Wavy, frizzy, generally downright yucky hair. Even with the help of BaByliss Straight & Shine hair straighteners it failed to impress me.

Its still wavy, thick and frizzy. In a word, my hair is simply unruly. You lucky lot out there with poker straight hair may think we have it easy, no need to curl our hair or use thickening shampoo or any of this. You’d be wrong. Of course no one is happy with their own hair (or very few people!) but you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you having hair like mine is a pain in the butt. You can’t do anything with it and the moment you step outside with just the slightest hint of a wind or rain you consequently end up looking like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards whilst being electrocuted.

I used these quite a lot at first. I soon realised they were drying my hair out even further so I decided to quit using them for a while. Since then I’ve rarely used them, only when I was desperate. I’d pretty much resided myself to having yucky curly hair for the rest of my life with little I could do about it.

Cast your minds back a year or so. Ok, so technically its two years ago, bare with me though, my brain hasn’t adjusted to it being 2004 now so I’m still in 2003 mode! However, cast your minds back to when “The Salon” (first series) started on Channel 4*.

GHD was being marketed as the God of hair products. The "new religion in hair care".

GHD soon started to focus in predominantly on their hair straighteners. This was when my ears pricked up to listen intently.

Despite lots of people praising these GHD straighteners, I remained unimpressed. Continued reports kept filing in about these “wonder hair products”. Over time I started to wonder whether it was true. Had someone really invented something that straightened your hair? And best of all something you can use at home on yourself? Surely not!

I struck these off my wish list. There was NO WAY I was going to spend that amount of money on a small machine to effectively iron my hair. Especially after the BaByliss ones being “top of the range” (at the time) which, quite frankly, were a bit rubbish! (Admitted, they were only about £26).

Or so I thought….

It was mid-November when I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d saved up a decent amount of money in PayPal and started an eBay hunt for some GHD hair straighteners. (Incidentally, you can only buy them at hair dressing salons, online or second hand, you WON’T find these in high street shops or catalogues). Anyway, Nicky had spent about £90 on hers (bought from eBay) so I was expecting a similar amount. I came across someone who had about 15 sets for sale. Within a few minutes of me pondering whether to buy or not 3 sets had been sold (on “Buy it Now” basis). You see, not only was this a lot of money to spend on something I may live to regret, but this was also going to be my first eBay purchase! I’d sold but never bought on eBay before. It was daunting. I finally plucked up the courage to hit the “Buy it Now” button. I’d just bagsied a bargain at just £86 which included P&P!

I eagerly opened the box, plugged them in and waited a few seconds for them to heat up.

It’s no wonder these straighten your hair at that temperature!

This is where the major difference between GHD and BaByliss and similar makes differ. You see GHD straighteners have ceramic plates. This is the key to what makes them work so well apparently. Unlike the metal plates the older models have, ceramic plates distribute heat evenly and hold the heat more effectively. They glide through your hair easily, no matter how curly to start

Pictures of GHD Salon Styler - Hair Straightener

Before and after!

My hair is now just over half way down my back and I can have my hair poker straight (with no prior brushing) within 10 minutes. In fact, on average, it takes me just 7 minutes. I know, I’m sad to time it but the first time I used them I didn’t bother looking at the clock (I was too eager to just get using them!). When I finished I thought “that didn’t seem to take long!” so I made a determined point to time myself after that.

I’ve even walked to and from college in the rain before and still returned with straight hair. However, please note, when I say straight hair now I don’t mean poker straight. But in comparison to my natural hair after facing the rain it is still straight! It doesn’t go particularly frizzy either. GHD can deal with wind particularly well I’ve noticed too.

ª They work. (I figured this was the most important point to raise!) See photo as proof - a before and after shot! (Also, my Ciao profile photo is showing the results too!)
ª They’re easy to use.
ª Quick to use – from curly to straight in a matter of minutes.
ª No need to purchase extra products like hair serum, hair spray or anything else in order to achieve excellent results.
ª The don’t damage your hair. (Although do bare in mind that they can’t be good for your hair as such). I don’t need to condition my hair any more than I used to do though and I now use these once daily (on average).
ª The ceramic plates avoid snagging of the hair – causing less damage, quicker results and its less painful!
ª They’re lighter than older models and glide through hair easily = less arm ache (in fact I no longer suffer from arm ache, possibly because I complete the look within 10 minutes!
ª The cable is a much better length with fancy swivel system where it attaches to the straightening irons.
ª LED indicates when they’re ready to use (after ~ 7 seconds it goes from solid to intermittent flashing light indicating they’re ready to use).
ª Heats up to the required heat far quicker than older models and at 210 degrees C you’re bound to get great results!
ª Seem to deal with knots with ease.
ª Results last all day even in the wind and rain! (Although albeit, the rain doesn’t help)
ª Another trivial point but they look the part. They look top quality and behave as such too. They look professional.

ª They are far from cheap. But then you DO get what you pay for with these. You can expect to pay between £80 and £100 for a set (even second hand). Currently they’re on sale at £95.00 on the official GHD website but you get a free brush and free delivery with this.
ª It hurts when you accidentally touch your skin on the plates. (Tip: make sure your ears stay well out of the way whilst straightening!)
ª Beware of running your hand over/through your hair immediately after running the irons over it. Remember it takes a few seconds to cool down afterwards so you’ll burn your hand if you do touch it immediately. Same goes for tucking your hair behind your ear immediately.
ª Use with care but also remember they remain extremely hot for a considerable length of time after turning them off again. You wouldn’t put a clothes iron down on your floor and leave it unattended would you? So don’t do with these either. You can buy special heat resistant mats to put the irons down on after use. I didn’t bother buying one of these though as the £86 was enough to spend in any one go! I was stupid and risked it by leaving them on the carpet. I always made sure the swivel cable thing at the end though stayed where I put it so the straighteners stayed in a “stood up” position so as not to touch the carpet itself. Be careful with pets too, don’t let them sniff them when they could still be hot or else they’ll end up with sore noses. I was always careful to shut the door after use so my cat couldn’t get in. I now put my straighteners on a small piece of a metal “bridge” shaped thing my dad knocked up for me out of a bit of scrap metal. It serves its purpose well as I can just put them down now and leave them on that with no danger of anything catching fire. I still make a point to shut the door though as this wouldn’t prevent Rosie from getting a sore, burnt nose!