ghd straighteners - some tips please!

[SantaBeClausImWorthIt]

DH bought me some for Christmas after I put them on my list. I know nothing about these kinds of things, not being much of a girlie girl, but had seen the ghds recommended. I had no idea how difficult they would be to find and he ended up traipsing all over London before he finally got some - I don't even know how much they cost, but I'm guessing they weren't cheap!

So now I finally have some, I need some tips for using them. Do I have to put any particular product on my hair?

Help much appreciated!

I also got some for christmas, came with a dvd which was useful, did you get a dvd with them too?

Yes - I was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of having to watch a DVD to work out how to use them!

They have some styling tips and little video clips on their website, easier than watching a dvd.

Before using them do invest in a heat protecring spray. I use the recommended GHD hair oil and bought thi off the ghdhair website. But, I'm told there are loads of other great heat protector sprays around so maybe some other mumsnetteers will be around to put more reccommendations forward?

For starters you could just try running them down the bottom of your hair - GHDs get very hot so you may not want to go too near your scalp/face/ears until you feel a bit more confident.

Oh and definatly get a good tailcomb. For straightening, do it like the DVD/Website days and use a comb. Gives a brilliant finish and your hands are not going near those very hot plates!

If you straighten a peice and it goes a bit wierd, wait until that peice of hair has totally cooled down before doing that peice again (otherwise you can end up with very wierd kinks and bends and alot of static to boot!)

Good luck!

What's a tailcomb? (I told you I wasn't a girlie girl!)

Oh just a fine-tooth comb will do! (as in narrow spaces between the teeth, rarher than big spaces like on combs you may use on wet hair)

A tail comb is a finetooth comb with a thin handle on the end. The handle is the "tail"

tailcomb, withe the tail on teh right and comb on the left

I use Toni and Guy heat defence spray which is good. I strsighten every 2nd day, or when it looks a bit wayward (shoulder length bob, ends look better straightened so they turn in a bit more). I use a big clip to pin up excess hair and do it section by section like a hairdresser would to blow dry your hair if fairly long.

GHDs rock IMHO! Wish they had been around 20 years ago