10 Best Hair Straighteners in Australia for All Hair Types

Straight or curly, kinky or girly, the best tool for locking in a hairstyle that will last all day is a high performance hair straightener. Keep your look fresh and fierce with this guide to choosing the best hair straighteners to buy in Australia.

best hair straightener australia

Would you like your hair to sit differently today? A different hairstyle can drastically change your look, even change the shape of your face, and with the very best hair straighteners, going from flat to fab can take as little as five minutes!

Hair straighteners work just like two clothes irons pressing together. The heat from the plates makes the molecules inside your hair relax, then your hand pulls the iron plates together to flatten the relaxed hair, and as your hair immediately begins to cool, it returns to normal, holding the shape the irons gave it.

And it works on any shape! Despite the name, hair straighteners are not just for giving your hair that perfect, straighty-one-eighty look. Give a small twist with your wrist as you straighten for gorgeous voluminous waves, or wait until half way down to twist, for hair that cascades over your shoulders without losing its length.

With some practice, a hair straightener is as good as a curling iron for creating large to medium curls. Simply wrap the hair around the straightener tongs, and spin the straightener to heat in that tight curl. If this is way too advanced for you, try tightly plaiting your hair and using the straightener on the plaits, before unravelling them for convincing beachy summer waves.

As a bonus pro life hack, these things are actually great for flattening all kinds of things. You can use them to iron cuffs and collars without an ironing board, and iron hems without even taking off your dress. Ribbons, bows and other accessories also can be revived from their crumpled state, and even paper that’s become a bit battered in your handbag will straighten without damage.

But with so many brands and models out there, how will you choose between all these splendid smoothing snappers? We’ve been checking the specs and handling the heat for you to make our definitive list of the top 10 best hair straighteners available this year.

Dyson Airwrap

 Best For Thick Frizzy Hair 

1. Dyson Airwrap

Undeniably the best hair straightener Australia has in the market

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Yet another revolutionary innovation from Dyson that styles with air rather than heat, this hair straightener is a serious investment for people who find their unruly mane takes hours to style. People with manageable, easy to style hair might need some persuading, but the Dyson Airwrap will be worth every penny to those who need the best hair straightener for thick frizzy hair.

We should probably call the Airwrap an all-in-one styler wand, rather than a hair straightener. It’s a straightener, a curler, a waver, and a smoother all at the same time. With the included attachments, soft smoothing brush, firm smoothing brush, 40mm barrel, 30mm barrel, and round volumising brush, you’ll never need another tool to change your look. Also included is a miniature version of the Dyson hair dryer that works just like the original!

It took 200 engineers to reinvent the hair straightener, and 642 prototypes to precisely fit the same air multiplying technology used in their other products into a styling wand, to create a cylindrical vortex that pulls hair into the attachment. This takes all the work off your hands, as it’s literally taking the hair away from you and running it through the attachment by itself.

The air is measured 40 times per second to keep heat evenly distributed at 150 degrees, with such tough air pressure that no extreme heat is needed to shape hair how you want it. Frizzy Lizzies out there will know that living with bushy hair is a doomed cycle: the more you straighten it, the more damaged and frizzier it becomes. This is the tool to end that cycle, with low heat and ultra fast styling.

The cost is unbelievable, but so is the result. Bouncy curls, beachy waves, relaxed bobs or meticulous straight hair, you cannot get easier styling or lower heat damage than this product.

ghd Platinum+ Styler

 Best For Fine Hair 

2. ghd Platinum+ Styler

A smart hair straightener that is especially versatile with finer and normal hair

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The queens of hair straightening are back again with their unbeatable technology in materials, sensors, and design. With intelligent sensors to keep fine hair safe, and shaped for varying styles, the ghd Platinum+ earns the crown for best hair straightener for fine hair.

The big selling point of these stylish straighteners is the smart “ultra zone” technology, with sensors that monitor your hair 250 times per second to personalise your styling settings to your needs. This new technology can recognise the thickness of your hair and your styling speed, to adjust the temperature range to the perfect heat, that will protect the integrity of fine hair without compromising on the heat you need for your hot styling techniques.

While ghd straighteners are usually great at all hair types, the design of this one makes it apparent that it was developed with fine hair in mind. The default temperature before it begins adjusting is 185 degrees, which might take more than 20 seconds to adapt to super thick or curly hair, but will still perform to ghd soft and sleek standards.

Finer hair will also benefit from the rounded barrel to achieve versatility, and the floating plates which are contoured and precision milled with a high gloss finish. This means very low friction for sliding down your hair quickly without overexposing your delicate locks.

Talking safety features, the protective plate guard is a great peace of mind for setting down the hair straightener safely, and the automatic sleep mode kicks in after 30 minutes for better safety to your surfaces.

ghd Gold Styler

3. ghd Gold Styler

The gold standard of hair straighteners that auto adjusts heat for all hair types

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This is ghd’s latest mid tier option that provides fast heat in smart adaptive plates, all encased in a body that’s sleek and chic.

Dual zone technology uses two heat sensors, one in each plate, to provide more flexible diagnostic sensing of the hair running through the tongs. The sensors are the latest generation of heat detecting technology, and can continuously adapt the heat to remain optimal for styling.

The optimal temperature for straightening is 185 degrees, so rather than ask us to decide how best to compensate for our own hair types, these sensors are there to read the temperature and dial it up when thick hair isn’t hot enough, or pull it back if finer hair is getting too hot.

For that reason, this hair straightener will be a favourite for most hair types, since it can read your hair and adjust safely, taking the guesswork and anxiety out of your morning routine.

The automatic sleep mode will shut down the straightener after 30 minutes of inactivity, and the included heat resistant plate guard will avoid warping your bench tops if you do ever forget to turn it off.

Silver Bullet Titanium 230 Supernova

 Best For Curling 

4. Silver Bullet Titanium 230 Supernova

A special edition touch screen curling straightener that remembers your settings

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Silver Bullet has been an underappreciated Australian company making salon quality hair tools to rival the top brands over the past decade, and this special edition rose gold straightener is their greatest triumph yet. Instant heating, a wide range of heat, temperature memory and professional accessories make this an awesome versatile option for varied styling, for fine and normal hair.

The titanium infused rose gold plates are 25 millimetres wide, a great width for finer hair that will straighten quickly without exposing your hair to heat any longer than it needs. This thinner width of plate also makes it a good straightener to make tighter curls that defy gravity and last all day.

The temperature controls are located on a touch screen slider inside the handle, so you can simply tap anywhere between 110 and 230 degrees without ever clicking or dialing too far.

This is a great range of heat to keep your hair protected without losing heat you need. This machine features advanced surround heat for curls and flicks, so there’s no need to overheat the plates to make up for the heat loss against the exterior. While it’s not exactly a curling iron, it’s as close as straighteners get.

The digital display lights up to your touch, so you’ll never have to “read” the display in the mirror. Best of all, the Supernova remembers your temperature setting for the next time you turn it on. In combination with their instant heating element, preparing this straightener is as easy as pressing the button and clipping your hair into sections, before it’s already hot and ready to go.

The Supernova also comes with 4 professional crocodile clips, a regular comb, and a paddle brush that is surprisingly nice to use. A slick little heat mat is also included, and it is thankfully no bigger than the straightener and will easily fit on your sink.

Silver Bullet Keratin 230

5. Silver Bullet Keratin 230

A super hot straightener that will tame wild manes fast

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This local company has got thick messy hair cornered, with a professional hair straightener to flatten the fluff. Turbo heating and generous wide plates make the Silver Bullet Keratin 230 the best hair straightener for curly hair that frizzes and bunches wildly.

The straightener itself is fairly heavy at 1.4 kilograms, and that is in part due to the wide heavy silver titanium plates. The benefit of titanium technology is super conductive fast heating. The plates are a generous 38 millimetres wide, so will require fewer passes over the hair to straighten it, a blessing for thicker hair.

The fast heating is ramped up to turbo, thanks to a specially developed microchip that accelerates heating to an adjustable temperature of up to 230 degrees. This is ideal for distributing heat quickly and evenly for permanent keratin straightening treatments.

Included is a professional straightening kit, with heat resistant mat, paddle brush, styling comb, and even sectioning tools to clip back your wild mane for easier sectioning.

The heat coming of this machine is not to be taken lightly, and you should take your heat protectant treatment seriously too. Those with thick unmanageable hair really need this kind of high heat, and this straightener is an awesome and reliable tool for that.

Remington Hydraluxe Pro

6. Remington Hydraluxe Pro

A straightener that prioritises hair protection to avoid heat damage

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The Hydraluxe is a great example of modern technology used innovatively to protect your hair, without doubling the cost. This is a great option for people who know they’ll be straightening every day and need to minimise damage as far as possible.

In the design of this straightener there’s a huge emphasis on heat protection, but that doesn’t mean this hair care provider is afraid to get hot! The integrated turbo boost function allows this straightener to heat up lightning fast in just 15 seconds.

However, their hydracare technology releases a cool mist for a smooth finish and protects your hair from the damage that heat can do. Clinical trials have shown that keeping this straightener on 170 degrees results in the same straightening efficiency of other hair straighteners at 230 degrees, and less heat on your hair ultimately leaves it healthy and glossy for longer.

The precise heating system uses sensors integrated under the plates to ensure temperature is being dispersed evenly across your hair, and will compensate if you manage to wedge your hair between the tongs thicker in some places than others.

The temperature lock is a great bonus feature to have, which keeps your temperature settings safe from accidental button presses when you squeeze the tongs together. The straightener will also still automatically shut down after 60 minutes if you forget to turn the lock off.

Philips Prestige Pro

7. Philips Prestige Pro

Super fast titanium plates make this one of the best hair straightener around $100

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The main feature of the Prestige Pro is the titanium surface of the straightener, that heats fast and provides optimal friction for your hair. For lightning fast pro styling, this straightener is a value buy for busy people.

While ceramic plates are the cheaper technology of choice for safer and foolproof straightening, if you’re an experienced user of hair straighteners, titanium is preferable. Titanium is a microscopically smoother, more densely packed surface than ceramic, creating faster heating and better friction for every stroke, reducing the number of passes needed to straighten your hair.

These titanium plates are 11 centimetres long thoughtfully designed to float away from the casing, to recess when you apply pressure to your hair. This reduces the pressure against your hair for optimal friction, to avoid accidental stops or breakage.

The digital temperature settings are on a scroll wheel that sets the temperature to your preference between 140 and 230 degrees, that appears on an LED panel. Ionic conditioning is adjusted with a switch, and both controls are a beautiful shiny gold that contrasts beautifully with the black matte exterior.

The 2.5 metre cord gives you plenty of room to move the straightener around your head without the cord getting in the way, and we are also grateful for the additional heat protection cap that slots over the straightener when not in use.

Philips Moisture Protect Straightener

 Best For Bleached Hair 

8. Philips Moisture Protect Straightener

This beautiful straightener pulls out all stops to protect your hair

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This straightener is perfect for those with fragile hair, because the priority is all about keeping your hair’s natural moisture. A sensor checks the moisture balance of your hair and adjusts itself to protect the hair shaft, styling effectively without drying or damaging.

The design of this straightener is really nice, the white body and rose gold plates are very on trend and look classy, feminine, and clean. The controls sit under your fingertips (if you’re right handed) and sink into the body for a sophisticated look.

The floating ceramic plates are on soft springs into the straightener, and this allows you to tong your hair without worrying about applying too much pressure, as the plates will recess to reduce the risk of pulling hair or breakage.

Heat-up time is only 15 seconds, to 3 digital temperature settings of 150, 175 or 200 degrees. These settings work in tandem with a special sensor to ensure you are always straightening at the optimal temperature for your hair.

Straightening your hair can dry it out, as the heat evaporates the moisture content of the hair’s core. This straightener fights against that process with an innovative sensor that diagnoses the moisture status of your hair 30 times per second, adapting the temperature to the optimal heat to still effectively straighten, while preserving the natural hydration of your hair.

This straightener also features ionic conditioning, to remove frizz and leave your hair soft and shiny. The ionic conditioning is an excellent complement to the smart heat adjusting technology, because without overdrying the hair, there’s less static to remove. If flyaways and frizz are a big problem for you, this is a great value option to keep your hair healthy and hanging in place.

VS Sassoon Diamond Luxe Straightening Brush

9. VS Sassoon Diamond Luxe Straightening Brush

The best hair straightener brush with ionic conditioning for less frizz

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This straightening brush is a reliable option for normal hair that softly straightens without damage. For busy ladies with no time to straighten, this is a fantastic speedy choice to keep your hair shiny and tidy.

The ceramic surface produces even heating to your choice of 3 heat settings: 180, 190 or 200 degrees. This is a shorter range than you would ideally want, which might not be ideal for damaged or super frizzy hair.

Heat activated silicone bristles bring great shine to your hair, with ionic conditioning to negate positively charged ions in the air, removing static electricity and leaving you with smooth and frizz free locks.

An easy slider switch that lies along the length of the body clicks from off through three settings, making the straightener brush adjustable by hair without looking.

A heat protection pad and protective heat glove come with the brush, making this an excellent choice for people nervous that are a bit nervous to work with heat.

Remington Keratin and Argan Oil Nourish Hair Straightening Brush

10. Remington Keratin and Argan Oil Nourish Hair Straightening Brush

An affordable hair straightening brush

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The special bristles are closely positioned and coated in an advanced ceramic that keeps heat dispersing evenly without dangerous hot spots. The bristles glide smoothly across your hair, and for hair ends this is a pleasure to hold and use.

The brush gets its name from this ceramic that is infused with keratin and argan oil to soften the direct heat contact to your hair, for less damage and a smoother result.

The main drawback of this straightening brush is that it can be awkward to use near your roots. The narrow edging should ensure the elements never directly touch your scalp, but the ceramic brush is naturally somewhat heavy, and it can be difficult to avoid bumping.

The brush takes about 30 seconds to heat up to your choice of 3 heat settings between 150 and 230 degrees. The single button on the handle is easy to use and simply cycles through these settings and on or off, turning itself off automatically after 60 minutes.

This hairbrush tends to be on sale a lot, so if you’re looking for an affordable straightener to do a fast daily morning job without damaging your hair, this is a great pick.

How to choose a hair straightener

With so many types of hair straightener, you may be wondering how to pick the one that’s perfect for your hair. The rule of thumb for all considerations comes down to one thing: aim for the temperature that produces the desired effect and not a degree higher. No matter how little damage you do, there’s no way to avoid heat altogether, so always use plenty of heat protectant spray.

The three main considerations are the shape, materials, and temperature of the straightener. All of these will affect the amount of heat your hair takes with each pass, and how many passes are needed to achieve the desired result. Less heat is less damage, but don’t make it low enough that you overcompensate by making multiple passes on the same section!

Shape

You may at first think all hair straighteners are a flat iron, but actually there is huge variation that can affect the versatility of the device. Rounded edges will make it easier to integrate curls, waves and flicks into your hairstyle, while hard corners will make it easier to flatten dead straight. Some straighteners have floating plates, and this is helpful to avoid too much friction and pressure on your hair, or the nightmare of accidentally welding your hair to the plates for instant breakage.

Thin plates with a rounded body make the perfect type of straightener to convert to a curling iron for special occasions, and are also better for fine hair to avoid the extra exposure to heat. However, for thick hair, you would prefer generously wide plates, that allow hair to stay longer in the flat position, and ultimately result in less heat damage due to fewer passes.

Materials

You will often see materials used for the plates of the straightener used as the main advertising feature of the product. Ceramic is the most popular material for modern straighteners, as it heats up reasonably quickly and provides protective even heat that won’t scorch the surface layer of the hair.

As for more expensive materials, titanium tends to heat up ultra fast and reliably, but be a little more unwieldy to use, making it a favourite for experienced users and professional stylists. Tourmaline can be quite pricey but makes the best hair straighteners, production more negative than positive ions to reduce frizz and seal the hair shaft from further damage.

Temperature

185 degrees is the optimal temperature for most hair straighteners, considering the heat needed to temporarily heat, relax, and shape the hair before moving away for instant cooling. The tricky part is that thick heavy hair takes longer to absorb heat, and finer hair absorbs it too quickly, so you may need to compensate by changing the temperature higher or lower to keep that perfect temperature for your hair.