A hair styling instrument comprises a housing (8) having a front side (9), formed with at least one passage (10) for heated air. Elongate hair guides (12, 13, 14) project exclusively from the front side (9) of the housing (8) or, at least in the area of the passage (10), fixed elongate hair guides (12, 14) project from the housing (8). Movable ones of the hair guides (13) are movable between a first position, in which they project fully from the housing (8), and a second position, in which they project from the housing (8) at the most to a smaller extent than in said first position. With the movable hair guides (13) in the second position the hair styling instrument can be moved through wet tangled hair with a low resistance. Subsequently, when the hair is tidied and dried, a proper grip and hence a satisfactory styling performance is achieved with the movable hair guides (13) in the first position.