Fantastic (GHD Mk4 Straighteners)

Member Name: caz-3124

Product:	GHD Mk4 Straighteners
Date:	08/02/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Straight and shiny hair

Disadvantages: Cost

GHDs (Good Hair Days) are the Elite of the straightening world. Beloved by celebrities, splashed over magazines and with fancy black and white ad campaigns they are known by all (yes even men who I have mentioned them to know what I'm talking about). In fact, while their customer base is largely women, I know these are quite popular with men who are particularly concerned about the appearance of their hair.

In general terms, hair straighteners are designed to flatten out and straighten hair through the use of extreme heat. They are also known as hair irons. GHDs like a large number of straighteners put protective coatings on the iron plates to reduce the damage done to hair. The ceramic coating GHD use is meant to protect hair and prevent frizzing thereby increasing the sleek look.

The irons come in a little pouch for storage, useful if you're taking them in your suitcase. Although it doesn't come with it, I would reccommend getting a heat protection mat (or find something you can use for an equivalent) to prevent damage to your surfaces especially if you leave the house without turning them off. Luckily, I have never had any disasters, despite havng done this two or three times over the years.

Once you plug the straighteners in it takes about a minute for them to reach full heat capacity. They can be used beforehand but seeing as they heat so quickly there isn't much point especially as the results are only really noticeable at high temperatures. Incidentally, they take a little while to cool down, so if you spot a few strands you have missed you can do them with the power switched off. There is a little on/off switch just between the two irons. It may seem an odd nay inconvenient place to put the power switch but I would say it's a good one as a previous pair of irons I owned had the power switch on top and I was forever turning it off accidentally whilst straightening because you need your hands on top of the straightener and then I would wonder why it was taking so long to get my hair straight. So good placing.

They are quite straight-forward to use. Simply take a section of hair at the top of your head between the two plates, close the plates and move smoothly down the hair shaft. Try not to do too much hair at once. If you move down too slowly you risk leaving the iron on a section of hair too long thus increasing the heat damage done but if you run it down too fast it won't straighten to full capacity. With a bit of practice you can find the middle ground. Generally I only run the iron down a section of hair twice, though this is with shoulder length mostly straight hair already. Obviously results vary with hair type so it will take someone with a head of curly hair longer. Normally it takes me about 3 minutes say to do my straightening.

The effects are pretty good. My hair straightens pretty easily but it also does very well on curly hair as my friends testify. One of the other benefits is that it makes the hair shine because when you straighten the hair you flatten the cuticle and it becomes more reflective. This also makes it softer. As for the damage it does, well I asked my hairdresser and was told my hair didn't look that damaged and that is with everyday use. As the process makes hair dryer however I would reccomend using a weekly deep conditioning treatment. A lot of people also use heat protective sprays on the hair. Also be careful where you place the straightners on your head because twice now I have caught my ear in between the plates and burned the skin off so beware.

These can be bought from GHD directly, from hairdressing outlets and some hairdressing shops. They were £100 when bought for me. I hear there is a new version out which has a couple of changes, such as an automatic time out after 30 mins which turns them off if you forgot and a smoother design with more rounded edges to facilitate them curling you hair. Anyway, the ones I have come in three varieties, the standard size, a large wide plated one designed for those with thick long hair and a mini version for those with short hairstyles and travelling.

So overall would I reccommend these? Yes, they do a good job but they are expensive. To me they are worth it as I use them daily because my hair just looks a bit too frizzy and unkempt without them. However there are many good cheaper alternatives around. I had a Remington that was almost as good and for only £35 so do investigate other options.

Summary: Worth the outlay