So it’s my girlfriend’s birthday this week and I’ve got a long list of potential things to buy. The ever-ubiquitous “smellies” as they call them (actually soapy things for the bath)… some awful CDs by cute boys and the like and some hair straighteners?

Well I might be the last person in the world who knew anything about these things, but apparently girls use special tools to get their hair straight. In my naivete, I assumed it was a matter of hair gel and dedicated brushing, but it turns out that there’s a tool for the job

Essentially it’s a pair of super-heated elements that grasp the hair. Then, when they are pulled through the hair the heat acts to straighten out the hair. Somehow. I guess it’s magic.

Like so many things, there’s a whole bunch of complications. Traditional metal straighteners are prone to overheating which is both dangerous and prone to singe the hair. So professional salons go for ceramics – which to my blokey mind puts me in mind of the ceramic brakes you get on high-end supercars.

Anyway, a company called ghd based in Leeds (near where I live!)launched ceramic hair straighteners a few years ago. So thanks to some slick marketing, every chick I know wants ghd hair straighteners.

That’s fine, I thought, and went off to the shop. Ouch. £100! Wasn’t expecting that. So I did some looking around for cheaper alternatives and it turns out there aren’t that many. Worse still, ghd straighteners have been ripped off by the Chinese and the market is flooded with fakes. And those fakes can be dangerous.

So, the lesson for me is that I have to stump up the cash and pretend I’m happy about it. Either that or persuade her that she looks best curly….