In early August, GHD launched the brand new GHD Rise – a new hair tool designed to volumise your hair and create curls and flicks.
The Chumba hair team has undergone training sessions with GHD and had a bit of time to play around with the styler, here’s what we think.
The What and the Who of the GHD Rise.
The GHD Rise is a hot brush from GHD, inspired by the GHD Glide that was released and sold out within hours in last year's launch.
They are both similar in that they are both hot brushes and feature similar technology, but while the Glide is a straightening/smoothing hot brush that aims to smooth hair and de-frizz, the GHD Rise works to add volume to even the limpest of hair and make curling hair at home a breeze.
Using the GHD Rise to Achieve Root Volume
It’s a really versatile styling tool and while it can be used on most types of hair of various lengths to achieve long-lasting volume and glossy curls, I believe anyone with ultra-fine hair or hair that struggles with volume will be able to get the most out of it.
GHD has done a lot of research to utilise advanced technology, design and science into this brush to achieve what other volumising tools or products struggle to do (more on this in a bit).
The finished result
For the finished look above, I styled my freshly washed hair without using any hair products except for heat protector. The result is long-lasting, shiny locks full of movement and volume.
The GHD Rise Hands on Experience
The first thing I’ve noticed with the GHD Rise is that it’s really easy to use, intuitive and user friendly, not to mention it looks sleek in the bathroom, really lightweight and easy to hold.
From plugging in to finishing, Rise offers simplicity that lets you focus on styling hair with peace of mind.
When it comes to temperature, the GHD Rise constantly sits at 185°C shortly after you tap the On/Off button across the device, the same temperature as every other GHD hot tool offers (also more on this later), the result of this is no fuss styling and consistent glossiness with every style.
The GHD Rise features a single On/Off button
As we’ve noted before, this tool is versatile and while it’s perfect for adding root volume and body, it also excels in creating curls and flicks in hair and fringes as well as giving hair natural shine and finish at the same time.
Using it to refresh hairstyles in between hair washes feels easy and looks great; and it can also tame any frizz during and after styling, I find that a quick skim through your curled hair as it sets works great in particular.
As someone who doesn't use hot tools on their own hair very often, it took me awhile to make sense of the difference between using a hot tool on myself vs on guests, and still, I find it really intuitive to use.
It took me about 10-20 minutes to get used to and understand working with the tool, wrapping and gliding the hair through it felt like a breeze with the help of the bristles.
It’s also worth noting that the bristles are not directly heated and is safe to hold the palm of your hand over it to hold hair in place as you style, which I find really helpful in smoothing out any frizz as I curled.
Using the GHD Rise to create waves
What’s under the hood? The science, design & technology
As mentioned before, Rise comes with a singular button that toggles the hot brush from Off to On at 185°C. While this means you don’t need to worry about setting it to the right temperature, there are also other reasons for this specific number.
Through extensive scientific research, GHD has found that at 180°C, hot tools start to reform bonds inside the hair to change the shape of hair and this is not necessarily more effective at temperatures higher than 190°C, instead, it can start damaging your hair through heat and accelerate colour fade.
At 185°C, this ensures the heat radiating from the tool is hot enough to work through the thick and thin (pun intended) of each section of hair.
The GHD Rise (and GHD Glide, its predecessor) features smart technology called Ultra-Zone. First showcased in GHD platinum+, the brand’s premium straightener.
This technology constantly checks the temperature of the tool up to 250 times p/sec and ensure that it constantly produces heat at 185C.
As a hot tool glides through hair of different thickness and texture, it can cause hot tools to variate in temperature. The result of the ultra-zone technology is speedy and consistent styling no matter your hair type with maximised longevity in both hairstyle and condition.
The bristle lengths are also specifically positioned at 5mm in length, and it’s easy to understand why as I used it.
At this length, the bristle can easily hold any amount of hair that you put in it and makes gliding through your hair effortless without tugging. Although as a rule of thumb, you should always make sure your hair as knot free as possible before styling.
If the bristles were any longer, it would start to feel too clumsy when styling, and any shorter, it will struggle to hold hair in place as you go.
It is also designed this way to stop you from burning your scalp while giving you maximum root lift at the same time.
It physically spaces the heated barrel away from your scalp while still allowing heat to travel and radiate around the barrel and bristles, allowing you to get as close as possible to the roots without the risk of being burnt.
The designers also kept home users in mind with a cool tip at the end of the barrel, allowing you to hold onto the tool as you style to provide more control, which is always a plus.
The Verdict
The GHD Rise is well constructed, simple yet packed with features and technologies that has the home user in mind while achieving hairstyles with quality that can rival salon results (with a bit of patience and practice).
It does come with a price tag of AUD$280, and you definitely do get what you pay for in state of the art, innovative technologies and science that drives the styler to do its best work and preserve hair condition.
I would highly recommend the GHD Rise to anyone who struggles to get the volume that they want in their hair; it’s also perfect for anyone who struggles to blow wave their hair at home as this makes the whole process less complicated without compromising on style or results.
Author: Oscar Lam, Stylist @ Chumba's Windsor Salon
