Every girl would agree that a hair straightener is an absolute must-have (and most likely can’t-live-without) beauty tool. Good Hair Day, commonly known as GHD, lead the market for hair straightening irons with an excellent reputation for both quality and durability, and a commitment to creating products that tame frizz, straighten and curl your hair to your heart’s desire. Her Campus Nottingham was very excited to have the opportunity to test out GHD’s V Gold Classic Styler to see if it was worthy of the hype and the price tag that surrounds all GHD products.
The GHD V Gold Classic is certainly a glam looking straightener with gold accents and plates and a professional, matte black body. The styler boasts smoother plates with ceramic heaters and contoured edges that offer the versatility to both straighten and curl, along with a cooler, lighter body for ease of use. Our initial reaction to the straighteners was one of pure awe and we couldn’t wait to try them out on our equally excited guinea pigs/housemates.
The styler is super easy to turn on with only a single switch on the inside which lights up when pushed into position. The straighteners then helpfully beep when they’re ready, so you can avoid haphazardly holding them near your hand to guess the temperature. We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly the plates heated up after waiting a matter of seconds.
In order to give as fair of a review as possible we chose one friend who typically struggles to tame her naturally curly hair into a smooth, sleek and straight style and another friend with stick-straight hair that doesn’t hold a curl if its life depended on it. And to make our little experiment even more challenging we decided not to use any products and just let the GHD V Gold Classic Styler work its magic…
Meg’s gorgeous mass of hair went from curly to straight in less than 10 minutes. After sectioning off the top and bottom, we separated her hair into two inch pieces and slowly glided it through the plates with ease. The results were almost instant and her hair looked sleek and shiny. Meg reported back that the style lasted noticeably longer than usual and still looked great even after getting caught in a bit of lovely Nottingham rain! Curly haired girls around the world know that water is the enemy so this was definitely an impressive feat considering we hadn’t used any defrizzing product.
Using the GHD V Gold Classic Styler to curl hair certainly brought out more of its positive features, like the fact it’s completely snag-free and the coated, cooler body means you’re much less likely to get burnt. Kelly’s poker-straight hair was definitely a challenge for the GHD’s and she warned us that she had long ago given up trying to curl it. To create natural-looking, beachy waves, we first sectioned off Kelly’s hair and then selected one inch pieces to curl. Next, we clamped the plates at the top of the hair and slowly twisted the straighteners 180 degrees (away from her face) as we pulled down, so that the hair glided through the plates and around the barrel to curl. The trick to the beach inspired wave is to leave the last inch or two of hair out of the straighteners, which makes the curl look as natural as it would after a day at the seaside! Kelly reported back that despite our best efforts the curls slowly fell out after a few hours… which was quite disappointing. Nonetheless, ever the optimist, I tried the same technique on my own hair and it lasted brilliantly. With a bit of hairspray my hair held the curls for over a day! … Sorry Kelly…
To summarise, the GHD V Gold Classic Styler is an absolutely brilliant buy. We put it through some serious hair tool tests and it proved its worth. Some of our favourite features included:
· The cool and light body which made using the straighteners an absolute breeze. The matte coating not only feels luxurious and expensive but also is extremely comfortable to hold!
· The straighteners are ready within seconds of turning them on which means no waiting around to start styling. (They also turn off on their own if you don’t use them after 30 minutes, so you can breathe a sigh of relief if you forget to switch them off one frenzied morning!)
· The smooth, ceramic plates don’t snag your hair and their contours mean you can use this tool to both straighten and curl depending on what look you fancy.
· GHD’s are known to last years and years, so even if you feel the price is a bit hefty you will definitely get your money’s worth in the long run.
Our only disappointment with the straighteners was the lack of different heat settings. We felt that some hair may need a higher temperature (like Kelly’s) to maintain the style throughout the day, and people with a fringe to straighten often prefer a lower temperature to avoid burning their face. But this is definitely one feature that we can live without if it means we still get quality results from such a quality tool!
The GHD V Gold Classic Styler ticks all of the boxes, making it a classic for a reason. You can purchase your GHDs here from Argos for many good hair days to come!