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When I received four different hair straighteners I wondered what could be different about each. Most straighteners these days have ceramic plates, held to be better for your hair, and swivel leads to stop the wire from tangling up (a good invention). But things have moved on and even hair straighteners have their own set of add-on features - but are they worth it?  Luckily I didn't look up the prices before writing the review (I added them at the end) - so this review is not tainted by the cost.

Remington Damage Defence - from £39.99

The Remington aims itself squarely at those with dry and damaged hair - often the result of overstyling in the first place. It has a little water container (the hydration system) which you use to steam your hair whilst straightening it. There is a temperature control button, and the steam setting works at the upper end of the temperature scale. In this way it's very like a steam iron for clothes, and I wonder if it too will suffer with clogged up holes from the hard water here. The temperature setting button has simple up and down buttons which go from levels 1-10. I do have a funny feeling though that most women will whack the temperature up to 10 even though they have the choice of other settings - just like using an iron or washing machine. Remington say that 9 out of 10 of their customers felt their hair was soft sleek and healthy looking after using these straighteners.  I do have my doubts that in the longer term steaming your hair is actually good for it - but on balance I think the addition of the steam does seem to make the hair even straighter.

See also: Health and Fitness

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Braun Satinliner ES2 - from £60

The Braun Satinliner also has an up/down temperature setting, along with a 'satin ions' button which emits a stream of ions. This is meant to make your hair less frizzy and attract less static. I didn't notice much difference from the ions, perhaps because my hair responds quite well to straighteners and doesn't suffer from static. This might be more useful to girls with fine hair - but it's difficult to tell. The Braun does have an express heating up time of 30 seconds though - which is great, and for difficult bits you can push the instant maximum heat button.

Both the Satinliner and the Remington are slightly clunky to hold because of the additional displays and features.

Wahl Cutek + - from around £20

This was my personal favourite - as the Wahl proves that you don't necessarily have to  buy the most expensive to get a good product. The Wahl is simple, no additional settings, just straight forward straightening.  Many girls. like me, won't bother with anything but the highest setting, so won't miss the variable heat settings offered by other products. The Wahl Cutek + heats up reasonably fast and the display on the Wahl Cutek simply tells you when it is ready, which is handy. It is smooth and thin which makes it very nice to hold. Apparently it has a PTC system to aid consistent heat at the optimum working temperature. I haven't a clue what this is, but the end result was perfectly straight hair without any gimmickry.

Saks Microionics - from £97

The Saks Microionics looked the simplest of the bunch, before reading the marketing bumph, because there are no extra buttons. It did a great job at straightening, but I was a little surprised at the price.   I must say this seemed to heat up the fastest, hot to the touch almost instantly.  Now for the technical bit - the Saks Microionics emits ions (2 million per cubic cm of them) which claims to stop the frizz for a smoother effect.  I did get a lovely smooth and straight result - but couldn't perceive a huge difference over the others. The Saks was simple to use and nice and streamlined to the touch. Saks straighteners are only available from Saks salons, selected other salons and on-line at www.sakstogo.co.uk

In summary

Sometimes simplest is best. I couldn't personally perceive a great difference for the addition of lots of buttons or the emission of ions. Wahl have been the choice of the Salon industry since they started selling clippers back in 1919. You can't go wrong with their product which is the simplest to use, the nicest to hold, doesn't rely on gimmicks and does a fantastic job - and at the cheapest price!  Although, if you are sensitive about the amount of heat you are putting on your hair, the chance to use lower heat settings offered by the Braun and the Remington could be worthwhile.