The best hair straighteners, recommended by expert hairstylists: ghd, Dyson Corrale, L'Oréal Steampod, Cloud Nine and more

We’ve all woken up with a bedhead that has had us reaching for the hair straightener. Alongside a great hairdryer and the best shampoo, quality hair straighteners can breathe new life into the messiest of morning manes and is a foundational tool in every beauty lover’s arsenal. If you’re short on time and want to fight the frizz or are just looking to create a more polished look, these versatile hair tools can be a godsend.

Hair straighteners can smooth questionable syles into submission and even add waves and texture to liven up your look. However, not all hair straighteners are created equal and different models will cater to different hair types, needs and budgets. So, how can you find the best hair straightener for you?

Well, lucky for you, we’ve done our homework. The Recommended spoke to two hair experts to get their take on what makes the best hair straightener. We asked them what we should be looking for and, importantly, what we should be avoided when shopping for a hair straightener, and you can read their expert advice at the bottom of this page. We took their tips and pulled together our top picks of the best hair straighteners for every need and threw in some extra information and styling tips to help you look and feel your best.

The best hair straighteners at a glance:

• Best overall hair straighteners: Cloud Nine Original Iron
• Best value hair straighteners: Remington Shine Therapy Advanced Ceramic Hair Straighteners
• Best professional hair straighteners: ghd Original Styler
• Best ceramic hair straighteners: Remington Keratin Protect Straighteners
• Best dual-purpose hair straighteners: BaByliss Straight and Curl Brilliance Hair Straightener
• Best hair straighteners for curly hair: L'Oréal Steampod Hair Styler
• Best hair straighteners for travel: Cloud Nine The Micro Iron
• Best hair straighteners for using on wet hair: Remington Wet 2 Straight Pro Hair Straighteners
• Best cordless hair straighteners: Revamp Progloss Liberate Cordless Ceramic Hair Straightener
• Best premium hair straighteners: Dyson Corrale
• Best hair straighteners for thick hair: Amika The Confidante Moisture Maintenance Styler

The best hair straighteners

Best overall hair straightener: Cloud Nine Original Iron

A quality classic

The Cloud Nine Original Iron is a trusted classic in the industry and promises shiny, sleek styles without damaging the hair. It's a favourite of one of our hair experts, Henry Whittle.

The Cloud Nine Original Iron comes equipped with the all-important adjustable temperature settings that our experts love. Infused with the hair-healing mineral sericite, this hair straightener promises to create sleek, straight looks while locking in moisture to leave hair glossy and healthy.

Best value hair straighteners: Remington Shine Therapy Advanced Ceramic Hair Straighteners

Affordable results

A great budget option, the Remington Shine Therapy straightener promises quality results without breaking the bank.

This straightener ticks our expert’s boxes with nine adjustable temperature settings and quality ceramic plates infused with argan oil and Vitamin E for added shine. Made with innovative ‘floating’ plates, this hair straightener promises even styling, and the 15-second heat-up time makes for efficient and effective use.

Best professional hair straighteners: ghd Original Styler

The ghd original styler is known for its durability and quality materials and is used by many professionals in the haircare industry.

This hair straightener features a sleek, simplistic design with ceramic-coated floating plates that heat up in thirty seconds to what ghd considers to be the optimal temperature of 185 C. The slightly rounded barrel allows you to create waves and curls as well as classic straight styles, and the professional 2.7m cord allows for ease of use.

Best ceramic hair straighteners: Remington Keratin Protect Straighteners

Intelligent styling

Remington’s Keratin Protect hair straighteners adjust to your hair for bespoke styling, delivering on our expert hairstylist Henry's recommendation of ceramic plates.

Made with five adjustable temperature settings, Remington Keratin Protect hair straighteners use an innovative heat protection sensor that continuously monitors your hair’s moisture levels and adjusts the temperature accordingly, promising three times more protection than a standard styler.

Best dual-purpose hair straighteners: BaByliss Straight and Curl Brilliance Hair Straightener

The best of both worlds

Mix up your look with this multi-talented tool. Serve sleek straight looks or create waves and curls; this hair straightener promises to do it all.

Made with an adjustable temperature gauge and a convenient three-meter swivel cord, this hair straightener is set in stainless steel, with curved housing that has been designed to create effortlessly smooth curls. This tool is also infused with ionic conditioners and promises frizz-free styling.

Best hair straighteners for curly hair: L'Oréal Steampod Hair Styler

A gentle styling experience

Using steam to create sleek straight styles and relaxed waves, L'Oréal’s Steampod Hair Styler aims to be kinder to hair, easing out kinks while minimising damage.

Curly hair generally needs more moisture than other hair types but can also require higher temperatures to straighten out its natural texture. The Steampod styler has adjustable temperature settings and uses steam instead of heat to gently smooth the hair without drying it out.

Best hair straighteners for travel: Cloud Nine The Micro Iron

Style on the go

Our expert hair stylist Henry called out Cloud Nine’s “A+” technology and “stunning” aesthetic, and this compact styler promises to deliver on all fronts in a lightweight, travel-friendly design.

The straightener's small six millimetre plates, made with the brand’s signature mineral-infused ceramic, heat up to 150 degrees in just 20 seconds, making it perfect for precision styling on the go.

Best hair straighteners for using on wet hair: Remington Wet 2 Straight Pro Hair Straighteners

For super quick styling

Made with wet-to-straight technology, this hair tool comes with adjustable temperature settings and aims to cut down styling time by taking your hair from wet to silky straight in one simple step.

This innovative hair tool works to quickly and gently evaporate excess water with every stroke, and the inbuilt moisture sensor adjusts the temperature to suit your hair and prevent damage. This tool can also be used on a non-wash day as a traditional straightener.

Best cordless hair straighteners: Revamp Progloss Liberate Cordless Ceramic Hair Straightener

Limitless styling

This cordless hair straightener features three adjustable temperature settings, and can give up to thirty minutes of use from a single charge, allowing for quick and convenient styling.

Its ceramic plates have been created with ionic technology and are infused with a blend of keratin, argan oil, and coconut oil and promise to tame frizz and flyaways for sleek, shiny results.

Best premium hair straighteners: Dyson Corrale

Where innovation meets style

Made with cutting-edge haircare technology, the Dyson Corrale's innovative flexing copper plates have been designed to effortlessly tackle all types of hair.

With thirty minutes of cordless styling from a single charge, this premium hair tool has an innovative hair-gathering design and intelligent heat control to deliver maximum control with minimal heat damage. Equipped with three varying heat settings, it promises reduced frizz and fewer flyaways.

Best hair straighteners for thick hair: Amika The Confidante Moisture Maintenance Styler

Snag-free styling

Our expert hairstylist Courtney Housner called out Amika’s Confidante as her favourite straightener, telling us, “The temperature control is amazing and always leaves hair super sleek”.

This hair tool promises to speed up styling with its extra-long, floating plates that adjust to hair tension to avoid snagging. The infrared light beam within this styler’s titanium plates penetrates the hair cuticle for long-lasting, sleek styles.

Our expert hairstylists

Our experts, Henry Whittle and Courtney Housner, are two of the most in-the-know hair care and styling professionals you'll find on either side of the Atlantic.

A professional hairstylist and makeup artist, Courtney Housner is an entertainment industry favourite. Based in LA, Courtney has styled some of the world’s best-loved talent, and her work has graced the glossy pages of many publications, including Vogue, GQ, and ELLE.

A freelance hairstylist and haircare expert, Henry Whittle balances creating tailored looks for his clients with making informative social media review posts, giving his followers the lowdown on a variety of beauty products. Henry has worked with several household names, including Garnier, Blissy, and Hask.

What should you look for when buying a hair straightener?

When looking for a hair straightener, both our experts stress the importance of adjustable temperature settings. Henry tells us “the smoother your natural hair texture is, the less heat needed” and suggests using a lower heat setting for finer textures and hair “that could be compromised due to heat damage or over possessing from colour services”. Henry also gives consideration to the type of plates a straightener is made with, telling us, “I recommend ceramic or titanium plates for a smother styling experience”.

What should you avoid when looking for a hair straightener?

Courtney advises us to avoid tools with “super-wide plates”, telling us “lack of control equals damaged hair”. Henry again advised against set temperature tools as they are usually set “too high and will damage the structure of the hair and cause breakage”.

What are the best hair straighteners?

Courtney gave her vote to Amika’s Confidante, telling us, “it’s the perfect size and heats up on a dime. The temperature control is amazing and always leaves hair super sleek”. Henry’s hair straightener of choice is the “standard or wide plate [hair straightener] from Cloud Nine" he told us how “the technology and its execution are A+, and the aesthetic is stunning”.

Hair straightener plate types explained

• Ceramic-coated: Ceramic-coated plates tend to be used in the more expensive models. Plates will generally be made with a metal core. For example, the ghd Original Styler is made from ceramic-coated aluminium plates. This allows the plates to heat up super quickly and distribute it evenly while adding shine.
• Ceramic: Ceramic plates are good at holding onto higher temperatures and distributing it evenly through the plates for a consistent style. Ceramic plates are typically very smooth and can help to reduce frizz and add shine when styling.
• Titanium: Titanium plates are more lightweight than their ceramic counterparts and heat up very quickly. Titanium plates tend to be a little gentler on the hair, so can be a good option for those with damaged ends and thick or coarse hair types.
• Tourmaline: Tourmaline is a gemstone that is ground down and is sometimes used to coat hair straightener plates. Models that use tourmaline tend to be quite expensive. Tourmaline is very durable and maintains temperature well, it's also super smooth and so works to reduce snagging and cause less hair damage.
• Copper: The Dyson Corrale hair straightener is unique in its use of flexing copper alloy plates. The flexing plates gather together the hair proving more control and less damage, they also work to deliver quality styling results with up to 50% less heat than a traditional straightener.

How to curl your hair with straighteners

A hair straightener can be a more versatile hair tool than you might think. These foundational hair tools can create waves and loose curls to add texture and life to your hair without the need to use a hair curler (although we do have an article all about those for you!). So how do you curl your hair with a straightener? We thought you’d never ask.

• Step one: Before you begin, it is best to detangle the hair to allow for easier styling. It is also important to use a heat protectant on your hair before using heated hair tools to prevent damage. Apply your chosen product evenly through the hair from root to tip before continuing.
• Step two: Divide your hair horizontally into roughly two-inch sections. How many sections you need will depend on your hair type and length.
• Step three: Starting with the bottom section, divide your hair vertically into one-inch sections.
• Step three: Place your hair straightener at the root of one of your one-inch sections. Hold the straightener diagonally with the nose (where the plates open) facing downwards.
• Step four: Turn your hair straightener one full 360-degree rotation away from your face and then glide the straightener through the length of your section.
• Step five: Repeat this process with each section of hair. For a polished, uniform look, style all sections away from your face. For a more choppy, textured look, you can alternate rotating the straightener towards and away from your face for added body.
• Step six: For looser waves, you can comb through your finished curls with a wide tooth comb. To preserve your style, follow up with your favourite hairspray.

Want to read more expert-recommended hair care essential round-ups? Check out our hair care page for a full list of recommendations, including our guide to the best shampoos, the best hair curlers and the best hair dryers, as recommended by our hair care experts.