From hair dryers to curling wands, you can use various tools at home to achieve a salon-worthy blowout or hairdo. You can straighten, curl, or create beach waves with just one flat iron, a versatile tool that can help you achieve several types of hairstyles at once. The Best flat iron can also save you space when traveling since it performs the same functions as a curling iron and round brush.
With proper flat iron use, Bridgette Hill, a certified trichologist, says, “it smoothes out the cuticle and locks in the style with minimal tension and fewer repetitive passes,” creating sleeker, longer-lasting looks. Compared to other styling tools, flat iron plates have a greater tensile force on hair fibers, which elongates and flattens the cuticle. Our hair stylists provided advice on what to look for in a flat iron when shopping, how to protect your hair when using one, and the Best flat iron to buy.
Choosing between ceramic and tourmaline flat irons
Different qualities make the three most common flat iron plates more beneficial for different hair textures, from fine wavy to kinky coils. All three straighten hair, but some are better for certain hair types.
The flat ceramic irons
The ceramic iron is the most affordable of the three hair straighteners, according to a London-based hair stylist, Stefan Bertin. Depending on the health and texture of your hair, they won’t get as hot as titanium and tourmaline. According to Tina Malhotra, a stylist at Mia Wagner Salon in New York City, the plates must be routinely checked because the coating can wear and chip away.
Based on Bertin’s advice, hair can be damaged when metal, typically aluminum, is exposed. Ceramic flat irons provide fairly even heat distribution, glide through the hair smoothly, and leave a glossy sheen, according to Courtney Foster, a licensed cosmetologist, and owner of Courtney Foster Beauty.
Flat irons with tourmaline
Generally, tourmaline irons feature ceramic plates covered in a tourmaline mineral coating, Hill says, which provides additional protection and smoothness. The negative ions emitted by tourmaline-infused plates can be counteracted by dry or damaged hair so that they can straighten the hair.
An iron made of titanium
Titanium metal is a strong and durable metal that is ideal for salons. Compared with ceramic plates, these plates typically heat the quickest and distribute the heat more evenly, so fewer passes are required over the hair, a smoother finish, and “much better results,” Foster said.
