GHD Promises a Big Hair Day, Every Day, With New Wet-to-dry Blow-dry Tool

LONDON — GHD is so proud of its air and heat technology that it’s launching its latest beauty tool at the Science Museum in South Kensington, home of telescopes, satellite launchers and Crick and Watson’s DNA molecular model.

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Some might call that ambitious, but GHD believes that its strides in hair care technology and its new, two-in-one hair-dryer brush, Duet Blowdry, merit the setting.

The new tool promises to take hair from wet to dry with zero heat damage due to trademarked, heat-air exchange technology. Heat and air run through the shaft and the no-snag bristles, which GHD said results in big volume, no frizz and shiny hair.

Airflow heats the barrel, and dries the hair while curling it in a process that uses 40 percent less energy than hair-dryer and brush methods. What’s more, the blow-dry lasts 24 hours, according to the company, which was founded in 2001 by three U.K. hairdressers, and is now owned by Wella .

The heat and air technology is similar to that of the Duet Style straightener, which launched in 2023 and was billed as the biggest innovation in GHD’s history. A two-in-one hot air tool, the Duet straightener also dries and styles hair from wet, with no heat damage.

It took GHD nine years of research, and tens of thousands of customer conversations, to develop the straightener at its R&D hub in Cambridge, England, which employs more than 100 scientists focused solely on hair-tool technology.

With both tools, the temperature rises to exactly 185 degrees Celsius, or 365 degrees Fahrenheit. GHD argues this is the ideal temperature for styling or straightening hair without damaging it. The company said its proprietary technology in each tool monitors the heat 400 times per second.

With the blow-dry tool specifically, GHD says it’s able to balance “optimal air flow, surface heat and heated bristles” to deliver a long-lasting blow-dry.

Jeroen Temmerman , chief executive officer of GHD, said the company is “obsessed” with anticipating the needs of everyday consumers and hairdressers, and with perfecting the “shine, softness and longevity” of freshly styled hair.

He told WWD last year that heat transformation to the hair is GHD’s “core expertise,” and that its research is focused on the ideal pairing of heat and air.

In an interview ahead of the Duet Blowdry launch, he said the company spends much of its time “busting myths” around the GHD tools, demonstrating them to trade and consumers alike to prove that its heat delivery does not hurt the hair shaft.

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“We are constantly educating people,” he said.

Temmerman added that, in addition to educating consumers and salon professionals, GHD is asking them questions, too, about what’s missing in the market, and what needs to be improved upon.

“Beauty is so sophisticated nowadays, and people want the perfect tool for a specific look,” he said, adding that GHD was eager to move beyond straighteners and “capitalize on the strength of our technology” to build further tools.

The market is also sophisticated and highly competitive. Tools that use gentler, infrared heat technology and high-speed airflow are growing in popularity as more people look to save time, money and hassle by styling their hair at home.

Dyson , known mainly for its high-tech, streamlined vacuum cleaners, fans and air purifiers, entered the hair-tool market in 2016, and since then has added a slew of straighteners. (Testament to the ferocious competition in the home tech-tools market, Dyson confirmed this week it plans to lay off up to one-third of its U.K. workforce.)

Despite the international competition, GHD is confident about the future, and believes its ongoing research into finely controlled heat and air delivery systems will give it an edge.

Distribution of the new blow-dry tool will be similar to that of the Duet straightener. Priced at 399 pounds, it will sell through the brand’s website, professional salons and at stores, including Harrods , John Lewis, Selfridges , El Corte Inglés and KaDeWe.

Temmerman said that while the U.K. and Europe remain GHD’s largest markets, the company is fast expanding its U.S. footprint, and is thinking big.

Indeed, GHD is promising to “blow away” its 300 guests at the Science Museum launch event later on Wednesday. A silver carpet (rather than red) awaits, while staff will be wearing lab coats and doing demonstrations on guests with a tool that might not change history, but will at least improve the chances of a good hair day.

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