YOU'RE on holiday, you've been in the sun all day, you've used sun screen, of course, but especially when you're abroad it's very easy to get burnt. And in any case, you want to keep your skin moisturised, keep that nice healthy glow, don't you?

For years, the only post-sun treatment was the dreaded bright pink lotion which made you look as though you had chickenpox, but now there's a whole range of products designed to soothe your skin, maintain your tan and turn the pink English complexion into a golden foreign glow.

If you're really burnt, even rubbing in lotion can be agony, so the spray creams should be brilliant. However, most of these are so thick, they still need rubbing in. Ouch. So that rather defeats the object.

Some take ages to absorb, so instead of making you glow beautifully, you are covered in cream and looking rather like a piece of basted meat ready for the oven. Others just smell odd.

Amazingly, this summer, we've even had enough bursts of home-grown sun in which to test them...

AMBRE SOLAIRE bed time skin comforter for children, £4.32 for 200ml

Although sold in with the sun creams, this is deigned to comfort skin aggravated by sand, sea and chlorine. It's basically just a very rich, very nice moisturiser that's quickly absorbed and leaves skin feeling very nice. Buy it for the kids, but make sure you get your share.

ASDA £2.99

Cheap, cheerful and effective. A cream spray that's quickly absorbed. One of the best and one of the cheapest, which has to make it our best buy.

BODY SHOP SOS cool off after sun spray, £5.50 for 250ml

There wasn't much point in this being a spray really as the cream came out in great gloopy blobs and had to be rubbed in, not much fun if you're sore. Absorbed quickly.

BOOTS SOLTAN after sun spray cooler, £5.99 for 200ml

Very fine spray that needs only gentle rubbing in. Soothing but stayed very sticky.

COPPERTONE Kids' after sun gel, £4.49 for 200ml

A clear aloe vera gel with tiny little blue and yellow specks which contain vitamins A and E. Takes a little while to absorb but isn't sticky and is quite effective. Smells of holidays.

NIVEA after sun spray, £6.99 for 200ml

Fine spray cream that needs little rubbing in. Soothing and cooling and pleasant smell.

HAWAIIAN TROPIC cool aloe ice burn relief, £8.35 for 473ml

Lovely looking cool blue gel. Contains aloe vera and is instantly cooling and soothing. Very quickly absorbed but leaves skin feeling good. One of the more expensive but one of our favourites.

MARKS & SPENCER after sun spray, £6

Nice fine spray, no need to rub in. Very pleasant to use.

MARKS & SPENCER after sun cooling pads, £2.50 for three

These are tiny sticky patches, about the size of an extra large plaster, filled with a cooling aloe vera gel. They are wonderfully effective. But if your back, shoulders, arms, face and legs are burning, what help are three small patches the size of matchboxes? Best bet is to place them on your forehead as a sort of alternative ice pack to help with a post-sun fuzzy headache, but otherwise we can't say we saw the point of these really.

PIZ BUIN after sun tan intensifier, £9.79 for 200ml

Smells nice, absorbed very quickly, almost instantly. Felt nice on our skin but we can't say we noticed our tan had been intensified. Clearly a classy product but at this price, so it should be.

SAINSBURY'S blue parrot lemon sherbet after sun gel with shimmer, £1.74 for 200ml

This looked promising - a nice green cream with sparkly bits, designed to make children want to slap it on. Unfortunately, it was very sticky and the shimmery bits weren't that shimmery once it was on.

SUPERDRUG Solair after sun spray, £4.99 for 200ml

Fine creamy spray. Very quickly absorbed. Cooling and soothing and smells nice.

UVISTAT after sun care for fair skin, £5.99 for 225ml

This was quite soothing, but it took ages to absorb. Didn't in fact, so sat greasily on top of the skin. Definitely one to be used in the privacy of your own room.