I had no idea what a "Turbie Towel" was until I received one in my Christmas Stocking a few years back. I am now truly converted and have a small assortment of Turbie Towels, ranging from rather 'premium' offerings to more basic variations from my local Pound Shops.

To explain the item a little, a Turbie Towel is basically an item designed for wrapping around your soaking wet hair. It is usually made of a light 'towelling' sort of fabric, similar to that of a flannel for using on your face. I also have one that is made of a sort of light 'micro fibre' type material which feels extremely lightweight.

The main difference between a Turbie Towel and a 'normal' towel is its shape and size. Instead of being rectangular like a towel, the Turbie Towel is more triangular, and is shaped like a sort of hood, but with a triangular tail attached. The idea is of course to use the Turbie Towel to wrap your wet hair in, and secure it in a sort of 'turban' shape on top of your head. Thus, your wet hair is wrapped in a lightweight towel, leaving your hands free.

I find the Turbie Towel is extremely easy to use. All I need to do is bend my neck forwards, to let my shoulder-length hair hang to the front of my head. I then put the largest part of the Turbie Towel over my head and allow it's 'tail' to cover the lengths of wet hair. Then, I simply twist the 'tail' part of the Turbie Towel and pass it back on itself to the back of my head. There, I can secure the end of the 'tail' by using the elasticated 'loop' of fabric that is located there. All of this takes a mere moment, and in just a few seconds my wet hair is resting on top of my heat neatly and securely and away from my face and neck.

It could be argued that a normal towel would suffice for a makeshift turban, but there are some significant disadvantages with using this practice. Firstly, an actual towel is rather heavy and slightly cumbersome when placed on the head. True, this is probably not a huge problem for the average consumer, but for someone who suffers from extreme fatigue amongst other health complaints such as myself, I do find that a wet towel on my head can feel quite heavy and uncomfortable at times. This is no problem where the Turbie Towel is concerned as it contains a LOT less fabric than your average bath or hand towel, thanks to its smaller design. Similarly, the fabric is slightly less dense than your average towel, which adds to the extremely lightweight feel of the Turbie.

Secondly, I find that a normal towel will often unravel quite easily and fall to the ground which is again, far from ideal for somebody with limited mobility such as myself. Having to replace the fallen towel on my head again and again is rather time-consuming and, well, annoying. I have found that the Turbie Towel, in comparison, rarely comes undone once it is securely fastened via the elasticated loop.

There are other benefits to using a Turbie too. It folds away very neatly with it taking up much less room than a towel, and this makes it absolutely ideal for storing in my linen closet at home which is rather jam packed, to say the least. Likewise, I find the Turbie Towel is ideal for popping into my suitcase to go on holiday as it takes up hardly any room in my bag. I tend to pack a Turbie in my case when I travel for the simple reason that my permanent hair colour is very dark and it tends to cause a little staining or discolouration to lightly-coloured towels at times. To avoid any damage to posh Hotel towels, I simply pop one of my own Turbies in my bag, and thus, this problem is solved.

Whilst I am on the subject of hair dye, I have found the Turbie Towel works extremely well at holding my wet - and dye covered! - hair in place whilst the colour takes hold, before the rinsing process is required. I would stress however, that I have a very old Turbie that is kept purely for this purpose and so any further stains or discolouration that occurs to the fabric doesn't matter a jot. I would not recommend using a brand new Turbie for this purpose unless you want it covered in permanent hair colour, of course.

The Turbies ARE very versatile, and are ideal for using during the process of colouring my hair as detailed. They can also be used during spa treatments, sun beds, saunas and facials, although I personally don't use them for any of these purposes. I have been known to pop one on my head when carrying out my make-up routine before a night out, just to keep my long hair out of the way or when applying a particularly messy face mask from time to time. So, in case you were wondering, yes - they can be used with dry hair too.

The final benefit to using a Turbie Towel over a normal towel is that they are more economical. They require less washing and drying due to being smaller in size. You may also find that you can obtain two uses from each one before it needs washing, although this may depend on your hair type and length of course. For myself, I do prefer to pop them in the washer after each use, but they require less washing and drying space than a large towel, of course.

Turbie Towels can be purchased for around the £1 mark from most good discounted stores such as B&M and Wilkos, as well as some Pound Shops. Online retailers include Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) and eBay (www.eBay.co.uk) where prices start at around £1.30 plus postage costs. I don't think I have ever paid over £2 for a Turbie which I think is excellent value for money.

I can't think of one single negative point when considering this item, and it is therefore something that I highly recommend with full stars in the product rating score. I think they are an absolute godsend and I wouldn't be without mine at all!