What Bad Hair Day? (Hairtools Ceramic Straighteners)

Member Name: twisted-gem

Product:	Hairtools Ceramic Straighteners
Date:	17/10/03 (2496 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Variable Settings, Lightweight, Cheap

Disadvantages: Plates need cleaning

I love these straighteners! When I was looking to buy ceramic straighteners I wasn't sure if I should buy these or not. The reason I doubted them was that they are really cheap compared to other ceramic straighteners on the market, so I was quite vary of them being effective. But I wasn't prepared to pay £80+ for ghd and the reviews I'd read were excellent, so I just went for it! I've never looked back since.

I bought mine from www.retailjunky.com. They were the cheapest ones I'd found at £39.95 (plus £2.95 p&). Most other sites, including www.asos.com have them at £55, so it's still reasonably cheap. Mine arrived within a week and I could not wait to use them! They must be better than my BaByliss ones - anything had to be better than them!

I have to say that I was not let down. It took about 10-15 seconds to heat them up. There are 4 heat settings as follows:

Setting A: Max 190C
Setting B: Max 175C
Setting C: Max 160C
Setting D: Max 150C

I only used it on setting D for the first time, as I'd heard about it drying your hair. Plus my hair isn't that wavy/curly/thick so I didn't need it too hot. I think this is a great feature, because not a lot of straighteners have variable settings (ghd don't, for example) and it's useful if your hair doesn't need all that much heat to it. There's also an on and off switch as well as an LCD indicator to show whether they've been left on my mistake. (Very good for forgetful me!)


The first time I used them, I straightened my hair the way it should be straightened i.e. segment by segment, which I'm usually too lazy to bother with. Picking them up, they are really easy to handle. They're slim (plates are about 3cm x 8cm) and not at all heavy. The first section of hair I did, I was amazed. It was as straight as the hairdresser does it! Though I must say, even on setting D I could feel the heat. Maybe because I dr
agged it down a little too slow. I was expecting it to take 20 minutes to get it all done and looking perfect, but just over 10 minutes and I was done. Now these are definitely my kind of straighteners!

My next step was to sell my Babyliss straighteners, because there's no way they'd be seeing the light of day in my house again! Since then, I've used my Hair Tools thermo ceramic straighteners several times, and I've always been pleased with the results. If I take my time and do each section of hair properly - it takes about 10-15 minutes and lasts for a couple of days (when I usually wash my hair). Usually however, I never wake up early enough to take time over my hair. In which case, I can take 5-10 minutes giving my hair a quick once-over with the straighteners. This does the trick in that I no longer have hair that is unruly/frizzy/kinky or whatever other trick my hair has decided to play on me that day!

I've noticed a lot of reviews have mentioned that these dry your hair out. I can't say I've personally had a problem, but that might be because I've never had to use them at a setting above C. As a side note, ff I'm managing to get the results I'm getting on a C setting or below, they should be no problem for someone who has uncontrollable hair! However, back to my original point, I have been using a heat protection spray, so I suppose that has helped the condition of my hair. I also try and spritz some leave-in conditioner after shampooing, so I would suggest these couple of tips. Especially if your hair tends to be dry anyway (mine does, but it's no more dryer after using these straighteners).

As to the disadvantages, there are only a couple of little ones. Every few uses, I do notice the plates seem to look a little dirty. The first time I noticed, I thought it was something wrong with the plates. But if you use damp cotton wool, it wipes off very easily. Don't do this straight after us
e or just before using them though. The plates are really good, because they are shiny and very easy to slide down your hair. Plus, they don't get scratched easily (not that I've found).

Another thing I found is that if you leave them plugged in (which you shouldn't, but I forgot to unplug them one day) the plastic does get really warm. A good thing about this is the on/off switch. My old straighteners never had the on/off switch with LCD indicator, so I dread to think what would have happened if I'd left my old ones plugged in (come home to a burnt home, maybe!).

In conclusion, I recommend these to anyone planning to get ceramic straighteners. I won't say they're as good as or better than ghd, because I've not used ghd. But they certainly work, and for the price you pay, you are getting an excellent deal. I'm thrilled with these - cos I just don't get bad hair days anymore! No hair disaster is unfixable with these

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