Regular readers of my reviews will no doubt be aware by now that I have long, curly, unruly hair that is prone to dryness, coarseness and frizz. It takes a lot of time, energy and products to tame it in any way and I have tried dozens over the years in attempt to transform my locks from big ball of frizz to sleek, defined and smooth curls.

One product that I come back to time and time again is this Boots Curling Cream (now called Curl Creme). As part of the Essentials range, it is one of their 'value' products and I was first attracted to it by the price. Nowadays, with all the celebrity hair dressers it is all too easy to get tempted by their own products and to end up paying a fortune for something that doesn't give the results you hope for so it was quite refreshing to find something like this in a lower price bracket.

As it is a Boots own brand product it is obviously only available from Boots shops or their online store (although it is currently out of stock due to supply issues but Boots reassures me they're working to correct that and it should be available again soon). Priced at only £1.32 for a 250ml tub it is excellent value and definitely won't break the bank if you fancy giving it a try yourself.

The Curl Creme comes in a clear plastic tub with a screw top lid which I really like. Not only is it easy to see how much of the cream you have left but it is also really easy to control how much of the product you use at a time and to get every last bit out of the bottom. I generally prefer flip top lids on cosmetics and toiletries as you invariably have hands covered in some sort of gloop when you're trying to close it up again. With this curl cream however, I tend to use three or four smaller fingerfuls of it rather than one big blob so it is handy that it can be left standing open on the dressing table until you've applied enough to your hair. I then tend to wait until my hair styling process is finished before washing my hands and rescrewing the lid on.

The cream itself is a soft pink colour, reminding me somewhat of bubble gum. It has quite a thick consistency so it is definitely more of a cream than a mousse and is almost pearlescent in appearance - sort of shiny, almost like a blancmange...well, not that I've ever eaten blancmange but it's how I imagine a blancmange to look! The smell of it is quite nice too and whilst it's not a particular strong scent it's quite sweet and floral without being too overpowering which is good as it does tend to linger on my locks for quite a while afterwards.

To apply this curl creme I simply run it through my freshly washed and towel dried hair, making sure I coat all of my hair evenly from roots to the ends. This involves tipping my hair upside down to make sure I don't miss the underneath as well. Because I have such long hair (it comes to about halfway down my back) and it is quite thick I tend to use quite a lot of this cream so a tub usually lasts me about 2 months with using it 2 or 3 times a week. But, being the price it is, this is still really good value as far as I'm concerned!
Boots claim that this cream will "control and nourish to smooth away frizziness, enhance shine and hold your curl without weighing it down". Everything that a curly top like me wants from a curl cream really, but which very few actually deliver. But do you know what? By golly this one does deliver! It really does do exactly what it says on the tin...or tub if you're being pedantic!

When I've used this cream my curls are left looking defined and much smoother without any tell tale signs of frizz. other products I've used in the past have also achieved this but most of them either leave your hair so heavy that the curls get weighted down or leave my hair feeling really hard and crisp or really sticky. This one doesn't do any of that. It leaves my hair feeling soft, my curls feeling bouncy and just overall makes my hair feel and look really healthy.

I usually either leave my hair to dry naturally or, when I can be bothered, twirl each curl individually around my finger to make them more of a corkscrew curl and this cream works equally well with both styles; When left to dry naturally my curls are much softer whilst still being defined and when twirled into corkscrews they're unbelievably bouncy and frizz free. The fact that I can achieve both these looks without my hair feeling really sticky or hard is amazing to me!

I tend to wash my hair every three days as it is such a chore and this cream will last the full three days without needing reapplying. On the other two days I tend to give my hair a quick spritz with a spray of water as just the act of sleeping on it can make some parts of my hair slightly frizzy again. But once I've lightly coated my hair with a mist of water it is once again easy to smoothe my hands over and tame any stray hairs.

In case you hadn't noticed, I actually love this cream and would go so far as to call it a miracle product for curly hair. I have tried many over the years (and do still experiment if something catches my eye) but this is one that I keep coming back to time and again and writing this review has made me realise just how good it is and to wonder why I bother with anything else!

For me it's a winner on all counts - packaging, price, performance and effects on my hair. It does exactly what I want a product such as this to do and all for less than £1.50. I don't think you can argue with that!