In the beauty industry, it is a truth universally acknowledged that ghd makes some of the best hair straighteners on the market. You’d be hard-pressed to find a beauty journalist (or anyone, for that matter) who’s never tried them and many have a nostalgic story about their first pair. (Mine still sit in a cupboard despite their frayed cable rendering them unusable years ago.)
But since it revolutionised the straightening iron market in the early Noughties, the brand has gone on to make other brilliant tools alongside the best ghd straighteners. Namely hair dryers, curling wands and tongs and even, more recently, wet-to-dry stylers.
Now, in 2025, it’s thrown its hat in the ring for the best mermaid waver tools competition with the launch of the ghd Wave Triple Barrel Hair Waver. For the uninitiated, these three-pronged, trident-like tools are an easier way to create S-shaped waves with that “mermaid hair” vibe, ideal if you’re into the SS25 ghost waves trend. Here’s how I got on when I tried this ghd newbie for the first time…
First up, the first impressions. I found the tool noticeably on the heavy side when I first picked it up. But although it’s weighty, I personally didn’t find it too difficult to manoeuvre and isn’t the kind of tool you’ll be holding for as long as you would, say, the best hair dryer. Otherwise, the design is fairly sleek with the brand’s go-to matte finish and curved edges.
I started by smoothing out my already dry hair to give me a straight canvas for the wave. The Wave heated up to ghd’s standard temperature of 185ºC, which, based on their findings, they claim prevents extreme damage. Dual-zone technology, another thing we've come to view as standard with this brand, is also in there to maintain this temperature while styling. Other than that, there's a nice long 2.7m cable and a perpendicular "shelf" at the back of the tool so it can stand raised while it cools down post-styling.
The clamp is easy to work and hold against the hair for those S-shaped waves – my preference is a flatter and more uniform wave throughout, so I worked in fairly large layers of hair at once, but you can split into more sections for the bigger, beachier, wavier results seen in the campaign imagery. I highly recommend from experience that you start with the highest point you want the waves to sit and work down from there, paying close attention to clamp at the exact point the previous section ended for seamless results. All that said, it worked very quickly as I styled all of my hair in around 10 minutes—and though my strands aren't thick or super long, I have a lot of hair.
Now, a word of caution (a few, actually). Though it has a cool tip at the top of the central barrel, it is really easy to brush the ghd Wave l against your skin and burn yourself, so you have to take care and pay close attention while styling. Keep your other hand a bit of distance from the tool before clamping; I recommend sitting close to your mirror and, if you can, lifting sections of hair up somewhat, rather than clamping the tool close to your face.
Results lasted well in my hair without any kind of fixing spray – but it’s naturally curly, so that’s kind of to be expected as I don’t have a hard time getting styles to last. If you have straight hair that drops styles easily, definitely prep it and use some kind of finishing product that you know helps in the longevity department.
Overall, I think the ghd Wave is pretty good, though the weighty feel and ease with which you can burn yourself can’t be denied (I can be clumsy but I do test a lot of tools for a living so I have developed a knack for styling). But more positively, the quick styling time, thanks to the tool’s size, and ghd’s trademark smooth finish were big plus points.
