Hair Care Heroes

This is hair care for people who style often, so most of the budget here goes on heat tools: a dryer, two straighteners and an air styler, then a texture spray and a bonding oil. The expensive tools only pay off if you use them most days. A scalp-sensing dryer matters when you blow-dry daily, and a cordless straightener matters when you style away from a power point. On long hair the sums change. Drying takes longer, one battery charge covers one session, and heat protection matters more because the ends have been through years of it. Start with what your routine actually needs, not with the most expensive thing on the page.

How to choose a hair styling tool: four types, and the questions the box skips ›

Dyson Nural vs Shark FlexStyle: is the extra $145 worth it? ›

Dyson Corrale vs GHD Chronos: what does $193.99 buy? ›

Hair tools: what $52 buys, and what $542.99 buys ›

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray: can $83 hairspray be justified? ›

Disclosure: HarshaHQ is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not change what gets recommended. Prices are what Amazon Australia was charging when this page was last updated.

1

Styling Tool

Dyson Supersonic Nural Hair Dryer

Scalp-sensing tech dials the heat down as the dryer gets close to your roots, which you'll notice most if you blow-dry daily. At $444 it's hard to justify if you don't.

★★★★★4.2 / 5

$444.00Editor's Pick

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2

Styling Tool

Dyson Corrale Straightener

Cordless, with flexing plates that gather hair as they close so fewer strands take the full heat. One charge covers a single styling session on long hair, which is fine right up until you want a second pass.

★★★★★4.6 / 5

$542.99Premium Pick

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3

Styling Tool

Shark FlexStyle 2-in-1 Air Styler

Four attachments on one handle, so it dries and styles without reaching for a separate round brush. It's the cheaper answer to the Dyson Airwrap, though swapping heads mid-style gets fiddly.

★★★★★4.1 / 5

$299.00Best Value

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4

Straightener

GHD Chronos Straightener

Motion-responsive sensors adjust the heat as you move, and the plates get there fast enough that you are not standing around waiting. It only straightens, so if you want one tool that dries as well, this is not it.

★★★★★4.6 / 5

$349.00Salon Grade

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5

Luxury Hair

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray

Adds grit and volume to second-day hair without the crunch cheaper texture sprays leave behind. It's $83 a can, and the signature scent is strong enough that some people can't wear it.

★★★★★4.5 / 5

$83.00Luxury

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6

Luxury Hair

Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil

A few drops through damp mid-lengths cuts frizz and brings back shine, and it protects up to 232°C so it doubles as your heat shield. It's $52 for a small bottle, which stings until you see how little you need.

★★★★★4.5 / 5

$52.00Luxury

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Tools for long hair

The cheap end of the page, and the part that does most of the work in our hair reels. Each one was picked for what happens past the waist, where a normal claw clip slides out and a normal bobby pin gives up.

Easy hairstyles for long hair, step by step, and which of these each one needs ›

Claw Clip

Kitsch 5 Inch Large Claw Clips

At five inches across it closes around a full twist of very long hair, where a standard clip grabs half and slides. $28.83 buys two, which is more than a chemist clip, and on a long day you may still want one pin underneath.

★★★★★4.3 / 5

$28.83Updos

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Braid Elastics

Goody Ouchless Clear Elastics

Tiny clear bands for braid ends and small sections, 250 to a pack, so one pack lasts years of braiding. The pack says fine hair and they're latex, so don't ask one to hold a whole ponytail, and skip them if latex bothers your skin.

★★★★★4.4 / 5

$25.12Braids

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Ponytail Tie

Kitsch Spiral Hair Ties

The coil spreads its grip around the ponytail, so heavy hair is less likely to come down with a dent in it. Eight in brunette shades that disappear into dark hair, though on your wrist they look like old phone cords.

★★★★★4.5 / 5

$12.44Ponytails

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Scrunchie

Kitsch Satin Scrunchies

Satin, 3.75 inches across, wide enough to wrap twice around a thick ponytail and soft enough to sleep in a loose bun. Satin slips more than cotton, so on very heavy hair it holds better over a spiral tie than on its own.

★★★★★4.4 / 5

$11.50Overnight

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Bun Pins

BEoffer U-Shaped Hair Pins

Wavy U-pins for buns and chignons, 200 in a box with a lid. At 6cm they're shorter than the 7.5cm pins thick-hair reviewers prefer, so use four on a heavy bun, one on each side.

★★★★★4.4 / 5

$8.99Buns

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Detangling Brush

Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Detangler

Two lengths of flexible teeth, made for working knots out from the ends up, wet or dry. It rates 4.7 from nearly 3,700 Amazon reviews. This is the standard size, so hair past your waist takes a few more strokes than it would with the large one.

★★★★★4.7 / 5

$28.29Every Wash

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