Cloud Nine

Cloud Nine is a British hair-styling tool company founded in 2009 and based in Harrogate, England, where it carries out in-house design and manufacturing [1]. It makes electrical styling devices — straighteners, hair dryers and curling wands — rather than cosmetics, and is built around what the company calls a "kinder" approach to heat styling: the idea that gentler, better-controlled heat damages hair less and strengthens it over time.

The brand was created by figures behind ghd (Good Hair Day), the straightener company whose ceramic technology reshaped the hair-tool market in the early 2000s. Cloud Nine remains independent and family-run, and was still launching products in 2026.

Cloud Nine's story is tied to ghd. Sources differ on who exactly founded Cloud Nine. The company's own about page credits its establishment in 2009 to Susan Powls alone [1], while a Cosmetics Business obituary states that Robert Powls "founded Cloud Nine Hair in 2009" [7]. Both were among ghd's co-founders, and editorial coverage links both to Cloud Nine's launch; both names are therefore recorded rather than one chosen. Susan Powls is described as continuing in the business as Honorary Chair, with the couple's sons Martin and Gavin serving as directors [8].

The technological lineage predates the company by a decade. According to Retail Week, Susan Powls rewired a pair of straighteners from South Korea in 1999 and found they smoothed her thick, curly hair [6] — the discovery that led to ghd, which Martin Penny, Gary Douglas, Susan Powls and Robert Powls founded in January 2001 [5]. After stepping away from ghd in the mid-2000s, the founders set out to develop a less damaging styling method, which became Cloud Nine in 2009. In an interview with Hello Magazine, Susan Powls recalled, "After stepping away from ghd, I could have quietly closed the chapter on my career... but I knew my work wasn't done yet."

Cloud Nine frames its products around the principle, used as its tagline, that "the kinder we are to our hair, the stronger it becomes." Rather than relying on high, fixed heat, the company emphasises adaptive temperature control and what it describes as pressure-reducing technology, on the stated belief that gentler treatment lets hair recover and strengthen. Its values are summarised on the homepage as "strength" and "kindness."

The range centres on straighteners — among them The Original Iron, The Slim Iron and the newer Contouring Wide Iron — alongside the Airshot Pro hair dryer and a curling wand. Devices offer 11 heat settings spanning roughly 100–200°C, paired with an online Temperature Calculator that suggests a setting for a given hair type.

Several features are branded as proprietary technologies. The company's "Revive Mode®" is described as a pressure-reducing system with plates that vibrate thousands of times a minute, intended to reduce friction and breakage and improve shine [4]. Cloud Nine also references Sericite®-infused, moisture-locking materials, and on the Airshot Pro a self-cleaning "CleanFlow" function and an "Eco-Precision" motor.

Cloud Nine states that it has won more than 350 global awards [1], though specific honours are not enumerated in available sources. The company reports a Trustpilot rating of 4.6 out of 5 from 10,166 reviews [4]. Its straighteners carry MTick certification as menopause-friendly, a third-party mark the brand highlights on the homepage and on models including the Contouring Wide Iron [4]. Hello Magazine has named Frankie Bridge, Maya Jama and Lorraine Kelly among notable users [8].

The company has also drawn press coverage through its founders. Hello Magazine profiled the brand in 2025 as a "kinder" alternative launched by a ghd founder, Retail Week ran a Q&A on continuing a haircare legacy, and Cosmetics Business published an obituary of Robert Powls, who died in March 2026 [7].

Much of Cloud Nine's stated environmental work is built around product longevity and recycling. The company offers a three-year warranty it presents as a way to cut electronic waste, and runs a recycling scheme that accepts old styling tools regardless of brand, with a £20 trade-in credit toward a new device [3]. For shipping, it uses carbon-neutral delivery options through DPD and says click-and-collect can lower an order's delivery emissions, and it states that a partnership with CleanHub removes ocean plastic with purchases of certain products. The company notes that its tools are designed and manufactured in-house in Harrogate.

Cloud Nine is active. It continued to release products into 2026 — its about page marks The Contouring Wide Iron as new — and operates across multiple markets. The business remains independent and family-run, with no acquisition history recorded; its parent company is listed as unknown in available sources.