Babyliss 5710 E Beliss

I have almost completely poker straight hair. I say "almost completely" because my hair was plumb line straight for about 24 years until I decided to finally get a proper hair-cut. It was at this point, after years of hanging flat and lifelessly from my head that my locks obviously thought "Layers, hmmm...thinks she can get away with layers eh? Ha! Lets throw a spanner in the works on this one!". As soon as the hairdresser was finished with me and I left the salon...ping...I walk past a mirror and I look like I'm auditioning for Charlies Angels!

So...straighteners it was then, after years off being smug about my poker straight hair I had to join the hoards of straightener owning ladies...forced to heat my hair into some vague form of submission every morning. I HATE straightening my hair - I like to get up and go, not spend hours flattening my hair just for it to rain and all my good work to be undone.

So when I saw the advert for the Babyliss Beliss I knew I had to have one - a hairdryer that straightens?? My word…. that could buy me a whole five minutes extra in bed....

...Or could it...?

The Beliss comes in a slightly 1980s metallic red finish. It is supplied with the straightener attachment and a nozzle attachment for styling without straightening.

In terms of technical specifications, the dryer works at 1750 watts. It senses when the straightener or nozzle are attached and changes the heat setting. The cable is pretty long but mine has kinked really easy when it has been stored. It also boasts "Ionic technology" which is supposed to make hair shinier...

The straightener has furry cushioned grips which are supposed to guide the hair through the "Tourmaline-ceramic plates". The straightener has 4 different tightness settings depending on how well you want the dryer to grip your hair. The blurb on the box promised to make my hair silky and shiny...

It has two heat/speed settings which in terms of temperature are fine with either the sraightener or nozzle attachments on but if you use the drier on its own are both hotter than the sun itself! It also has a cool shot which isn't particularly cool and doesn't seem to do much in terms of setting a style in place.

I found the straightener attachment almost impossible to use. I've got quite fine blonde hair and I have to crank the thing up to its tightest setting and even then I have to physically jam my hair in the thing to get it to hold onto it. I have read and re-read the instructions and even gave it one last chance this morning but I find it almost impossible to use. The TV advert shows the woman casually running the thing through her hair and it looking salon-perfect. I have to jam my locks into the straightener and my hair looks worse when I have finished than when I started. I suspect it might not be too good for my hair either.

It takes longer to dry my hair than normal and I end up getting my old straighteners out in the end anyway - not the ideal result. Also I cannot use the dryer on the highest setting with the straightener attachment because it just blows my hair straight out of itself!!

When used with the nozzle attachment the Beliss is a decent enough hairdryer, although there are lots of much cheaper dryers that come with nozzles.

When used without either attachment the Beliss works pretty well and gets much hotter, therefore drying your hair more quickly, but as I've already said, it gets really really hot and is possibly a little bit dangerous!

If you have thick hair the Beliss might work differently for you. Its also probably a lot easier to use on someone else's hair than your own...although if you have someone patient enough to help you do your hair you might as well get them to do the job properly and use straighteners!

I was really disappointed with the Beliss - I'm old enough to know that nothing works quite as well in real life as it does in the adverts, but I've never had a hairdryer this difficult to use!