My hair is big. There seems to be too much of it and it has a natural curl to it that without gallons of mousse ends up as just a big fluffy fuzz!!! It is impossible to wear my hair down in its natural state as it just looks ridiculous. Filling it with mousse to curl it is hard work and costs me a fortune in styling products! I would love to have naturally straight, sleek hair but I do not. Therefore, hair straighteners are an essential if I want to wear my hair down and not look like a clown!

I owned a set of the original ghd straighteners for a few years, which I was very impressed with, but with the amount of hair that I have it still took a long time to straighten it all. Eventually after me dropping them a few too many times my old straighteners begun to play up and I decided it was time to invest in some more. I stuck to the GHD brand as I had been so impressed with them, but this time chose the large salon styler (the newer model). At £116 they aren't cheap but they are worth it!!

The Straighteners

The hair straighteners have wider plates than the other GHD straighteners do. This makes them more suitable for people with longer, thicker or Afro Caribbean hair. They have a slightly rounded barrel so that they can still be used to create curls, flicks and waves although they are not as good for this as the narrower straightening irons.

This newer model has a built in sleep mode which is very useful if you are pigeon brained like me and have a tendency to leave them on by accident! After 30 minutes of not being used they turn themselves off. Obviously this isn't something you want to rely on too much but on the basis that I have often got halfway to work and had to rush back in a panic because I couldn't remember turning my straighteners off this is a very clever function. The new digital technology also means that when you turn them on the beep and then once they are at the correct temperature (230 degrees) ready to use (in about 7 seconds) they make a beeping sound to let you know. They have ceramic plates, which are glossy and designed to cause minimal damage to the hair whilst leaving it sleek and poker straight. Due to the wider plates they are heavier than most straighteners and can be a little harder to handle but once you get used to them the benefits of having the wider plates massively outweigh this small technicality!

Usage

The whole idea behind the wider plates is that you can straighten your hair more easily and in less time. I have found this to be true as with normal sized straighteners it takes me a good 40 minutes to make my way through all my hair, sometimes even longer! Whereas with these straighteners I can do my whole head in around 10 minutes!

The hair straighteners are designed to be used on dry hair. It is a good idea to use a heat protection spray of some kind before straightening your hair although I have to admit that I often don't bother. I do try to use some serum as it helps stop any static. As with normal hair straighteners, you need to take a section of your hair at a time and run the straighteners down that section. Thanks to the wider plates, this section can be bigger than with other straighteners, thus speeding up the process. As you run the straighteners down your hair they make it instantly straight and beautifully smooth. A freshly straightened section of hair is hot and you do need to be careful when touching it for the first few seconds as you can burn your hand on it!
Although they are heavier, the straighteners are easy to move through your hair and I have no problem doing the back of my hair with them. It is harder to use them for creating other styles such as curls or waves - not impossible but difficult!! Although realistically the whole idea behind these straighteners is that you can quickly straighten your difficult to manage hair so this is not a problem.

The straighteners and their handle are well designed in a way that the plates are fairly well protected so it is unlikely that you will burn your hand on them whilst using them, but they do get incredibly hot so it is worth making sure that you keep the hot plates away from your ears! The only time I have ever burnt myself on my straighteners is when I have put them down and then lent on them without thinking, so I would strongly advise against that!

The Effect

It is important to me that the straighteners are easy and quick to use but the most important part is what they actually do to my hair! One go of the straighteners on a section of my hair leave it nicely straight and smooth but for extra sleekness I do tend to redo each section one more time. The ceramic plates are intended to cause minimal heat damage to the hair and to reduce static. I find this to be true as I can straighten my hair everyday and my hair is still in a good healthy condition. With regard to static - I do sometimes find that a section of my hair with get a little bit fly-away but running some hair serum through it solves that.

I am perfectly happy with the effect of these straighteners on my hair, they leave it perfectly straight and in a good smooth condition. My hair will then say straight until I get it wet or if I tie it up then it will get a kink in it!! Therefore, if you have hair that does not get greasy easily then you can sleep on your straightened hair and it will still be straight the next day! My hair naturally gets quite greasy and needs washing everyday, but on the odd day where I really cant be bothered, a quick use of dry shampoo can make it look fine again and it remains straight and styled!

Summary of the good points

• Wider plates save time and effort
• Suitable for long, thick or afro hair
• Ceramic plates reduce heat damage to hair and static
• Turn off after 30 minutes of not being used (may stop your house burning down)
• Great straightening effect which is longlasting
• Quick to heat up (7 seconds)
• Can be used to create curls, flicks etc
• Reliable
• Come with a 2 year guarantee
• Good quality design
• Used by most hair salons suggesting good quality
• Long powercable
• Universal voltage - giving optimum performance when travelling
• Shut down in temperatures that are too cold to prevent internal damage from condensation
• Leave your hair looking sleek, smooth and healthy

Summary of the bad points

• Expensive
• A lot of fakes out there - (its best to buy from the official GHD website)
• Less suitable for creating other styles (curls, flicks etc) than the narrow plated straighteners
• Heavier than the smaller straighteners
• Not really suitable for very short styles

Overall

Overall I am absolutely delighted with these hair straighteners. Having the wider plates saves me so much time and is much easier to make my way through my hair with them. I definitely prefer them to the narrower plates on other straighteners. Despite them being so expensive, I am totally in love with them! I think they are worth the money as long as you look after them as you will have them for years! They are well designed and the fact that almost all hair salons that I have been to use them, they must be good!! I can happily give these straighteners five stars and recommend them for anyone with longer, thicker or afro hair.