There are three kinds of Hair Iron or Hair Tong tools those are used to change the shape of the hair by applying heat on it. Among those three, the Straightening Iron commonly called Hair Straightener or Flat Iron is one of the vastly used tools typically makes the hair flatten and straighten in order to give it a smooth, streamlined, and sleek appearance. The other two are the curling iron, which makes the hair curly, and the crimping iron, which used to create crimps to the hair of the desired size.
How do Hair Straighteners Work
The principal protein of hair called the keratin causes the hair to curl when it dries. The hair straightener works by applying heat to the hair, which breaks down the keratin to make it soften with minimal damage to the hair follicle.
Actually flat irons temporarily straighten the hair while taming the frizz and giving a lustrous glow. Ultimately, you can achieve the ravishing and sparkling straight hair that you desire in an instant and without using harmful chemicals.
Who Needs a Hair Straightening Iron
Not all of us are blessed with the genes to have straight and frizz-free hair where as the straight, shiny and smooth hair has always been considered a standard of beauty. Hairstyles and fashions usually change time to time, but the look of straight shiny hair at various lengths is timeless and one of the symbols of your personality as well.
Whether you want to stand out from the crowd, control your hair far more easily or simply cut down on those weekly salon costs, a flat iron hair straightener is for you. No matter what style you wish to achieve; be it bouncy curls or die straight to set your hair for a girl’s night out, the prom, or simply to feel great, you can now get a salon look and feel right from your home, with no expensive stylists’ charge.
Actually, in today’s hectic lifestyle, having a flat iron in your dresser or even in your travel handbag is a must if you want smooth and frizz-free locks whenever you want it.
Top Flat Irons in Terms of Hair Types
From my point of view, the best hair straightener will never take away the natural moisture of your hair. Taking this specific point into my consideration on a priority basis, here, I have tried my best to review the highest quality flat irons that boast the most innovative and caring technologies. I hope that my discoveries will help every woman find the most appropriate flat iron for their hair’s needs:
1. Best Ceramic Hair Straightener for Home Use
Say hello to the amazing Remington S9500PP Pearl Pro Ceramic flat iron, a high-quality straightener that delivers salon-like results every time you use it on your hair. The ceramic plates coated with real pearls and the ionic heat assure a healthy, efficient and long lasting effect on every type of hair, allowing you to straighten your curly hair or create beautiful hairstyles on straight hair.
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2. Best Hairstyling Iron for Tight and Thick Hair
If you’re looking for a new flat iron that can turn your tight and thick hair into smooth and pin-straight tresses that look like they were salon-treated, the answer to your search is Original Chi Ceramic Hairstyling Iron. Instead of using Tourmaline properties in its heating plates, Chi Hairstyling Iron utilizes ceramic ionic technology so each time you straighten or style your hair, you’re sure to get smooth and shiny results.
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3. Best Tourmaline Ionic Hair Straightener
If you want your hair to look great at all times, there is no other option without using a flat iron on regular basis. This habit might destroy your hair if you failed to select the appropriate straightening iron which suits your hair. A situation like this, the HSI Professional Ceramic Flat Iron will definitely minimize these types of risks and can help you achieve great results in a short time.
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4. Best Flat Irons for African American Hair
If you want a flat iron that lets you create ultra-shiny and straight styles with just one pass even on the curliest hair, the BaByliss Pro BABNT3072 Nano is the perfect flat iron for the job. The smooth titanium plates are easy to glide over the hair, releasing enough heat to straighten your hair while the infrared technology reduces the damage on your hair by locking the moisture in place.
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5. Best Straightening Iron for Curls and Waves
A good flat iron must deliver the proper amount of heat that will arrange your hair effortlessly and without damaging it. To make this happen you may rely on the GHD Professional 1″ Styler which straightens, curl, or wave every type of hair for smooth, frizz-free results. Setting the right temperature, the high-quality ceramic plates work on the hair and seal the moisture in place to minimize the damage.
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6. Best Titanium Straightener for Curly & Coarse Hair
When choosing a flat iron to tame rebellious curly and coarse hair, the high quality and latest technology which ensure the high temperatures, are just some of the aspects that you must take into consideration. A good flat iron that promises great results especially for the frizzy, curly and coarse hair is the TS-2 Millennium Flat Iron. This is one of the perfect straightening tools for the Afro-American hair as well.
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7. Best Mini Travel Straightener for Short Hair
Mini Hair Straightener is the ideal solution for someone about to go on holiday or even someone who wants a smaller pair of emergency hair straighteners. Due to their size, the travel hair straightener is ideal for popping in your hand bag or luggage, perfect for that elusive bit of hair that won’t sit quite right. In this context, the BaBylissPRO Mini Straightening Iron could be an ultimate solution.
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8. Best Vapor Flat Iron
The flat iron that you choose should be reliable and made of high-quality materials like the Remington S8700 T|Studio PROtect Flat Iron Straightener. The PROtect technology uses water and this hair straightener comes with macadamia conditioning treatment to supply cool micro vapor that absorbs into hair, protecting it from damage while you straightening your hair with style.
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9. Best Professional Hair Straightening Iron
If you are looking for an exceptional flat iron, which will straighten your hair, eliminating frizz and leaving the hair silky and shiny, consider the RUSK Engineering CTC Technology Professional 1 or 1.25 Inch Straight Iron. In addition to flattening hair, this straight iron also helps for creating curls or cowlicks. The great advantage of this flat iron is it suits for all types of hair.
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Flat Iron Brands and Features You Should Consider
Unless you are a beginner or don’t plan to put much use to your flat iron, you should always pick a professional flat iron from a reputable brand that producing various types of hair tools for the last couple of years or even a decade or more. Although professional straightener will cost more than the other general products but you will probably be glad that it lasts longer and produces more quality results. I have listed most of the renowned hair straightener brands here with a short brief on their hair straightening journey so that you can take a straight forward decision without spending so much time.
Here are some features that you will be pleased to have with your flat iron:
- Safe Handles – The handle part of the flat iron shouldn’t be hot while you iron your hair, or you will burn your hand! Most flat irons are safe to grip with one hand, but some people prefer to use both hands while using the flat iron. If you are one of them, you should find one which outer parts of the plates don’t get hot.
- Auto Shut Off – Safety feature in case you leave your straightener idle for too long.
- Ergonomic Design – Much easier to grip and maneuver with when styling hair.
- 360 Degree Swivel Cord – Doesn’t tangle up too easily when you work with your hair. You will hate to fight with the cord when in a hurry, I assure you.
- Fast Heating – Heats up in a blink to let you get to work fast!
- Warranty – Most flat irons come with a minimum one-year limited warranty whereas a couple of others with 2 to 4 years, but check to make sure it does.
Some additional features you may look based on your very specific need:
- Slightly Curved Plate Edges – You can also create curls and waves with this kind of flat iron.
- Wet to Dry – Some flat irons can work on damp (just toweled-dry) hair or dry hair. This is because of steam vents on the flat iron that will release the excess moisture. This feature can save you quite a bit of time.
- Temperature Control – Most of the flat irons come with temperature controlling features where you can adjust the temperature as you like, but some of those come with a fixed temperature. Adjustable temperature is always great for sharing the flat iron among others who have different hair texture.
- Weight – Don’t break your arm straightening hair. Choose a hair straightener that is light and comfortable. If you have long hair or thick and curly hair, you wouldn’t want to get sore arms using the hair straightener for extended periods of time. When choosing hair straightener, pick the lightest and most comfortable one.
Protect Your Hair Knowing About Straighteners’ Heat
Flat iron with variable temperature settings provides more styling flexibility and control. However, you don’t need more heat than necessary when styling your hair.
Just Imagine if you have a very crumpled shirt you need to iron, you will adjust the heat setting of your iron higher, but you won’t go higher than the recommended setting for the fabric the shirt is made of. It’s the same with hair; the curlier it is, the more heat you need.
So you have to check the flat iron you’re buying. Does it have enough power to go up to the heat you needed to achieve your desired style?
Here are the recommended temperatures for different textures of hair:
- Fine hair; bleached, fragile or damaged hair – Below 360F/180C
- Normal hair – 360-380F/180-190C
- Coarse hair; Thick, curly or ethnic hair – 380-420F/190-210C
Recommended Plate Size Based on Hair Texture and Length
Plate size means the width of the plates where heat is released directly to your hair. Below is a table where you can check which plate size is suitable for your hair. Shorter hair will need narrower plates while wider plates work faster on longer and thicker hair.
| Texture | Hair Length | Recommended Plate Size |
| Very coarse, thick, curly | Long (below shoulder) | 1.5 to 3 inch |
| Very coarse, thick, curly | Medium | 1.5 to 2 inch |
| Very coarse, thick, curly | Short | 1.25 inch |
| Normal | Long | 1.25 to 2 inch |
| Normal | Medium | 1 to 1.5 inch |
| Normal | Short | 1 or 1.25 inch |
| Fine, thin hair | Any length | 1 to 1.5 inch |
Types of Hair Straighteners for Different Hair Texture
All professional flat irons now have ceramic plates and these are vastly known as Ceramic Flat Iron. Only the cheap flat irons have aluminum plates coated with paint to make it look ceramic. Ceramic plates heat up fast and have constant heat to minimize damage to hair. Because the hard ceramic coatings are baked, the surface doesn’t wear off easily and won’t snag your hair.
Some flat irons infused tourmaline with ceramic to release negative ions which eliminate frizz. These type of Tourmaline Flat Iron comes with a higher price tag. For coarse and very curly or stubborn hair, ceramic plates with tourmaline technology produce a much better result.
Like the ceramic hair straightener, a good number of other high quality straitening tools use the titanium ionic material in its plates those are commonly called the Titanium Flat Iron. This type of titanium based straightener is corrosion resistant, very strong in nature but lightweight which produces more ions and warms up quickly.
The Steam Hair Straightener or in other words the Wet to Dry Flat Iron is another type of straightening iron which can be used on damp hair whereas most of the others are designed for use on dry hair (usually blow dried before the hair iron is applied). Steam hair straighteners are usually made with ceramic hot plates but come with vent channels on the sides of the plates that extract moisture from the damp hair and turn it into steam that softens the hair and seals the hair cuticle.
There is another type of flat iron uses the semi-precious stone jade and they are called Jade Hair Straightener. The jade is typically infused within the ceramic plate of the straightener and helps radiate the heat that is necessary to soften and smoothen the hair. Just like ceramic and tourmaline, jade also maintains an even temperature throughout each use.
Price of Straightening Tools – Expensive vs Cheap
For many people, the price is probably the most important factor to consider. Though it is not the ultimate pointer but choosing one of the best hair straighteners with all the “can do” features, the price may be a good indicator of quality. With hair straighteners, the more money you spend, the better product you will get. A good, well-built and reliable straightener should last for a long time. So, it may be wiser to consider buying a more expensive hair straightening iron as a one-time investment that will serve you for several years to come.
You can splurge and spend upwards of $130 on your flat iron, but you can also get a comparable model with many of the same features for around $100. The models are cheaper if you don’t need the tourmaline technology. Good flat irons with only ceramic technology and variable heat setting can be obtained within a range of $30 to $50 as well. Simply, getting a better iron will definitely avoid even more expensive trips to the salons for the hair-rescue mission.
Useful Reminders When Using Hair Straighteners
In our daily life hair straighteners become a must-needed tool to style our hair. But all the hair straighteners use heat that can cause damage to the hair if you failed to use it properly. So you should well aware about the process of using a flat iron to protect hair damage. To know how to use the straightening iron for flattening your hair without any damage done I would recommend you to take a look at some useful tips those are listed here.
On the other hand flat iron requires some maintenance after its every use for lasting it long and getting the similar type of high-quality results in each time. Otherwise, it will lose its working efficiency day by day and may create some different type of difficulties when you use it. So, Taking care of your flat iron is also important for getting its optimal results. For your better understanding if you want to know more how to care your hair straightener please click here.
My Simple Understanding
Flat iron helps make your hair straight, smooth, shiny and free from frizz. It should be light, comfortable to hold and easy to handle. They are available in several types, each with their own set of benefits. Hence it is important to know if the flat iron you’re intending to buy is true to its claim.
I hope the plenty of straightener options listed into this BestFlatIron.Reviews site will help you select a good flat iron model.