Straight to the point: sleek, salon-straight hair can be yours everyday--for a price.(USER TRIAL: Hair straighteners)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Australian Consumers' Association

Gone are the days when curls, kinks and waves are ironed out, head on the ironing board, at risk of singeing and burns, all for the sake of smooth, straight hair. Nor do you have to fork out a fortune for harsh, chemical straightening at the hairdresser. Hair straighteners claim to deliver straight, silky locks with minimal fuss, so we put 13 to the test to find out which give the best results.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD ONE?

The best straighteners on trial:

* Straightened hair relatively quickly. For example, it took trialists 12 minutes on average to straighten their hair using the GHD, compared with 21 minutes using the CONAIR.

* Gave lasting results. SUNBEAM Defrizz results lasted just 1-4 hours, compared with 9-12 hours for many of the other straighteners.

* Moved smoothly through the hair.

* Were easy to manoeuvre and handle. Possibly the most important feature of a good straightener--and a feature common to the six top straighteners in our trial--is a quick heat-up time. This has two main benefits:

* Convenience. You don't have to wait as long before you can start straightening.

* Heat maintenance. Each time you pull a straightener through hair, the plates will transfer some heat to the hair, so a quick recovery--indicated by a quick heat-up time--is important for good results.

However a quick heat-up time doesn't guarantee good results. The CONAIR didn't rate as well as others with a similarly quick heat-up time--possibly because its very narrow plates aren't in contact with hair long enough to transfer adequate heat for effective straightening.

FEATURES TO CONSIDER

Some of the straighteners had more features than others, but this didn't necessarily give them an advantage (GHD--the best performer--has few bells and whistles).

* Detachable combs: Some straighteners come with combs. The purpose of these is to variously "guide hair through the plates, and hold taut while straightening", give "a softer finish to your style, with more volume" and "keep hair smooth and free of tangles." Some trialists found them useful, but others found...

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