After begging and pleading, I got my first pair of GHDs at 16. Three years later, I stepped on them and they completely snapped in half. Being a student at the time, there was no way in hell I was going to spend £100 on straighteners so I went without for three years, managing on borrowing friends here and there for nights out, until I borrowed a fake pair of GHDs and they completely fried a chunk of my hair. Ouch. That is when I decided it was time to buy my own.
I’d seen Ko:Kou around on Twitter a few times so had a look on their website and read some reviews. All the reviews were positive, and their website seemed legit. They have a range of hair dryers, hair dryer accessories and straighteners, all in cute floral boxes. Their straighteners range from £24.99 – £36.00, or you can even get a mini pair for £9.99. I wasn’t really sure which one to go for as they all had temperature control and ceramic plates, so I played it safe and went for the middle Pro Ionic 27, coming in at £29.99. I’ve never had anything other than GHDs so I was a bit apprehensive on what to expect.
What it claims:
Fast heating up to 210
Ceramic floating plates, ceramic heating elements
Ionic technology
Ideal for Afro hair
Automatic safety cut-off
Four temperatures, each with a colour LED indicator
360 degree swivel and 3 meter wire
My hair is a mixture of ringlets, waves and frizz, so I automatically use 210 degrees when I use straighteners, as anything less does nothing. The Pro Ionic 27 handles each section of my hair fine – it takes a few strokes to perfectly straighten each hair, but it leaves it looking straight and smooth. The only difference in my hair between using these and GHDs is that sometimes GHDs can leave your hair poker straight and flat, whereas these leave your hair much more natural looking, but still very straight.
Ignore my face as I had just woken up!
The ceramic plates are really good quality, you know sometimes when you straighten your hair you can practically feel the plates dragging and pulling on each strand of hair? These just glide over it like your hair is made of silk! It feels a lot less damaging then some straighteners I’ve tried in the past, and it leaves a super soft finish. The swivel handle and long cord is actually so useful as well, especially if you’re like me and your room is messy, as it means that I can just pull my straighteners from under whatever pile it is and it still reaches the mirror.
For me, these straighteners are perfect. I’m a fan of the natural look, and only use straighteners on occasions when my hair has really gone too big. If you’re more a fan of poker straight hair, these would probably be fine but you might need to put a bit of elbow grease in to get the look. I used them to do some curls in my sisters hair, and they managed loose curls alright but I think you would struggle to get anything tighter. I did notice that after I had curled her hair, some of the lettering had sort of melted where the hot hair had been wrapped around it! On closer inspection, you can see that the letters had been imprinted on which I think is quite tacky.
I do find that my hair does need re-doing after I’ve slept in it, especially with my fringe which goes completely unruly after I’ve been asleep! It doesn’t take long to quickly go over it though so I personally don’t see that as a con.
If you’re on a budget but looking for quality straighteners, I’d definitely recommend Ko:Kou. With such a big range of straighteners, from small plates for short hair to wide plates for afro hair, you’ll be able to find a pair that suits you. I’m getting my sister a pair for her birthday, as she wants a decent pair and I can’t afford much more! I’d like to try the hairdryers, as you can get all the little add ons and mine struggle to even turn on these days!
Pros:
Affordable
Good quality
Straightens hair well
Cons:
Does need reapplying in the morning
Not the best at tight curls
What are your go to hair tools? And what do you use to protect your hair!? I need a good one now I have straighteners back in my life!
