Am I turned on? (BaByliss 2085U Pro 230 Straighteners)

Member Name: Meggysmum

Product:	BaByliss 2085U Pro 230 Straighteners
Date:	22/06/09 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Effective straighteners.

Disadvantages: Keep turning them off by accident.

When my last straighteners eventually died from overuse I had two options--turn into a hermit and never leave the house again due to permanent bad hair days or fork out some money and buy a new pair. Needless to say I thought the second was a more practical option so I started searching around for a suitable replacement. My previous straighteners had been Babyliss and I had been very happy with them. I have several friends who recommended GHD but since I didn't intend to rob a bank I felt I should choose something a bit cheaper.

I purchased these around Christmas time and they were on half price offer at Argos at £28. I think the current selling price seems to be about £59 but I have seen them on offer on various sites so I would suggest it is easy to get them at less than £30.

The straighteners are black with a 4inch long ceramic plate. There is a good length of cord which is useful to reach my mirror. The straighteners came with a heat protective wrap/pad. I felt this was quite flimsy and didn't seem to fit very well so I tend to rest mine on a heat resistant pad that is actually designed for use in a kitchen! Four clips are included, these are of adequate quality and I do use clips to help with straightening my thick hair, I have a couple of really good ones but these do ok as spares.

To use the straighteners there is a dial on the inside of the handle, you select a number up to 10 with 10 being temperature of 230 and the others obviously decrease the temperature. There is an "on" button which requires only a light touch and an "off" button next to it which also needs only a light touch. The outside of the top of the barrels have a fuzzy material which stays cool to the touch. They heat up really quickly, I think they say 15 seconds but I tend to leave mine for about 30 seconds and they are very hot by then.

I find these straighten my hair really well. My hair is very thick and prone to "kinks" all over rather than being nice and wavy. It becomes straight very quickly with these and I tend to run each section of hair through twice quickly and the job is done. By the end of the day my hair is still straight and tidy. I do use heat-protection products as well. I tend to use the temp at number 8 as I found when I used the 10 the ends of my hair seemed to get very dry. This maybe because I have to use them twice on each section to manage the thicker top part of my hair. Where the cord is joined to the barrel there is a swivel joint. This is brilliant in stopping the cord getting tangled whilst moving them around your head.

The only problem I have with these straighteners are the very sensitive on/off buttons. they sit on the top of the barrel where your hand is and I seem to manage to turn them off frequently when using them. I find they are not working so well and then realise what I have done. My daughter has the same problem when she uses them. This is such a shame for an otherwise good product. I have to keep checking that the red light is on the whole time.

I would recommend these for their performance I just wish the buttons weren't so sensitive.

Summary: Does the job well, just keep an eye on that red light!