I'm a beauty editor who's tested every ghd styler - here's my honest review of the new ghd Sculpt

It’s official: ghd has been the first name in straightening for 25 years. To celebrate a quarter of a century of whipping frizzy, naturally unruly hair into shape, they’ve launched their highest-tech tool yet, the ghd Sculpt.

I have been straightening my very curly, fluff-prone hair since I was 15, so you can trust my opinion on the best straighteners. I’ve tried them all – from the ones that smoothed my hair in moments to the ones that singed my strands and left me with split ends.

My trusty original ghd’s saw me through my teens, and I’ve tested every one of their new launches since. In my opinion, the Platinum+ Styler is the best ghd straightener, but can the Sculpt knock it off the top spot? Let’s find out…

Our beauty editor’s review of the ghd Sculpt

The first thing I notice when I pick up the ghd Sculpt is how light they are. If straightening your hair normally leaves you feeling like you’ve spent 20 minutes on arms at the gym, you’re in for a treat. The reason it’s so light is that GHD has moved as many materials as possible into the plug, and a chunkier plug feels like a very fair trade-off for such a lightweight styler.

A second big tick for me is that the plates go almost to the edge of the tool, making it easy to get right into those tighter curls at my roots and fluffy baby hairs around the front. The waterfall edge is also really good for curling and waving. I rarely wear my hair poker-straight, and the rounded edges make it easy to add some movement.

The ghd Sculpt looks good too. If you’re spending more than £350, you definitely want a bit of wow-factor when you open the box. I tested the white pair, and the silver plates and interior make them fancier than my other irons, with a slight space-age edge.

How does the ghd Sculpt perform?

The key selling point of the ghd Sculpt is that it uses AI heat-adapt technology to adjust the heat of the tool in real time. It does this in response to how hot your hair is, rather than how hot the plates are, reducing heat where needed and making sure there isn’t any damage to the hair structure. Like all other ghd straighteners, the max temperature is 185°C, but I would say that my hair has felt pretty hot every time I’ve used the Sculpt so far.

My hair can be resistant to straightening, and when it’s particularly coarse and stubborn, it’s difficult to pull a brush through it, let alone a straightener. The ghd Sculpt glided through my hair without snagging, smoothing large sections really quickly. I managed to straighten all of my thick hair in twelve minutes flat. When I took the straighteners into the office, our fine-haired beauty writer managed to straighten her hair in two.

The finish lasts too. I tested the ghd Sculpt on some of the hottest days of the year, and it managed to keep frizz at bay even after a particularly sweaty nursery drop-off and lunchtime pilates class. My hair stayed sleek and straight until the next wash day.

ghd sculpt hair straightener review: My verdict

If you’re someone who straightens their hair pretty much every day and is looking for an efficient straightener that will leave hair straight and sleek in record time with minimal damage, then this is worth the investment. The lightweight design makes the ghd Sculpt a breeze to use, with plates that get right to the root so you’re not left with a tell-tale wave around your crown.

The AI technology behind the tool is innovative and interesting, but difficult to see in action as there isn’t a temperature display. I’m excited to see if this industry-first move of measuring hair temperature rather than plate temperature makes a difference to the health of my split-end-prone hair in the long run – I’ll report back…