I got my first hair straightener 16 years ago when I was 17 years old. I used to have blonde hair in my late teen years and Stefan was my hair salon of choice. Whenever a new product came out, my mum and I would try it.
So you can imagine how I felt when hair straighteners came out as the must have hair appliance. I got my first hair straightener ( I think it was Nova brand) when I was in year 12. It changed my life.
Back then, the hair straighteners were the size of a sandwich press. (well it feels like it now!) They were so clunky and chunky.
There were no ceramic plates to protect your hair.
But it gave a smooth finish that I had YEARNED for my wavy, curly hair. I now understood how actresses could have dead straight hair. Their secret was hair straighteners!!
Once I got my hair straightener, I couldn’t travel without it.
Unfortunately my first hair straightener suffered a nasty death.
In 2003, when Jacob and I were dating, we went away with our church musical group to tour in Tasmania. I packed my sandwich press in my luggage, because I couldn’t not have straight hair when performing.
One of our first nights was staying in a caravan park. I remember being the first girl up to have a shower the next morning. I placed my hair straightener on a flat surface just outside the bathroom, so the straightener could heat up.
Little did I know while I was in the shower, my room mates decided they wanted to cook some toast for breakfast. So instead of looking for a toaster, they found a hot plate and decided to turn it on. The thing was, my hair straightener was sitting on top of the hot plate!
When I got out of the shower, I could smell burning, and then suddenly there was a massive spark and we lost power. The whole caravan park lost power!
Turned out the hot plate melted my hair straightener and the spark was from the live wire. No one could understand why the caravan park lost power. It was because of my hair straightener!
Only one or two of my friends packed a hair straightener and were sympathetic to my situation. They were kind enough to allow me to borrow there straightener the whole trip. I really missed having my own straightener to use whenever I could.
When I got home, I bought another one. This time it was an ARIA one and I’ve kept it all these years later.
Since then, hair straighteners have become a lot more sleeker and have ceramic plates to protect your hair. They also heat up within 10 seconds!
I now use a GHD which I love and use nearly every day. It makes my thick hair so much easier to manage.
I don’t know why hair straighteners aren’t installed in hotel rooms. I’d say they are used nearly as much as a hair dryer.
It would save on my packing that’s for sure.
Anyway, since that frightful day I lost my hair straightener, I kept its replacement all these years later. It now sits in the vanity cupboard of our main bathroom. It’s the one piece of my history I want to show my girls.
‘Back when I was a teenager, this is what we used to straighten our hair…’
I’m not sure why I’ve kept it. Maybe as a backup if my GHD or cheap Wahl one decides to stop working. I probably wouldn’t use it as a back up now. It’d probably burn my hair off!
