. Specifically designed for coloured hair, it's an intense nourishing treatment, and works a lot like the glaze treatments that are offered in hair salons nationwide.

If you have the type of hair that goes flat and lifeless an hour after you've taken the time to blowdry it, you'll love L'Oreal's Dual Stylers, as they offer incredible hold, without the stiffness of hairspray. There are three products within the range that vary in strength, according to the type of blowdry you need.

Thinning hair is more of a problem than ever among Irish women, and not just older women. Poor quality hair extensions and overzealous, unprotected heat styling, is causing untold damage to young women's hair.

Using the new ingredient Stemoxydine, the Serioxyl haircare programme can give instantly thicker and fuller looking hair, but the beauty of it is its long-term service, which works to strengthen the hair to prevent you losing any more of it.

Elsewhere, I am having a bit of a love affair with my Instyler at the moment, as it's facilitating that tousled look that I pay hairdressers to achieve. Admittedly I had to watch quite a few tutorials (and there were a lot of failed attempts) before I got to grips with the technique. But believe me, once you have mastered it, good hair awaits.