A little lesson in hair care- coming from someone who wrecked their hair….
When the new generation hair straighteners burst on to the scene in the late 90s, I was at the front of the queue. My naturally-curly-but-blow-dried-straight hair was in great condition, lovely, long and all one length but no matter how well I blow dried it, if any small amount of humidity hit it, I went from sleek to ‘Monica in Barbados’ in minutes. It drove me mad. Then once, before a night out, I used some ghd straighteners and my life changed! I went to the sweatiest, stuffiest nightclub and danced all night while my hair remained smooth and glossy. That was when the addiction started.
The problem back then was, we weren’t properly educated in these new hair tools, and heat protection sprays didn’t really exist in our haircare arsenals, so inevitably hair got damaged and straighteners got the blame.
Nowadays, we appreciate the importance of heat protection but we still aren’t very disciplined with our tools. After completely wrecking my hair from years of over-straightening, going over and over the same strands of hair until it was so damaged that I found myself in a ‘straightening cycle’ whereby the only thing that could smooth the appearance of the damage I’d caused was, the straighteners! I decided enough was enough and went back to blow drying. This was very tough at first because I wasn’t getting the smooth results that I was used to, but I persevered and had lots of conditioning treatments and gradually I started to see a difference. Until suddenly it started to look a bit frazzled again and it dawned on me- hair dryers can burn the hair too! Especially when the drier is beginning to get old. When they get old, hairdryers can seriously overheat and burn your hair very easily. Most manufacturers recommend replacing your dryer every 3-4 years based on 200-300 hours’ usage- I would consider this light usage! For someone like me who uses their hair dryer daily, it should really be replaced around every 2 years to prevent damage to your hair.
So, a lot has changed over the years; shelves are saturated with heat protection products and we are learning to be kinder to our hair, but with a rising 45% of women claiming to own a pair of straighteners, the bad press hasn’t put us off!
My advice (as a former addict) is to invest in the tools you buy. For me, ghd have always been the best on the market, and now with the recent addition of their ghd Platinum Styler they have confirmed their queen-bee status! The Platinum Styler features patented tri-zone® technology for consistent (and therefore safer-for-hair) heat across the plates, reducing breakage by 50% and increasing shine by 20%. The plates glide through the hair seamlessly, smoothing the hair in one stroke (even when creating curls) again reducing damage to the hair, and saving time.
*Top Tip! When using your styler to create curls, think back to being at school and curling ribbon with the edge of your scissors! It’s the same principal, and it works best if you hold the styler in the opposite hand to the side you are working on i.e. right hand for left side of head and vice versa.
The greatest thing I found with the Platinum Styler is the universal voltage delivering the same performance wherever you are in the world- meaning no more fluffy hair for me when I’m in the States! Thank you ghd, you really understand your audience!
Ghd Platinum Styler, £165 www.ghdhair.com