Hair straighteners have become increasingly popular with males over the last few years. I was born with hair, which is reasonably thick, curly and difficult to handle. When short, it was acceptable, but when I tried growing it longer and styling it, it just went out of control! I tried many things such as chemical straightening quite a few times. This looked great when I came out the hairdressers but even after my first hair wash, the look diminished and after a couple of weeks it had totally gone (despite them saying it'd last a month). This was very bad for my hair and wasn't worth it! I also tried loads of products including those from John Frieda for straighter hair, but these failed to give much effect.

With the want for longer hair, which I could style, I kept saying to my parents that I wanted some straighteners, despite their objection to this. I knew that it wouldn't be overly healthy for my hair, but with the argument that my Dad lost his hair anyway so it's 'genetic', I said I don't care and they finally bought me some. They weren't GHDs, in fact they were quite poor. A couple of pairs later, and I treated myself to these GHD IV mini stylers, which are designed for men with shorter hair. My hair isn't overly short but I wouldn't say it was long either. You may be able to see from my picture that the fringe reaches my eyebrows quite easily.

These straighteners work amazingly and they are by far the best! Everyone wants a pair of GHDs, and I am very pleased I've got some. What makes them so great is their quality, ease of use and practicality. They have quite narrow plates for shorter hair with a beige ceramic plate on each bit. The plates actually 'float' meaning they aren't fixed. They will move according to pressure to make sure you get an even distribution when straightening your hair, which is really clever. At the end where the wire connects to them is a circular bit on the side with the ghd logo in a fancy orange design. On the barrels themselves are the logo again with a caption. The barrels don't protrude too much away from the plates and are rounded, so you can easily use these to glide around your hair and even do curls. You can create waves, curls and flicks with this great design - your hair will simply follow the way you move it.

The ceramic plates give a static free shine, meaning they won't cause much frizz. As long as you have the right products to go along with these straighteners, you will walk out the bathroom with smooth, soft and straight hair every time with zero frizz! The straighteners heat up in just 30 seconds, which is so brilliant compared to others. You are also told when they are heated up by a couple of beeps, and the LED light flashes too. The LED light is just beside the on/off button, which must be switched on for them to heat up. If they are left on for 30 minutes without use then it will automatically switch off and go to sleep mode before you clamp them down again and they'll begin to heat up. They are said to have 'universal voltage' which means you will get the best of use from them wherever you go. Having been to Greece this summer, they worked just as well there for me with the use of a power adapter.

They can also sense if the room temperature is below 8°C as this is when condensation can build up. They automatically switch off here to prevent damage. I tend to take them out the bathroom and keep them elsewhere where it's dryer too as the humidity from showers seems to lurk around in my bathroom and this could damage them over time. The cord for these straighteners is quite long and has a standard mains electricity plug on the end. This means you can't use them in shaver ports, but not all places have these anyway! It's of a good length and doesn't tend to tangle too much due to the swivel attachment - the cord can turn around where it's attached to the barrels, which helps the cord 'go with the flow' and not get tangled up. The wire itself doesn't seem to get all wrinkly and tangled too.

These straighteners are recommended for short or medium length hair but not long hair. You can use them on layers and a fringe and thick hair too, but the Mark IV Salon stylers are recommended for very thick hair. They can be used on medium, fine and very fine hair perfectly well. I think their size is excellent for my hair as it enables me to straighten it all - even the shorter bits by getting quite close to my scalp due to the narrow plates. It's imminent you will burn yourself a few times but if you're careful, you shouldn't do too much. It's worse when your hair is still slightly wet as if you start straightening it, the steam will come off boiling and burn you! This always happens at the back of my hair as I can't always see it's dry, so you need to really feel it thoroughly first.

I'd recommend using the right products with these stylers too. I find the Dove heat protection shampoo and conditioner very good as they keep my hair soft and moist, whilst protecting it from the regular heat damage. I used to use the Aussie heat protection spray too, which you spray into towel-tried hair before blow-drying it with a comb. However, I now use a relaxing substance by Kerastase, which you apply to towel-dried hair and blow-dry with it in whilst combing your hair in the direction you want it styled. This totally gets rid of frizz and leaves it smooth, silky and even straighter, ready to straighten some more. This stuff isn't cheap but works really well and lasts long!

When using the straighteners, I tend to get right down as far as I can without burning myself before slowly taking them up. It straightens them very well like this and it should only need one going over. I tend to do my fringe a few times to get it very straight and then I use Fudge hair shaper to style it. I also use a VO5 hair spray, which is weather resistant to keep it in place. This tends to flatten it a tiny bit upon application if you put too much on (as well as suffocating you due to the fumes), but it works really well and leaves my hair styled to perfection!

Overall, these straighteners are by no doubt worth buying. They come in at around £92.25 on Amazon.co.uk at the moment - cheaper than the ghd online store however. They are probably the most expensive but also the most worth buying. You get them in a fancy box with all the information you'll need. They work really well and I never have to worry about my stupid hair anymore. For ultimate results, you may want to look into a few more products to go with these stylers but they work fabulously alone.

Thanks for reading!

:)