Iv never had the privilege of owning a ghd, but I did have my super straight long hair curled beautifully on my wedding day by a stylist with a ghd and I must say, what tickled my feathers about it was the fact that my hair was super soft, extremely shiny, wasn't cooked by the heat, held the whole day, and I still had beautiful curls 3 days later...a first from any time I had my hair curled. I LOVED IT! best straightner ever