Not so hot! (Babybliss 2026U Hair Straightener)

Member Name: sirg0508

Product:	Babybliss 2026U Hair Straightener
Date:	13/11/06 (2287 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ok for an emergency

Disadvantages: Don't work that well, clips are useless too

Having shied away from Hair Straighteners for so long I finally gave in after seeing “Babyliss Trevor Sorbie Solid Ceramic Session Straightening Irons (2026U)” at the bargain price of £2.99 on eBay. Littlewoods are actually selling this set at £40. As similar competitor irons still remain at sky high prices around £70 I felt this was a bargain and I didn’t waste too much money if they didn’t work but did hope they’d make some sort of noticeable difference to my hair.

The design by Trevor Sorbie (who as pointed out by someone after I got them doesn’t even have hair), is not good. They look something like a crocodiles head and hinged so they are easy to hold closed on my hair but not cause strain on my hands and not too heavy that my arms get sore holding them but the wire has little movement near the straighteners themselves and where it is reinforced comes below the level of bottom iron. This makes them impossible to put down as they continually want to fall over. The same thing happens if I turn them upside down as the top iron as a rounded top and the wire has to then point up and doesn’t want to do that either so falls over. Although I think they may be designed to sit upside down as the top iron has a felt heat resistant material back. In the end as I wasn’t prepared to stand holding them while they either heated up or cooled down I had to hang them over my cheval mirror so they wouldn’t damage any other surface with their high temperatures.

While plugged in if the power is on at the socket the straighteners do heat up around the hinge so when not in use I always make sure that while they themselves are switched off, the plug is too. There are 2 buttons which turn the power on and off on the irons, a dial and a red light. The light flashes when heating up and remains still when hot enough to be used at the desired temperature or off if there is no power. They are very simple to use and there isn’t much confusion about different settings other than the dial itself. It is quite hard to see as the irons won’t open further and the dial is on the underside of the top one. The numbers range from 1 to 25 in intervals of 5 with 1 being the coolest setting and 25 the highest which is for thick and wavy hair. It doesn’t however tell me anywhere on the box or the instructions what the actual temperature it goes up to is.

Even from the beginning I never directly use the irons beginning at the root of my hair as that could end up burning it and breaking so I begin at the bottom. I used to use them at number 15 but other than making my hair warm it wouldn’t do anything so I kept increasing the temperature to 25. As this is designed for thick or wavy hair I was disappointed when only then I’d see a difference as my hair is straight anyway. I take strands at a time of my hair and I can see a difference at this heat as my hair becomes almost poker straight. This result never lasts long in my hair though and I really feel that I’d be better off with a much better quality set of irons or use a product on my hair to help. Through continual use the ceramic has obviously damaged my hair as it has changed from white to a kind of burnt brown.

The ceramic plates are just thin rectangles which are raised rather than flush with the irons which are beneficial for styling but although it says they are ‘wrap around’ they actually have metal edges rather than ceramic. They do keep the heat but I’ve used metal ones before and the results were far from the result of a ceramic straighter. I always brush my hair before using the straighteners and most of the time they just glide through my hair but at other times they catch it and break my hair – especially right at the end of the straighteners where the ceramic ends.

There were a couple of other items included with the straighteners which was a Professional Styling Guide which probably gives a good indication of this product as it isn’t even featured. It does have hair dryers, rollers and irons showing the results that each of these Babyliss products can achieve including the steps to achieve that look. But again, if it doesn’t even have the product you bought it’s not going to be much use! There were also 4 sectioning clips included with it. These are just made of thin metal but do have a good hinge but they just will not hold my hair in place which makes styling difficult as ideally they should keep a layer of hair to the side to straighten underneath but just ends up getting in the way.

Overall, as you’ve probably guessed I don’t recommend them – whether at £40 or £2.99. It can be worth spending a little bit extra but even at £40 you’d expect them to be better. They can get a kink out my hair if I’ve been wearing it up but other than for emergency use they are useless for styling. The light indicator is good but always means keeping an eye on it to see if it starts blinking while it needs to heat. The clips too are not much good. So in my opinion, avoid them.

Summary: Hair straighteners that don't quite work