Babyliss vs. GHD - Babyliss wins! (BaByliss 2085U Pro 230 Straighteners)

Member Name: rosaliecullen

Product:	BaByliss 2085U Pro 230 Straighteners
Date:	29/08/09 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cost, good straightener

Disadvantages: Not quite as sleek looking as GHD

As a die-hard GHD fan, no other straightners were for me! I have naturally curly and frizzy hair, and I spent my frizzy teens miserable with an absolutely horrendous curly fringe. I spent an absolutely fortune through the 90's and early 00's on various hair straighteners - none did the promised job, or if they did, that lovely sleek look would be gone in approximately 30 seconds as soon as I stepped outside and the humidity hit.

GHD's revolutionised my life! They were amazing, even when my hair got wet it didn't frizz, I had a straight fringe and finally sleek hair. I was "worth it!" *throws hair back* - I couldn't justify their £100 at first, but decided that I'd spent that much money on other rubbish pairs that I'd have to bite the bullet and go for them. Once I used them there was no going back I was a GHD convert. I had my first pair for 6 years, then the wire starting being dodgy, so I got a new pair for Christmas and they broke after 6 months. Perhaps my GHD convert days were over......

I couldn't justify spending ANOTHER £100 on another pair to break, but didn't trust all the other reviews of different straighteners that were a fraction of the price - how could they possibly have been as good as my GHD's??? I saw this Babyliss set on amazon for £24.50. A quarter of the cost of GHDs. I decided if they were utter tripe, I'd only wasted £25. I checked all the dooyoo reviews and amazon reviews, and everyone said they were up to GHD standard. I was highly sceptical as I remembered my frizzy school years and all those poor sets.

So do they live up to GHD's? 100% YES! They arrived in a box with 4 hair clips and a heat resistant mat (neither of which was selling me - but they're fine as a freebie). The straighteners themselves are longer than usual straighteners by about an inch or so which means you can do a bigger chunk at one time. There are 2 buttons that you press in for on and off - this is probably the feature I like least about them as sometimes when straightening you find yourself occassionally knocking them off, but to be honest you have to press it quite hard, so doesn't happen every time- they aren't THAT sensitive. On the inside of the straightener there is a dial which you can set to different temperatures which is great for people with fine hair, or people who don't feel the need to super heat their hair every day. I personally have it on the highest setting (230 degrees) due to how unruly my wig can be! This is a feature that GHDs do not have - they just heat it up to 230 degrees.

There is a fabric coating on the outside of where the plates go which is good as they do not get too hot if you touch the outside (don't touch the inside, you will be burney burnt!)

I don't think that the design of them to look at is quite as sleek as the GHD, but you can certainly straighten and curl with this just as you would with a GHD- it does not impair their useability in anyway at all. They are also a tiny bit heavier than GHD.

One thing I do notice is that they do not cool as quickly as GHD which is not a big deal in my book but as with all straighteners I don't think you should leave them plugged in - even if they switched off. I am sure we have all read the straighteners overheating stories!

The plates themselves are very smooth and have some spring in them which is apparently a good thing (according to the hairdresser).

You can buy these from anywhere Argos, Amazon etc. the last price I saw them for was about £30 but they do go cheaper and more expensive.

They do exactly what a GHD would do and I wouldn't go back to the GHD now. I could have 4 or 5 pairs of these for the cost of the GHD so even if they do break - they are no better than GHDs which can also break in short periods of time.

Give them a go - HONESTLY you will be amazed at how good they are.

Please message me if you have any direct questions about them and I will add anything extra to my review :)

Summary: For £75-£95 LESS I would take the Babyliss every time. They are just as good as GHD.