For many years now my GHD straightening irons have been a good friend to me - I first bought a black pair back in 2004 which sadly died three years later, my boyfriend then bought me the pink breast cancer limited edition ones which began recently to show signs of not being as effective as they'd always been, and this Christmas I received the fantastic Purple Limited Edition set, containing a pair of MK IV purple straighteners, a travel hairdryer, two hair separating clips, and all contained in a heat proof travel bag. The fact that I am now on my third pair of GHD's at over £100 a pair, should tell you what an indispensible beauty tool these are.

The MK IV GHD's heat up to 210 degrees in just 6 seconds - this is far and away the quickest heating up I have ever seen and an unexpected improvement on the previous MKIII/Salon Styler edition which I had thought were pretty speedy - this is highlighted by the fact that on turning them on there is a beep sounded as well as the LED light coming on, and then another beep when the straighteners are ready to use - literally seconds later, but I love the fact that it beeps at you, as well as the LED light now flashing, to remind you so that you don't end up leaving them on the side kicking out heat. They use ceramic plates which conduct the heat far better than other materials and ensure that the temperature is regulated, leaving your hair the sleekest it can be. I find it amazing that even though the plates get as hot as they do, the outside of the iron barrel manages to keep relatively cool - it's still warm, but it's not going to burn you if you touch it. But the MK IV model's biggest advantage for me is the automatic shut off mode - I've lost count of the times that I've rushed back home thinking I've left my straighteners on and worrying that I'm going to return back to a pile of ash and rubble after a horrific house fire! But the shut off mode on these mean that after 30 minutes of no use, they simply shut themselves off. There is also a 'shiver mode' - apparently temperatures below -8 degrees can apparently cause damage to the ceramic plates meaning that they don't heat up to the full temperature anymore. This wasn't something I'd ever been aware of, but it's good to know that GHD are constantly trying to improve the product and ensure that they last as long as they can.

The Purple edition is really beautiful - a deep shiny purple colour with a pale paisly pattern covering it. The set is packaged in a purple shoe size box with a gorgeous velvet effect lid - definitely one I'll be keeping! The purple heat proof bag is a definite winner for me - when travelling, it's such a pain when you're packing to leave and you need to wait for the irons to cool down sufficiently to pack them. The bag means that you can simply throw them in without worrying. You can also put your GHD's down on the bag while you are separating your hair without worrying they're going to leave a burn mark on your dressing table! There is also a section to separate the cable from the irons to ensure you don't damage it, although the cable does seem to have been thickened and seems more than capable of resisting heat damage. What this does do though is prevent the damage that I did to my first pair of GHD's through wrapping the cable around the irons - this is a big no-no apparently and sure enough the cabling on my first pair began to come apart and was the reason why they eventually failed. I've seen lots of complaints about the wiring failing on GHD's - everyone who I've spoken to with this problem has admitted to wrapping the cable around them - don't do it!

The set also includes a DVD, showing you useful tips on how to use the GHD's, and is especially helpful on showing how to create curls (still not idiot proof enough for me to work out creating curls, but as I said before, I am a hairstyling moron!)