Babyliss Total Freedom 230 (Babyliss Total Freedom 230)

Member Name: brayley-x

Product:	Babyliss Total Freedom 230
Date:	16/07/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: As good as GHD's but cheaper!

Disadvantages: Can't curl your hair with these straighteners

After my old straighteners started to get worn out, and weren't heating up as fast, I decided to branch out and buy a new pair. As I straighten my hair everyday, I needed a pair with a lot of heat, and that would last a very long time, I had my eye on a set of GHD's but when I seen the price, I changed my mind! But then a friend recommend 'BaByliss Total Freedom Straightener' to me, after some research and looking at other straighteners, I found that many people were pleased with these straighteners, so I decided to go out and buy a pair and I soon fell in love with them!
I bought these from Argos a while after the straighteners were released, so I didn't pay as much as I would have if I had bought them sooner, and they were on special offer at the time, I think I paid £20 for them which is a bargain!

In the box came the straighteners, the docking base, and 3m power cord if you wanted to connect the straighteners to a power socket. One of the advantages to me were that the straighteners were cordless, as I was always getting interrupted whilst straightening my hair, so I thought I would be able to take the straighteners with me if someone called! However, I found this not to be the case.

To use the straighteners cordless, all you have to do is lock the 3m cord into the docking base at the back, insert the plug into a wall socket, and place the straighteners into the docking base. There is also a switch on the docking base to turn the straighteners on and off. Once turned on, a red light comes on on the straighteners, and a green light below starts to flash. Once the green light stops flashing you are ready to go!
Initially I did started off using the straighteners cordless, and I would straighten a section of my hair, put the straighteners down to heat back up again and whilst they were heating up id section the rest of my hair. However on the box the straighteners say 'Up to 4 minutes cordless use' But I found that the straighteners did not last four minutes cordless but rather 2 and a half minutes, and then the straighteners would start to cool down quickly. Once they started to cool down I would need to reheat them as they wouldn't straighten my hair anymore it would just make it frizzy. When you need to reheat all straighteners, all you have to do is pop them back into the docking base and wait for the green light to stop flashing.

After getting fed up of using the straighteners cordless, I decided not to give up on my straighteners yet but to try them cordless. This is where I feel in love with these straighteners! What a completely different pair of straighteners! To use the straighteners non-cordless, all you have to do is lock the 3m power cord into the straighteners, and insert the plug into a socket. Once again the red light came on and the green flashing light, and once the green light stopped flashing you were ready to go. The straighteners also looked like any other pair of straighteners when they had the cord attached. I instantly found a difference from before, the straighteners kept their heat and I was finished straightening my hair in minutes!
The straighteners come with 5 heat setting so they are suitable for all types of hair, 150 degrees, 170 degrees, 190 degrees, 210 degrees, and the maximum of 230 degrees. To turn the heat settings, you simply turn the dial on the inside of the straighteners to your desired heat setting to match the little arrow on the straighteners. As I like to keep my hair straight all day, I like to use quite a high heat temperature. I found that the 150, 170 and 190 degrees weren't suitable for my hair and it didn't have much effect on my hair, however I think these heats would be suitable for someone who straighteners there hair on rare occasions, or a young person who is just starting to straighten their hair. The first time I used the straighteners I used them on 190 degrees, and they kept my hair straight all day long, and I was delighted! However, I found over time that my hair didn't stay straight all day long and that I needed to turn the heat up. I turned the heat up to the highest heat setting, 230 degrees, and this was a big mistake! My hair did stay straight all day, but it was kind of flat and had to life in it, it felt as though I had ironed it with a iron! Also my hair smelt of burning for a couple days after even when I didn't straighten it. However I simply turned down the straighteners inbetween 190 degrees and 230, and found they were perfect!
The straighteners have 'Nano titanium-ceramic plates' which are a gold color. However the color fades after a couple of months but they still remain a gold color just not as bright as before. The plates on the straighteners are easy to clean, and they hardly ever get dirty and never have product stuck on them! They glide so smoothly through my hair that you never feel the straighteners pulling on one pair of your hair more than the other.

On the outer side of the ceramic plates, there is a furry sort of material that is heat resistant. This is so when the straighteners become too hot, you won't burn your fingers if you touch the outside of the ceramic places. This is an advantage because you can now freely touch this part of the straighteners with out the fear of getting your fingers burnt! However there is also a downside. I also like to use my straighteners to curl my hair, by twisting my hair around the straighteners. However, because there is that furry material on the outer part, you can not use there straighteners to curl any hair because there isn't a lot of heat on the outside, and your hair will not glide across the furry material, it will simply be dragged across and you will feel an awful pulling sensation.

The 3m cord is also very useful. I was able to plug my straighteners in far away from my mirror and still be able to sit over by my mirror and straighten my hair with enough cord to be able to sit down or stand up!

Also these straighteners have an automatic shut off point after an hour. I found this really good as I don't have to worry if I think I've left my straighteners on as I know they will turn themselves off after an hour, and I wont set my house on fire!

Also I have found if I have washed my hair in the night, and then straightened it before I go to bed (why you may ask but I've always done it! And I'm sure many other girls would agree with me that they do it too!) I can still wake up to straight hair! And I don't need to re-straighten the whole of my hair, I simply just have to go over the my top layers and fringe which takes me all of two minutes and I'm done!
I would definitely recommend these straighteners to everybody! However I would advise people to use them with the cord rather than without. These are great straighteners, my friend even went out to buy a pair after her GHD's broke and said they were just as good but cheaper! I have had these straightens for just over a year now, and they are still working perfectly and I use them everyday! There a bargain for the price and are well worth buying!

Summary: Well worth buying, excellent product!