Is the new Ghd Chronos the time-saving hair straightener we’ve been waiting for? Our Beauty Director gets out her stopwatch.
Meet Ghd Chronos, £289, the brand's newest styling tool hat is smaller, lighter and, apparently, three times faster at styling hair than their iconic OG straighteners. Ghd also says the Chronos creates smoother hair (half the frizz, in fact), offers three times more damage protection and 85 per cent more shine. That's a lot of big claims to put to the test.
Chronos is Ghd's big launch of 2024, almost a year on from Ghd Duet Style, which didn't completely bowl me over. Ghd tested Chronos's new technology by putting the Chronos plates in one of their existing stylers. They then gave them to professional stylists to see if they noticed any difference. The stylists were puzzled how these seemingly old stylers were working, as they were so much quicker to use and leaving the hair really glossy.
Scroll down to find out how they performed when I straightened half my hair with my trusty, 6-year-old Ghd Platinum+, £229, and half with the new Ghd Chronos, £289.
Ghd Chronos: the facts
- Faster styling: Ghd says Chronos cuts styling time by two-thirds. This is thanks to new ‘high-definition technology’ in the plates which maintains one steady temperature across the surface area. You might think most straighteners do this already but lots only have ‘hot spots’ dotted around the plate meaning that only the hair that makes contact with the heated part gets styled. Hence why it can take a few passes of some straighteners over the same section of hair to get it completely straight - with Chronos you should only need to pass it over the hair once.
- More shine: this has been attributed to the fact that the plates are ‘floating’ rather than sitting completely flush, which Ghd say allows hair to glide through more easily and create 85 per cent more shine.
- Less frizz: the plates on the Chronos have a glossier ceramic finish than previous stylers, which reduces frizz by half. Will that remain the case after years of use? Ghds are generally very reliable.
- Less damage: all Ghd straighteners operate at one temperature of 185°C so this stat isn’t unique to Chronos but Ghd has found that it’s the temperature that allows the hair to be styled with three times less damage compared to straighteners using heat at 235°C.
Putting the Ghd Chronos to the test
The test:
As someone who is constantly looking for ways to shave minutes off my routine, the hype around the speed of Chronos appealed. So I decided to put it through a time trial. I have fairly fine, medium-length hair which is very prone to frizz and random kinks and my normal hair routine is to blow-dry it and then go over it with straighteners. So that’s what I did. I rough dried my hair with my beloved Shark SpeedStyle 3-in-1 Hair Dryer, £199.99 and then straightened one side of my hair with my old Ghd Platinum+, £229, which are still as effective as they have ever been, and then straightened the other side with the new Ghd Chronos, £289 and timed how long it took for each half.
Image: right side straightened with Ghd Platinum+
First impressions:The Chronos straightener is slightly smaller than and lighter than my Platinum+. But the main visual difference is that the Chronos has a more rounded barrel and tip. This is to help achieve more defined curls and waves if you’re clever enough to do that but I found it also helped me get into the root of the hair far more easily and I would imagine if you have thicker hair then this is also a huge advantage as you’ll be able to get closer to the root for an even straighter and smoother finish.
The result:
From the first glide, I could see and feel how more efficient the Chronos is. My hair only needed one glide per section - however I found myself doing two on some, but that was more through habit than neccessity. But the time taken says it all: 3 minutes 35 seconds for the Platinum+ side and 1 minute 53 seconds for the Chronos side.
I’m not sure my hair looks hugely different but it feels smoother on the Chronos side.
That leads us to the big question. Should you rush out and buy the new Chronos?
Image: left side straightened with Ghd Chronos
If you’re looking to significantly cut down the time you spend on styling your hair then it’s a no-brainer, especially as they are only £40 more expensive than Platinum+. Similarly, if you need a new pair of straighteners then these are the ones I would recommend. If your current straighteners are doing everything you need them to then great, but as soon as they break or stop performing as well, then Chronos is the way to go.