When it comes to picking the right flat iron for silky shiny hair it is easy to get lost with a myriad of straighteners available now.
As you are making a long term investment, make sure you are getting the best straightener for your money. You also need to pick a straightener that suits your hair type and desired styling.
So how do you select the best flat iron to straighten your mane?
Let us dive in…
Things to Consider While Buying a Flat Iron
- Type of Flat Iron
It is important to understand the different types of flat iron to choose the right device your hair. The various iron types are
- Ceramic Flat Irons– They are the most common type of flat irons and uses ceramic plates that warms up fast and maintains an even heat for flexible styling.
- Titanium Flat irons-Titanium is a metal with high heat conduction and responds faster to temperature variations resulting in irons with better temperature control. They work faster and is quite light in weight when compared to ceramic irons.
- Tourmaline Irons– Tourmaline is a semi-precious mineral stone that produces high quantity of negative ions. Tourmaline is made into fine powder and coated on ceramic plates for better frizz control and more shiny hair.
- Infra-red Heating
Common heating irons can expose your hair to high temperatures which may cause hair damage. Modern flat irons comes with a new feature called infra-red heating system.
The irons with this feature heats the hair from the inside and also locks the moisture within the hair cuticles thereby preventing hair damage. For those with thin fine hair this is a useful feature to have.
- IonicMode
An ionic device means that it is able to generate negative ions during use.
This is a useful feature found in most hair care devices that helps to manage hair easily.
Normally hair is full of positively charge due to high water content. The ionic feature produces negative ions, to neutralize the positive charge. Ceramic and titanium irons generate negative ions more efficiently.
- Plate Size
The size of the flat iron plays an important role too. The plate size can vary from 1 inch to 2 inches on average. The optimal width you need for your flat iron
is between 1-1.5 inches in width, which makes it easier for styling fine and silky hair. Anything wider than 1.5 inches is better suited for longer and thicker hair.
- Temperature Control
This is a perhaps the most important factor to consider. Especially if your hair is thin and fine, it becomes more vulnerable to heating.
Pick a flat iron with adjustable temperature levels, especially if you have weak or damaged hair. Flat irons that produce high temperatures can result in split ends.
Look for flat irons with wide range of temperature selection feature.
As long as the heat setting is under your control, styling thin hair is not too much of a challenge.
- Shape and Design
Flat irons come in variety of designs and shapes. If you intend to use your flat iron to create curls, it is important to look for a flat iron with a rounded shape. The flat irons should be thin, small and easy to use.
Having a 360° swivel cord with good length is another useful feature to prevent any burning of you hand while using the iron.
- Other Factors-Some of the other factors to consider are weight of flat iron, heating time, floating plates, automatic cutoff , heat protective gloves, LED temperature display, travel lock and travel pouch.
These are some of the major features that you can look for in a flat iron. While these do not affect your overall results in any way, they certainly help to pick the right device that gives long lasting desired results.
Thank you for sharing! I love beautiful, well-groomed, even hair. This gives them a neat, healthy look. It is very important to choose the right iron for hair straightening, so as not to spoil them in a short time. But I also, without fail use heat protection before using a flat iron, hair looks just brilliantly