Kashiefa Ajam - Editor of The Saturday Star
Johannesburg - I have weird, crazy hair. It's not straight, not curly. Not black, not any normal colour. It’s brown, with ginger and red tones, if you can imagine that.
I'm nearly 42 and only now beginning to understand what the right way is to style my complicated locks. I have tried many styles, many colours, for many years. I’m a child of ’90s. Healthy hair was not a thing.
When I was 16, in 1996, it grew so long, my poor arms got a righteous workout just making a plain old ballerina bun.
So I begged my mom for a trip to the hair salon in the mall. It would be my birthday gift, I reasoned.
Snip snip, and then the hum of an electric hair trimmer. Gone! I stared at my long dark curls, cascading around the salon chair and lying limp on the black and white tiles. Then at myself in the hideous salon mirror.
Happiness! I had a boys’ cut (read Toni Braxton with that epic pixie style of the glorious 1990s).
I loved my short spiky do. No more hair dryers or rollers or that secret swirl kous to keep the blow-dry in place.
My best friend was a massive bottle of gel and a comb. That's it.
My dad hated it. He would glance at me and instantly become angry. “Put on your scarf,” he'd bellow in my direction.
But just like Braxton, who fell off the radar and disappeared for a while, so did my pixie cut. It grew out.
The worst year of my hair journey.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and finally I understand what my hair needs. Minimal heat and a gentler hand.
I've always been a ghd girl. I’ve tried other brands but have always been monumentally disappointed.
And they don’t call their hot hair brush the ‘glide’ for nothing. It has one heat setting and there’s no chance of shaft damage.
I was looking for a tool which would make my life easier. Wash, air dry, style.
Check.
The glide is elegant and sturdy and its long swivelling cord (this is where so many other hot hair tool-makers fail with a capital F), is a dream.
It’s super easy to use, and my hair appeared more shiny, happier!
The results: a big fat A plus.
Love it.
Karishma Dipa - Social media manager and digital content producer
Hair care and styling has also always been part of my routine for as long as I can remember and one of my fondest memories was getting my very first ghd straightener for my 18th birthday way back in 2008. The cerise pink device totally transformed my hair and since then, I have been a ghd ultra.
Recently, my editor and I were gifted with another revolutionary ghd device, their ‘glide’ hot brush. And just when I thought ghd could not make my hair routine even more remarkable, this took it to another level.
The hair straightening brush allows me to spend more time in bed and much less time getting ready for the day. And with its ceramic technology that heats up the brush consistently to the optimum styling temperature of 185ºC, I can trust the device to look after my hair and to ensure that it looks smoother, sleeker and healthier.
I have long, black and frizzy locks and hair-wash days have always been filled with so much dread and anxiety. But now all that has changed. This is now my new hair-care routine, based on where I am going and what I am doing.
After leaving a coconut oil mask in for a few hours, I shampoo and condition my hair in the shower. Once it is towel dried, I apply a small amount of ghd’s “straight on” heat protector spray. I then proceed to blow dry it, using a flat brush.
Now depending on the occasion, I first straighten my hair with my ghd thick plate straightener to ensure all frizz is removed from my hair. This is where the hot brush comes in.
The last step in my hair routine is to run it through my blow-dried and straightened hair if I want a completely straight and sleek look. I also round off my facial and back hair layers with the glide hot brush for some curls and volume. Since doing all this, I can honestly say that my hair has never looked better.
But what makes the device even more sensational is that it allows me to completely skip the hair-straightening bit after blow drying and just proceed to use the hot brush.
Another thing about it that blows my mind is that since I started using it, my hair remains straight for days, despite the hot weather or even if I put it up in a light bun at night. This is probably down to the combination of high density short and longer bristles which allow for large sections of hair to be styled and leaves salon-smooth natural movement.
To give you extra peace of mind while styling, the ghd glide will go into an automatic sleep mode which switches off after 60 minutes of non-use and with a professional-length 2.7m cable, you have flexibility to style wherever you are.
I am so thrilled that the ghd globe hot brush is part of my routine and that my best hair days are now ahead of me.