When it comes to buying the best hair straighteners, there are certain brands you can’t go wrong with, and that includes CLOUD NINE. Launched in 2009 by one of the founders of ghd, the brand is on a mission to put healthy hairstyling first with industry-leading tech that makes your hair feel as good as it looks.
Now, CLOUD NINE has introduced a new and improved hair straightener range as part of their Healthy Hairstyling Revolution, completely overhauling three of their key products with a series of cutting-edge technology upgrades that give people great hair without damage or despair.
These include The New Slim Iron for styling and touching up shorter hair, including bobs, pixie cuts, fringes and tight curls; The New Wide Iron for straightening longer and thicker hair; and The New Original Iron, which straightens all hair types, and creates curls and defined waves on straight and wavy hair.
All three boast advanced heat protection features and the revolutionary Revive Mode to evenly apply the heat for less damage. But would I notice a difference in the condition of my hair? I put The New Original Iron to the test to find out.
CLOUD NINE THE NEW ORIGINAL IRON REVIEW: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
CLOUD NINE’s The Original Iron is available to buy in Classic Black for a recommended retail price of £219 from CLOUD NINE and Boots. It's also available in Midnight Blue (on test here) and the new Starlight Grey colourway for £229 from Cloud Nine and Argos.
By purchasing directly from the CLOUD NINE website, customers benefit from a 3-year warranty with every tool. You can also customise your Iron with a personalised monogram up to 10 characters long for an extra £10.
CLOUD NINE THE NEW ORIGINAL IRON REVIEW: UNBOXING
CLOUD NINE’s The new Original Iron arrives beautifully packaged in a box that matches the Midnight Blue and gold device inside (or the chosen colour of your hair tool).
As well as the Original Iron, which comes with protective heat guard to prevent any damage to surfaces or wear to the plates during cooling, you’ll find a sleek colour-co-ordinated case with a heat-resistant lining to keep the straighteners safe on the move or stored away.
Along with the instruction manual, there’s a QR code in the lid of the box to take you to online styling guides and another paper QR code wrapped around the tool that encourages you to activate your warranty. Overall, everything screams luxe glamour and high quality. Just remember to remove the clear protective film from the digital touch pad to get going.
CLOUD NINE THE NEW ORIGINAL IRON REVIEW: DESIGN
CLOUD NINE’s The New Original Iron is sleek and compact, measuring approximately 10.2 inches in length and 4.5 inches in circumference when the plates are pressed together. As well as being very comfortable to hold, it’s super lightweight, weighing in at 225g without the cord.
The satin matte finish is smooth to the touch yet provides brilliant grip, with thicker, ridged ends for increased fingertip protection, and a little indentation on outside of one of the handles to mark the point where the plates start (a handy touch, as it encourages you to shift your hand back down the tool if your fingers get too close to the hot end).
One new design feature is the ‘groundbreaking’ swivelling ball bearing base, which allows for ‘3D 360° rotation’ to eliminate the hassles of tangled cords. Simply put, the 3-metre power cord is attached to a ball bearing so it can swivel about in all directions. It’s hard to explain, but clever stuff in action, and makes styling simple for both left and right-handed users.
Described by CLOUD NINE as an ‘all-out all-rounder,’ The New Original Iron is suitable for all hair types and has a temperature range of 100-200°C (I’ll talk more about temperature features later). Devoid of any buttons or switches on the exterior, the controls are located between the two handles, which makes accidently turning the tool on or off or adjusting the temperature pretty impossible.
After long-pressing the on/off switch once (located about an inch below the one of the plates), you’ll hear a loud beep and see the digital touch pad light up to reveal up and down arrows, plus a line of eleven dots - marked by 100 at the bottom, 150 in the middle, and 200 at the top – to indicate the eleven different temperature settings.
The temperature automatically reaches 150°C in 20 seconds when first turned on, and the dots either light up or disappear depending on whether you are raising or lowering the temperature by 10°C increments. Every time you press on of the arrows, you’ll hear a small beep and feel a quick vibration through the tool.
To turn it off, long-press the on/off switch again and see the digital touch screen power down. This is important to note because pressing the on/off switch quickly activates the Revive Mode feature (discussed further down), which is signified by a few seconds of vibration. Finally, these straighteners feature a Hibernation Mode, so they automatically switch off after 30 minutes of inactivity.
CLOUD NINE THE NEW ORIGINAL IRON REVIEW: FEATURES
CLOUD NINE’s The New Original Iron boasts several heat-protection features to protect the health of your hair and leave it looking shinier and stronger, including Floating Ceramic Plates, Variable Temperature Control, and Frictionless Revive Mode.
The Floating Ceramic Plates work in conjunction with Spring-Flex Technology to prevent the plates from touching when placed together. This allows the plates to cushion the impact of styling by gliding and tilting over hair rather than clamping down on it, thus minimising damage and preventing split ends. Measuring 1 inch wide by 3.5 inches long, the plates are infused with the mineral Sericite, which is scientifically proven to evenly distribute heat to help you smooth out frizz from root to tip while locking in moisture.
The Variable Temperature Control provides eleven different heat settings so you can use the straighteners at a temperature most suited to your hair type, ranging from 100°C for fragile strands that need some TLC, to 200°C for very thick hair and coarse hair that’s stubborn to straighten.
You can find the right heat setting for your hair by using CLOUD NINE’s interactive Temperature Calculator, and it’s worth taking this quiz considering the research that shows over 80% of people mistreat their hair by straightening with the wrong temperature. By taking the test myself, I discovered that the optimal styling temperature for my coloured, type 2A hair is 170°C with Revive Mode for everyday styling – not my usual 200/210°C!
When the Revive Mode is turned on, CLOUD NINE’s exclusive Axial Vibration™ technology makes the plates continuously vibrate up and down 8,000 times per minute, and this ‘optimal frequency’ helps to distribute heat evenly across the hair, prevent hot spots, and minimise friction and drag, ‘unlike regular straighteners with static plates that can clasp unevenly and cause inconsistent heating’, says CLOUD NINE.
The brand also says that Revive Mode allows you to get smoother, long-lasting results while styling at lower temperatures, helping to break the damage cycle while adding ‘incomparable shine’ for all hair types and hair conditions. Previously only available on select tools at a fixed temperature of 150°C, the Revive Mode is now available across all temperature settings on the new Original Iron, Slim Iron, and Wide Iron to help users tailor their heat-styling habits and achieve healthier hair.
CLOUD NINE THE NEW ORIGINAL IRON REVIEW: PERFORMANCE
I’ve got to be honest. If I’d been able to choose which of the new CLOUD NINE hair straighteners I’d be reviewing, I would have plumped for The New Wide Iron, because my hair is long and there’s lots of it. I needn’t have worried about the capabilities of The New Original Iron, though.
Despite its compact size and petite plates, it made straightening my hair an absolute breeze and a very speedy process. When I say I can straighten a section of my 2A type hair in one pass using a lower-than-normal temperature and end up with poker straight, shiny strands, I mean it.
Having never tried the Revive Mode before, I was skeptical about the difference it could make to my hair styling. Naturally, I tried the tool with and without the vibration mode on, and while the results sans Revive Mode were brilliant, there’s no denying my hair looked extra smooth and shiny when the vibrations worked their magic. Moreover, my results were very long-lasting, which was a bonus.
Overall, I’d say my hair did look and feel healthier after a month of using The New Original Iron, and I think this can be attribute to various reasons. One, I didn’t need to touch up my style so often. Two, I was able to achieve my desired look using a lower temperature of 170°C with Revive Mode, rather than my usual 200/210°C (and even, *whisper it*, sometimes 230°C!). Three, I noticed far less dragging and snagging when gliding the irons down my hair, thanks to the mineral-infused floating plates and Revive Mode to cushion the impact.
I should add that I usually struggle a bit to wave my hair using straighteners with floating plates, because I find they lack the grip needed to keep my hair effectively sandwiched between the plates as I twirl the straighteners around. Not so with this tool, however, and I was mightily impressed with my big bouncy waves that lasted for two days.
Results aside, I love the way the tool feels in my hand. It’s small, lightweight, and streamlined with zero bulk and no buttons or switches on the outside to accidently knock. Kudos also needs to be given to the swivelling ball bearing base attached to the 3m power cord, which is so effective at rotating and moving around, it almost feels like you’re using a cordless design.
CLOUD NINE THE NEW ORIGINAL IRON REVIEW: VERDICT
CLOUD NINE’s The New Original Iron packs upgrades galore, including advanced heat protection features to improve the health of your hair without compromising on styling prowess.
Suitable for all hair types, this all-rounder straightens and curls hair beautifully and leaves hair looking silky and shiny, thanks to the vibrating Revive Mode which promotes smoother, long-lasting results while styling at lower temperatures. Stylish, streamlined and comfy to handle, there’s nothing not to like about this impressive straightening iron.
