Hot Hot Hot!! (GHD Mk4 Straighteners)

Member Name: gingaone

Product:	GHD Mk4 Straighteners
Date:	18/08/03 (572 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick, They work!, long-lasting

Disadvantages: Very hot, expensive, can dry out hair if not careful

My hair is insane. It is curlier than a curly wurly. My hair is the most curly thing you have ever seen! And I really don't like it.
I had toyed with the idea of getting my hair permenantly straightened, but at £300 it seemed a bit steep. So i was really happy when I discovered GHD straighteners.
I had heard that these really really did work. I was a little dubious at spending £90 on a pair of straighteners being as I had had bad results with metal ones previously, but I decided, you know, go for it.
It was the best descision I had ever made!

The straighteners themselves seem small compared to normal ones, they are about an inch thick and quite lightweight. They look pro, all black and sleek, I was quite impressed.
Heating up literally takes seconds, mine usually take about 10 seconds. When you switch them on, a red light comes on. When this light starts to pulse, the straighteners are ready to use. It pulses because the filament inside needs to pulse to keep up the temperature.

The plates themselves reach about 210 celcius, which is damn hot. A bad thing about this is that you have to be careful when using them, when they are close to your head you can feel the heat, i have accidentally bumped them against my head and my god it was quite painful. Also watch out for your fingers! After they have been on for a few minutes (well, quite a few) the heat from the plates can start to spread down the handles, not right to the end but past the plates, so please do watch out as the outside can get hot as well as the plates.

Now to my hair. I have tried many many things in desperation to attempt to control my unruly, curly frizzy hair. I have had it straightened chemically, at great expense, which lasted all of 30 minutes!, hairdressers have tried, and failed, to straighten it by blow-drying, straightening, everything.
Make sure your hair is clean and dry before you start, as i have found if your hair is not totally clea
n
(ie just washed that day) it can turn a bit greasy when straightening. If it is not dry and a bit of moisture remains, the intense heat of the straighteners can cause it to, er, rapidly evaporate with a crackling noise, which does not sound too healthy for your hair.
You can buy serum to protect your hair which I recommend, personally I have not tried it but anything to protect your hair from this high a heat is a good idea, I use pantene repair and protect shampoo and conditioner and it is really good at preventing split ends caused by the heat.
My hair is shoulder length when curly, it took about 2 1/2 hours to totally straighten when I first got the straighteners, I have got it down to about an hour and a half now. I have read reviews where people with really long curly hair say they can totally straighten their hair in half an hour but for me it takes a little longer. Bear in mind my hair is VERY curly.

You need to straighten about an inch thick strand of hair at a time, mine takes about 3 to 4 run throughs of the iron to get it totally straight.
Please remember, do not touch your hair straight after you have applied the iron to it, as your hair wil be VERY VERY hot and will burn your fingers. Leave a few seconds before touching it.

The straightness lasts until the hair gets wet. If it is humid, I tend to get a few waves, but nothing I can't sort out in a few seconds with the straightener!

I would advise leaving about a day a week when you have curly hair, just to give it a rest from the heat and to prevent it breaking and drying out too much. Use moisturising shampoos and conditioners, and happy straightening!

No matter how much you think they won't work, no matter how curly your hair is, give GHD staighteners a go, even just go to your hairdressers and get them to do it if you are unsure of spending this much money. You will not be disappointed!

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