When hair straighteners really became mainstream in the early noughties, poker straight hair that was glossy and sleek AF suddenly went from being a total faff to being an easy, achievable day-to-day look. While those halycon days were fun and all, they did lead to an awful lot of damage and the advent of those frazzled, parched ends that required multiple trips to the hairdresser for trims.
Over fifteen years later, and things have thankfully moved on. First, technology has advanced so that straighteners now don’t heat to anywhere near as high a temperature as they used to, and the best brands will further their efforts to reduce strain and damage to strands, while still offering smooth locks.
The other thing that’s changed is the way we style our hair. More of us than ever will use straighteners intermittently or just on some sections of hair, eeking out the period between styling with dry shampoo, or leaving hair to dry naturally more often, using straighteners as a way to speedily do hair or to add a style rather than as a means to straighten daily.
If you fall into the camp of using them often, you’re fortunate that there’s now a wealth of information on how to offset damage around, with everyone being a bit more hair health savvy, and advice on keeping hair happy by using hair masks and sleeping on silk pillows being mainstream.
But which one to buy? Here are the best…
Cloud Nine Original Iron
The mineral-plated ceramic plates on this straightener glide over hair smoothly, while the temperature control allows for minimal damage while straightening.
Available at John Lewis | £139
GHD Platinum Hair Straighteners
GHD’s straighteners are a favourites of stylist’s for their ease of use: they heat up in 20 seconds; the plates never overheat, and they switch off automatically if they haven’t been used in 30 minutes. Genius.
Available at John Lewis | £165
T3 Singlepass Straightening Irons
We’ve heard of more than a few A-list hairdressers who swear that these straighteners are brilliant if you want ultra glossy locks but really can’t bear any further damage thanks to their ‘single pass’ design.
Available at Selfridges | £125
Hershesons Titanium Ionic Professional Straighteners
With a rotating cord and damage-minimising ionic plates, it’s little wonder hairdresser to the A-list Luke Hersheson carries these EVERYWHERE with him.
Available at Hershesons | £98