Where to Buy the Best Hair Straightener?

As with so many products, when you buy a flat iron, your two options are to go into a store or to buy a straightener online. A store can be nice when you’re looking for advice and recommendations from a salesperson but do remember that they’re going to try and sell you the most expensive product they have. It might not actually be the best option for your needs. They also don’t give you much time to compare hair straighteners and will never give you advice on other stores if you ask where to buy hair straighteners. And they will never actually explain how to choose a hair straightener yourself.

When you shop online, you have all the same choices as in a store, plus the extra convenience of not having to leave your house. You also have much more time to check out flat iron prices and find the best straightener to buy without the pressure of making a purchase immediately.

If you’re looking online for where to buy a hair straightener, check both the manufacturer’s website as well as any beauty-type store sites. These tend to have straight to the point prices and give you the chance to compare flat iron prices while looking for the best flat iron to buy.

When you finally decide to buy a straightener, don’t just buy it immediately, even though it might be tempting. Websites tend to have sales, which can give you a significant discount off of top styler prices, allowing you to stretch your budget a little bit further.

Just a quick word of warning — when you’re looking for sites where to buy hair straightners and the straightener price looks too good, this deal may be misleading. Many sites sell knock-off hair straighteners that may seem similar to top brand-name models but are far inferior and are more likely to damage your hair.

What is the Best Flat Iron Hair Straightener?

Before we dive into our top pick for flat irons, we should probably talk about what is a good flat iron and how you can tell the good ones from the bad. The first step should always be to research the brand. Some brands, like CHI and GHD, are well known over the world, and you usually won’t go wrong with their products. They typically come top in ‘What’s the Best Flat Iron?’ lists and are recommended by both salons and DIY stylists.

But you didn’t come here for us not to tell you what are the best flat irons, you want recommendations. So without further ado, our top pick for what is the best flat iron to buy is the GHD V Gold Max Hair Styler.

What makes the GHD V Gold Max Styler special is the extra-wide plates combined with titanium and gold technology. The gold titanium plates are excellent at heating up and retaining that heat, while the gold allows the plates to glide effortlessly even through extremely thick or curly hair. Unlike ceramic plates that can take up to a minute to heat up, the GHD V Gold Max Styler is ready to rumble in less than 30 seconds.

Because of the wide plates, hair takes much quicker to straighten than before. Even people with fine hair can benefit from wide plates because the plates can hold double the hair of a thinner plate. The only drawback of wider plates is that it’s harder to make curls and you can only really make gentle waves. If you have shorter hair and want curls, you may need to invest in a curler.

How Much Does a Flat Iron Hair Straightener Cost?

When shopping, the most common question tends to be, ‘How much does a flat iron cost?’ And the answer is, of course, it depends. Prices can vary greatly between brands and even between models of the same brand.

A good hair straightener doesn’t have to be the most expensive straightener on the market. There are plenty of high-quality flat irons in the $100 – $300 range. Some of the highest rated hair straighteners actually fall within this range, so you don’t need to break the budget to get good quality hair straighteners that will still give you high-end hair straightener results.

But if money is no object and you want a tool that will last you for years and protect your hair while you style, there are $300 hair straighteners on the market just for you.

Most Expensive Hair Straightener

When deciding how to choose a flat iron, price, unfortunately, does play a role for most of us. While it’s tempting to stick to the average straightener, some people would rather view their tool as an investment that can help protect their hair.

The GHD Platinum+ is over $300, which is a hair-raising amount for most of us. However, the price does take into account the fact that this is a high-quality hair straightener that features some of the most innovative technology on the market.

It’s fitted with SMART technology that adapts the amount of power to the hair straightener as it goes over your hair. This means that it maintains a constant temperature regardless of how thick your hair is or how fast you’re styling. Having a constant temperature means you’re less likely to harm your hair with excessive heat.

The GHD Platinum+ protects your hair while you style it. Heat is usually very damaging to hair, so investing in a product that not only saves you time but also nourishes your hair will save you money in the long run.

Best Cheap Hair Straightener

While the more expensive hair straighteners do more for you in the long run, there are still plenty of good, cheap flat irons out there. If you do your research to find the best cheap hair straightener, you can easily find a good deal on a tool that will do the job until you can save up for something fancier. You’ll be surprised how many cheap straighteners have premium features.

You can keep an eye out for hair straighteners sales and get a good cheap hair straightener to use in the meanwhile. Two products stand out as the best inexpensive hair straighteners on the market currently: the GHD Original IV Styler and the Silver Bullet Keratin.

The GHD IV Styler (See Full Review Here) is under $200 and is still one of the best cheap straighteners on the market. It uses floating ceramic plates to protect your hair while you style and has an automatic sleep mode in case you’re the forgetful type. It does take a while to heat up though and is limited to 185°C, which may be too cool for thick hair. It is still one of the best affordable flat irons you can buy, particularly if you’ve got finer hair.

The Silver Bullet Keratin hair straightener offers the benefits of more expensive models since it’s designed to be used with keratin treatments. Keratin treatments help repair damaged hair and protect your hair during the styling process. This means that you can get one of the best inexpensive flat irons on the market and it comes with premium features such as gold-plated titanium plates.

Best Quality Hair Straightener

Salon professionals know which stylers are the best in their class, and many of them recommend GHD stylers. Spending that bit extra on a high-quality hair straightener means that you save money in the long run and you can be assured of the quality of your product.

When you buy a salon professional hair styler from GHD, you’re investing in a brand with a known track record for quality products designed to meet every individual’s particular styling needs. They have straighteners for all types of hair, so you’re certain to find something that meets your goals.

Conclusion

When shopping around for a hair straightener, you’ve got to keep in mind both your budget and your needs. Even if you’re on a budget, it’s not smart to buy no-name products in the hopes of saving money. The best affordable hair straighteners are made by reputable brands like GHD and Silver Bullet. They may cost more than some other flat irons, but you can be assured of a quality build and manufacturer’s warranty on all GHD products.

If budget is not a concern, then it’s worthwhile investing in a higher quality product. Not only do you get a longer warranty, but more expensive hair straighteners tend to have the latest technology and are more likely to protect your hair, saving you time and hassle in the long run. On a mission to improve your hair – see our hair library here

As long as the coronavirus doesn’t ruin the party, We’re just under 5 months away from the Tokyo Olympics so I thought I’d do a bit of an eye check with you to see if your sufficiently stocked of eye cream, masks and concealer to make it through the long olympic nights!

1. Under-eye bags bigger than my New York suitcase? Check.
2. Red-rimmed eyes redder than after a long lunch that turns into a long night? Check.
3. A general haggard-type appearance that comes from staying up too late to watch the heats of the swimming, only to set your alarm a couple of hours later for the finals? Check.

Answer “yes” to any one of the above and I would suggest you have The Fever. Olympic Fever.

Once The Fever sets in, it’s pointless to fight it.

Instead, arm yourself with these five eye products. They won’t cure The Fever but they will go a long way to disguising the symptoms. Don’t forget to try this list of best night creams for optimum effect. There’s nothing worse than rocking into work with puffy eyes.

Oh, and just quietly … the below suggestions come in very handy should you partake in one of the long-lunch-turns-into-a-long-night sessions I alluded to above. The fight against bags under your eyes is real and neverending!

While you’re sitting on the couch watching the world’s best athletes fight it out, scoffing down a glass of red wine and a block of chocolate, give your eyes a fighting chance by applying an eye mask. Look for soothing, cooling and calming formulas.

Estee Lauder Stress Relief Eye Mask (Pack of 10) $65

I’ll always apply some sort of eye cream as part of my morning skincare routine in the vain hope that it will make a scrap of difference. Well, even if the wrinkles and dark circles persist, having a cool, soothing roll-on formula to apply to your under-eyes is the bomb. Don’t just do it first thing … keep applying all day.

NIVEA Visage Anti-Wrinkle Q10 Plus Eye Cream $18.97

Concealer has been my makeup best friend since giving birth for the first time 17 years ago. Well, not actually right from the moment of birth … but you know, that really ugly time afterwards when babies think that it’s super fun to wake every few hours during the night? Yes, that time. That’s when the dark circles moved in, set up camp and they’ve refused to budge since.

Napoleon Perdis The One Concealer (new) $36

Shhh, don’t tell concealers but illuminators are my second-best makeup friend and fast vying for best makeup friend status. Feel the top of your cheekbones, underneath your eye socket? That’s exactly where you want to paint a line of illuminator to brighten up your eyes when they feel anything but bright. Blend using your fingertips otherwise it will look like misplaced luminescent zinc cream.

Australis Paparazzi Perfect High Definition Brightener $11.95

This is a little makeup artistry trick that I don’t use everyday but pull out on-demand as required. By required, I mean whenever the rims of my eyes are looking like I’m a member of the Cullen family.  I find the white waterline pencils a little neon and too obvious on my eyes but a pencil with a pinkish tone works wonders to brighten things up without making me look like the toy doll I never had as a child. If your eyes are a little sensitive, it may tickle … you need to draw the pencil on top of the inside lid at the bottom. If you’re really tricky, pull out your top lid a little and draw inside that too.

Benefit Eye Bright Pencil $37

Check out all of these recommendations, and let me know what you think in the comments! Also check out more of our beauty recommendations.

From knowing what you need to do before styling your hair to straightening it in a way that is both effective and safe, it can seem like there are several factors to remember if you’re relatively new to the process. It can even be challenging to choose the right flat iron. Fortunately, we have compiled all the most essential tips and common questions to help you get the most out of straightening your hair.

Ready to learn how to flat iron your hair like a pro? Read on, because now we’ll share some tips on hair straightening.

Straighten Your Hair Perfectly

Have you ever wondered how to straighten your hair perfectly? Ever wished you could style your hair to look like you just walked out of your favourite salon? Are you unfamiliar with how to use a straightener at all? You’re in luck; with a little practice and the right tools, you’ll be able to master how to get super straight hair with a flat iron. Not only will these tips allow you to look great, but by observing them, you’ll be able to keep your hair safe and healthy while styling.

The first thing you’ll need to do is to get the best professional hair straightener for your hair type. Although it may be tempting to go for a cheaper flat iron, it’s essential to remember that not all hair straighteners are created equal. By investing in a better-quality tool, you invest in what it can do for your appearance as well as the well-being of your hair.

One fundamental point to always keep in mind is that you should never have to compromise the health of your hair to get the results you want. If you feel that your hair is becoming dried out or damaged due to regular straightening, be sure to consult a trusted hair-care professional to see what the cause might be.

Straighten Hair Quickly

Knowing how to press hair with a flat iron means knowing how to do it quickly and correctly if you’re in a rush. For those of us with limited time to get ready in the morning, it can be a struggle to make your hair look fantastic and get out the door on time. It’s normal to feel that it’s you against the clock in the morning. One of the most common questions people ask is, “How can you straighten your hair quickly?” With the right preparation, you can style your hair quickly and efficiently, and make it to work on time.

One widespread misconception is that you must trade safety for speed when trying to straighten your hair in record time. While there are some shortcuts that you can take, you don’t necessarily have to compromise the well-being of your hair to get out of the house as quickly as possible when you’re in a hurry. Time is precious, but there are a few things you can do to win a few extra minutes during your morning routine while still avoiding heat damage from your straightener.

For instance, cleaner hair can be straightened much faster and easier than unwashed hair, so be sure to shampoo, condition, and brush regularly. When your hair is soft and smooth, the flat iron can do its job speedily so you can move onto other tasks. While this does involve a bit of preparation the night before, it will inevitably save you precious minutes the following morning.

If you have very thin hair, you may even consider putting it into a low ponytail and straightening through the length of it in one swoop. After that, you can undo the ponytail and finish off the sides and any other part that was missed. This saves you the trouble of dividing your hair into different sections, which is typical for people whose hair is moderately or very thick.

If you do have thicker hair, you may want to consider a straightener that heats up quickly and has wider plates, which can straighten more hair at a given time. You’ll also want to divide your hair into separate sections to ensure that you straighten all of it evenly without applying heat to certain parts more than once.

Also, always be sure to hold your hair taut while straightening to speed up the process, and that you straighten all your hair evenly, regardless of what your preferred strategy is for dividing it into sections. This seems like an extra step, but it allows you to work through your hair more efficiently since you’ll avoid going through any given strand of hair multiple times.

Permanently Straighten Hair at Home

If you don’t have time each day to straighten your hair using a flat iron, you may be wondering, “Can you permanently straighten your hair at home?” Absolutely! There are keratin hair treatments that you can apply using a special keratin hair straightener to offer a more long-term solution for your smooth hair.

The way this works is that the keratin solution will be absorbed into your hair and sealed using the flat-iron. The appearance of increased shine, fullness, and sleekness can last from a couple of weeks up to a few months, depending on your hair and the product you use. Keratin hair straightening can be a huge game-changer once you find a product that works well for you.

A quick tip: be sure to do your homework when it comes to opting for treatments like this, as they don’t require approval from any authority. It’s essential to be aware of what kind of products you’re using on your own. Many products on the market contain formaldehyde as the active ingredient for smooth hair, but there are also plenty of formaldehyde-free options available. We’ve covered some homemade hair straightener recipes before, while not permanent they do the job if you’re budget conscious or the shops are closed!

Is Straightening Your Hair Every Day Bad?

If you don’t know how to safely style your hair with a flat iron, straightening your hair every day can be harmful. However, the way that you prepare your hair and go through the process will make all the difference. On one hand, the heat from your straightener does have the potential to damage your hair if you’re not careful in the process. On the other hand, knowing how to perfectly flat iron your hair and treat it against heat damage can keep you looking great without causing any problems for your hair.

The first thing to keep in mind is that so many straighteners on the market today have heat settings that get way hotter than what many people need to make their hair look great. If you have relatively thin to moderately-thin hair, the temperature you use is especially important, as your minimum heat setting should be lower than that of somebody with thicker hair.

Next, ensure that your hair is mostly dry before you begin straightening. The temperature at which permanent damage can occur to your hair’s fibres will be lower when your hair is wet, and you don’t want to risk breaking down your hair when it can be avoided. Wet hair is also not ideal for styling conditions, so you’ll be doing yourself a favour in that department as well.

By being aware of the risks of exposing your hair to a flat iron that is too hot, you’ll avoid a lot of unnecessary damage and keep your locks soft and healthy. Test out different heat settings to find the lowest one that effectively works for you and remember always to straighten your hair only when it’s dry.

Keep Hair Straight after Straightening

Once you’ve straightened your hair the way you like it, the next task is to ensure that your time and effort don’t go to waste. How should you sleep with straightened hair? What steps do you need to take to ensure that it still looks great when you wake up? Let’s look at a couple of conventional methods for maintaining straight hair overnight.

Option 1: Using a headscarf — Luckily, you can achieve the results you want in a few simple steps. First off, you’ll need a head-wrapping scarf for your hair. We recommend one made of a material that minimises friction, such as satin or silk. This will lessen next-day frizz and ensure that you don’t have to tend to your hair much. These scarves are available in a wide range of styles but be sure that it fits all the way around your head no matter which one you choose.

Once you have a scarf, you can apply high keratin, low alcohol hair serum to protect your hair overnight and retain its straightness. These serums are designed to combat frizziness and humidity, so be sure to choose one that is well-suited for your hair type.

After applying the serum, brush your hair into 2–4 sections depending on its thickness. Using simple hairpins, you can secure the ends of your hair by wrapping the sections around your head and pinning them. Remember not to pin too tight, as this can cause knots to form.

Once your hair is pinned, you can finish the job by wrapping your scarf around your hair to keep everything where it belongs. This will keep your hair neatly wrapped up so that it can remain straight while you sleep.

Option 2: Foregoing the headscarf — If the method of wrapping your hair in a scarf feels a bit too restrictive for you, there are alternative measures that you can take to ensure that your hair stays straight even after a full night’s sleep. The material that your pillowcase is made of will determine the amount of friction between your hair and the pillow, so opt for material like satin or silk which minimises rubbing and pulling. On top of that, you should still pin your hair as described above, even if you decide not to use a scarf, as this will go a long way towards reducing frizzing. As always, be sure to completely dry and brush out your hair before pinning.

There are a few other small tweaks that you can make to your routine that will make a big difference in keeping your hair straight overnight. Keep the temperature in your room cool while avoiding humidity, especially during the warmer months. Supplementary products such as dry shampoo or volumising serum can also add a bit of smoothness to your hair by reducing oil and dryness.

Tools to Straighten Your Hair

Now that we’ve discussed some common questions on hair straightening, let’s go into the details of how to straighten hair. First, there are some tools you’ll need; keep in mind that different people prefer different straightening methods, so you may not need everything listed below. Consider which methods and tools would work best for you and your hair, and don’t be afraid to experiment to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

A high-quality straightener — a good-quality straightener with ceramic plates is recommended because it will allow you to heat your hair evenly for a smooth straightening job. It’s also crucial that the size of the plates correspond to your hair; narrower plates work best for shorter hair, and wider plates service longer hair better. Also, be sure to select a straightener with various heat settings, as you’ll want to find the lowest possible heat setting which can achieve the results you need. This ideal temperature setting will allow you to straighten your hair effectively while preventing unnecessary heat damage.

Hair clips — no matter what kind of hair you have, you’ll most likely want to separate it into sections while you use your straightener. Hair clips can keep everything in place while you work from one part of your hair to the next. Longer clips that can be undone with a single hand are the most convenient during hair straightening, as they are easy to use but can also keep more hair in place and prevent loose strands from going astray.

Wide-toothed comb — this will help you smooth out your hair thoroughly before straightening. Not only does this help spread the product through your hair so that it is evenly cared for, but smoother hair is much easier to separate into sections and will straighten a lot quicker. Even if you’ve just shampooed, conditioned, and dried your hair, give it a once-through with a wide-toothed comb to make sure all your bases are covered.

Heat-protectant spray – every time you straighten your hair, you expose it to potential heat damage. Fortunately, there are plenty of great sprays on the market which can simultaneously protect your hair from heat and provide extra nutrients to keep your hair sleek, healthy, and nourished.

Setting spray – whether you use a second spray to keep your hair in place or a heat-protectant spray which doubles as a setting spray, you’ll want to take measures to ensure that the time and effort spent on your hair can last as long as possible. Setting spray will allow your straightening or styling to last several hours longer than usual so that you can get the most out of your work.

Prepare Hair for Straightening

Preparation is everything when it comes to how to use a hair straightener. The way you get ready will not only allow you to get the most out of your time spent but also helps to ensure that you aren’t putting your hair at risk of heat damage from your straightener.

The first step is to ensure that your hair is maximally clean and nourished to allow for optimal hair-straightening conditions. This will let the effects of using a straightener last as long as possible and also ensure that your hair is stronger and less susceptible to heat damage. Using shampoo, moisturising conditioner, and drying your hair on a low-heat setting before straightening can make a world of difference.

From there, always be sure to apply heat protector spray to your dry hair before straightening. The nutrients contained in a good-quality spray is what allows your hair to stay strong despite everyday straightening, so never forget to do this significant step. It’s crucial for maintaining the long-term health of your hair.

Finally, go through your hair with a wide-tooth comb to take out any tangles or knots before straightening. These combs are specifically recommended since many brushes can cause frizz, which is not ideal before using a hair straightener. If you have thicker hair, you’ll then want to neatly pin it into a few separate sections to make the task of straightening more manageable. From there, you’ll be ready to start straightening your hair.

Rough Dry Your Hair

Rough drying is an important step which, if done correctly, will help your hair look fantastic and sleek once you’ve finished straightening it. The trick is to give your hair a light all-over dry by shaking the hair dryer back and forth around your head to achieve evenness. Once your hair is about 80% dry all around, you have the option to let it finish air-drying or finish blow drying it on a very low heat setting.

Keep in mind that although poor straightening techniques can lead to heat-damaged hair, damage can first start when you use misuse your blow dryer. Although using a high-temperature setting will dry your hair faster, it will also quickly dry it out and make it more vulnerable to straightener damage. This is especially true if the straightener is also used at a higher temperature.

Simply put, rough drying is the perfect technique to use out of the shower to prepare your hair for straightening because it minimises the possibility for permanent heat damage to your hair.

Only Straighten Dry Hair

This cannot be overstated, as it’s one of the most essential aspects of straightening your hair: only straighten your once it’s completely dry. The most common and most dangerous mistake is the misinformed assumption that because your straightener is hot, it can double as a hair dryer to save you time.

Consider this: there is a temperature at which heat will begin to damage your hair, but at a moderate or low heat setting, your hair will never get this hot if you straighten it properly. However, this temperature limit will be lower if your hair is wet, so hair can get damaged much quicker and easier than if it was dry.

If you still experience some damage even though you only straighten your hair when it is totally dry, it may be the result of product being built up in your hair. Whether it’s dry shampoo or a holding spray,

these products can cause damage when heated up by your straightener. That’s why it’s recommended to straighten your hair when it is newly-cleaned and free of any product or knots.

Use a Heat Protectant

A good heat protectant is the first line of defence against heat damage for your hair. These products are designed to nourish and protect your hair when exposed to high temperatures, and they even resist frizz-causing humidity. From both a styling and a health standpoint, you can’t afford to forego this vital measure when straightening your hair.

Use the Lowest Amount of Heat to Prevent Damage

The level of heat you use is one of the most important factors, mainly if you use your straightener on an almost daily basis. Everyone’s hair is different, so you’ll need to experiment with which temperature is ideal for you in terms of how long it takes to straighten your hair, how effective the results are, and how much it dries out your hair. In a perfect world, you’ll be able to determine the lowest temperature setting that works for you, and consistently use that setting when straightening your hair.

Many high-quality straighteners have high-temperature settings intended for special use such as keratin treatments rather than everyday straightening. However, several people use these high temperatures on a regular basis, focusing only on how it speeds up the process and forgetting about the consequences. Although a higher temperature setting will get the job done quicker, it will also dry out your hair and make it brittle and unhealthy in the long run. Opt for lower heat when straightening your hair and focus more on its long-term health when straightening it.

Straighten One Section at a Time

By neatly dividing your hair into sections and straightening them one at a time, you can avoid taking on too much hair at once and over-drying or under-drying certain parts. Evenness and consistency are the secret to perfectly styled hair and dividing it into sections before straightening it is what will allow you to achieve that.

Although this is an extra step in the process, it ends up saving you time. Rather than grabbing chunks of hair at random and hoping that you managed to straighten everything, sectioning will give you a systematic way to work through the job without going over the same areas multiple times.

Keep Hair Taut

Keeping your hair taut will allow you to straighten it in a short amount of time. Naturally, less exposure to a straightener means a reduced chance of heat damage, and that should always be the goal when straightening. This seemingly simple step will make the straightening process more efficient and save you valuable time.

Choose the Right Flat Iron

Choosing the best flat iron vastly depends on the length and thickness of your hair. When you are searching for the best hair straighteners available on the market, be aware of what factors will make a

difference for your hair. Ceramic plates are ideal because they heat up evenly and allow you to dry your hair consistently during use. Also, the size of the plates should correspond to the length of your hair; narrower plates work well for shorter hair, and wider plates are better-suited for longer hair.

Prevent Hair Damage from Straightening

Many beauty enthusiasts suffer from hair straightener damage. However, there are plenty of steps that you can take to minimise and prevent flat iron hair damage during your everyday styling. With just a few preventative measures, quick tips, and the right equipment, you’ll be looking great without putting your hair at risk.

Straighten after using shampoo and conditioner — clean hair is easier to straighten, which means you can get the job done faster. The goal should always be to minimise the amount of time that your hair is exposed to heat from your straightener, and this is one of the easiest ways to do it.

Comb through before you begin — knots and tangles can quickly make straightening a bit more complicated, as it is difficult for your straightener to pass through hair that isn’t smoothed or combed. By giving your hair a comb-through from top to bottom, you can create the ideal conditions for a safe and fast straightening job.

Only straighten dry hair — wet hair will sizzle and suffer from severe heat damage at a much lower temperature than dry hair. Rough dry your hair using a blow dryer at a moderate temperature before straightening, and only pick up the flat iron when you’re sure that your hair has dried completely.

Use a low-temperature setting — the lower your flat iron’s temperature is set, the less likely it will be that your hair is exposed to potential heat damage. Just because your straightener has a maximum temperature setting doesn’t mean you need to put it that high to get the results you want. Experiment a bit to find the minimum heat setting that allows you to straighten your hair the way you like without turning the dial up to the highest temperature. Your healthy hair will thank you in the long run.

Use sectioning — depending on how thick your hair is, sectioning can be used to help you organise your hair before straightening. This is a great way to ensure that you don’t miss any strands of hair or pass through the same strand multiple times with a hot flat iron. In the end, it is a time saver and a preventative measure against heat damage.

Pull your hair taut — the increased tension of taut hair will allow you to straighten it more quickly, which effectively results in less exposure to the straightener and the high temperature of its plates.

Buy a Quality Hair Straightener for Best Results

There are several good-quality straighteners on the market today, ranging from quite cheap to expensive. Your hair straightener is much more than a simple tool—it’s an investment in the long-term health of your hair. Opting for a high-quality hair straightener can mean the difference between healthy hair or dry, damaged hair.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to choose the highest rated hair straightener exclusively from the list of the most expensive straighteners; just aim for one with ceramic plates and a variety of heat

settings so that you have the flexibility to tend to your hair in a way that gives you the results you want in a way that is safe and sustainable for long-term use.

By keeping all these tips in mind, you’ll be on your way to getting the most out of your hair straightener. If you are looking to learn how to use a wave iron, feel free to browse our many tutorials! Whether you are looking to learn how to flat iron your hair silky straight or you’re on the hunt for the best flat iron in 2019, we hope we were able to help!

What Is Heat damaged Hair?

If you’ve ever smelled burning hair from your hairdryer or come across a clump of hair in your flat iron, you’ve noticed the effects of hair damage. While there are other ways to damage your hair, such as chemical treatments, heat damage is much more common, probably because using heated tools is much more common.

If you’ve gone a bit overboard on the hot tools, you might find that your hair feels much coarser than usual and that it breaks much more quickly. It also looks dull and lifeless

The result can range from a slightly frizzier texture to complete breakage and hair loss, and the more times you use heating tools on your hair, the more likely it is your hair will suffer severe damage.

What Does Heat Do to Your Hair?

So why exactly does heat damage hair? To understand how heat damages your hair, you first need to understand the structure of the hair strand. Basically, a hair strand is made up of a protein called keratin — you’ll hear a lot about this later on in the article as well. Keratin is also the protein mainly found in nails.

The hair itself has an inner layer and then an inner and outer protective layer made of keratin. The inner layer is made up of overlapping scales of keratin and is the part of the hair that contains all the nutrients the hair needs to grow. The outmost layer is also made up of keratin, but this time it’s arranged in such a way to add strength and elasticity to the hair.

So, what happens when you add heat into the equation? Usually, nothing bad; the hair shaft may swell up a bit, and some of the outer keratin can get damaged but nothing that can’t be repaired. Hair is a bit more durable and can handle temperatures of up to 300 °C, but if this heat is applied for a long time, the keratin in the outer layer starts to get damaged and burn away. This leaves the inner core of the hair exposed, which can be damaged by further heat. So, the more heat you add over time, the more damage you do. You wind up damaging the most sensitive parts of your hair shaft. It can get to the point where the damage is irreparable.

That’s why initial heat damage makes your hair more brittle and less elastic, since the layer responsible for strength and elasticity. More severe heat damage affects the cuticle layer of the hair shaft, which contains the nutrients that a hair needs to recover and grow. If this is damaged, your hair will look lifeless, frizzy and probably fail to recover.

Does Heat-damaged Hair Grow?

Yes, heat damaged hair will continue to grow. The reason for this is because heat damages the part of the hair that isn’t reproducing and producing new hair cells. Hair grows from the follicles found in the scalp, so unless you’re frying your scalp at the same time you’re cooking your hair, you should be able to keep growing your hair.

In fact, one of the most common suggestions, if you’ve damaged your hair beyond repair, is to simply wait for it to grow out and be more responsible the next time around.

Can You Reverse Heat Damage?

Yes and no. It all depends on how severe the heat damage is. You’ll never be able to restore your hair shaft to its original state, but you can lessen the appearance of hair straightener damage. If you’ve done serious damage to your hair, the chances are that you won’t be able to do much until your hair grows out.

Is it Bad to Put Heat on Your Hair Every Day?

Unfortunately for all women who love their digital flat irons out there, yes. Luckily, there is much you can do to reduce the severity of the damage. You can use specialist heat protecting products and low-temperature hair straighteners that don’t damage your hair as much.

By taking a day or so off between styling sessions, you give your hair some time to recover and repair itself. If you heat your hair daily, your hair doesn’t have a chance to recover, meaning that it’s more susceptible to getting burned and damaged the next time you apply heat.

There are things you can do to mitigate the damage done to your hair, such as using sensible temperature settings and using heat protectant sprays before applying heat. As long as you keep a careful watch on your hair and give it some days off to rest, you likely will not see serious consequences from heat damage.

Signs of Heat Damaged Hair

Now that we’ve gotten your attention about how easy it is to damage your hair, you’re probably wondering, ‘Do I have heat damaged hair?’ There are a few good signs to know that you’re on your way to unrepairable damage and if you notice them in time, you can take steps to repair your hair and prevent extra harm.

Your Ends Are Worse Than Ever

Hair ends are usually the most damaged part of your hair since they’ve been around the longest and have endured all sorts of abuse. They’re more prone to being brittle and falling off, and if they’ve been heat damaged, you’ll find the ends of your hair look lifeless and flat.

A neat trick to tell the difference between heat damaged ends and ends that are just tired is to do a small friction test. You can easily spot damaged hair because it’s got little white nodules over it. If you run the hair through two fingers and the tip breaks off, chances are you’ve got heat damage.

Using your ends as a warning sign is a good way to check for heat damage before it becomes apparent on the rest of your hair. By doing the friction test, you can see that your hair is being stressed and that you should start looking at repair strategies.

Your Texture Is Weird

Heat damage affects the structure of the external keratin coat of your hair shaft. This change is often reflected in a change in texture. If you normally have smooth, soft hair, heat damage can come across as a sudden coarsening of your hair. If your hair has experienced an excessive amount of damage, like leaving your hair in the flat iron for too long, it will actually feel burned, brittle and just not nice. It will also start to split a lot sooner, and you’ll notice a dramatic increase in the number of split hairs you have.

Hair Doesn’t Bounce Back

Obviously, hair texture is a bit of a tricky one if you have curly hair, and you may not notice the difference in texture so quickly. Instead, check if your curl is looser than usual or if your hair feels less elastic. Since the outer keratin layer is responsible for keeping your hair in its shape, any damage will translate to looser curls and waves. These loose curls don’t have to be all over your head; they can manifest in one or two patches where the heat damage is most severe.

Tips to Prevent Heat Damaged Hair

Obviously, prevention is better than cure in the case of your hair. Once damaged, you can never fully repair heat damage, so your best step is protecting your hair from damage.

Now, you can consider completely banning blow dryers and flat irons out of your life, our team has even come up with some creative natural hair straightening methods, although they can take a bit more time and energy. Instead, focus on how you can minimise the damage and protect your hair during styling.

The first step is to always use a heat protectant spray before styling your hair. This creates an extra moisture barrier that protects your hair shaft for a while. Incorporate protein treatments into your hair care regime; they can help add extra protein to your hair, helping it recover from existing damage.

Second, try to avoid daily heat. It’s okay to style your hair every second day as this gives your hair the time it needs to repair itself. If you find that you’ve got thin hair that responds very badly to heat, this rest period needs to be longer. If you’ve got thicker hair, it may take more heat applications to harm your hair (lucky you).

All hair types will handle temperatures differently. Thinner hair doesn’t need much heat to style, and thicker hair is more resistant to heat damage. If you’re looking for hair straighteners that don’t damage hair, look for a hair straightener with temperature control. By controlling the temperature you use and using the lowest possible setting that works for your hair, you can reduce the amount of heat damage you subject your hair to.

What if the Damage Is Already Done?

If you’re looking at your damaged hair from flat iron abuse, you’re probably thinking, ‘Great, but how do you fix heat damaged hair?’

If your hair is severely damaged, your best option is to cut it off or at least get a trim to remove the worst parts. If you’re not at that stage, there are several products on the market that can restore some of your hair’s life. It won’t be a miracle cure, but it’s at least something.

Also, do your best to protect your hair if it’s already damaged by keeping it covered and out of the sun and avoiding harsh chemicals such as hair dyes and chlorinated pools.

Best Hair Straighteners for Damaged Hair

Now that you’re well aware of the risks of heat on your hair, let’s talk about the best flat iron for damaged hair. Even if your hair is suffering from hair straightener damage, it’s almost impossible to avoid styling your hair, so ideally you need to choose the least damaging flat iron that won’t make the existing hair damage worse.

Firstly, try and use hair repair products that can help damaged hair. When looking for hair repair products, look for ones that come with moisturisers as well as active repair compounds, such as shea butter and argan oil. These coat the hair, protecting and moisturising at the same time. You can also use replenishing masks once a week to further moisturise your hair and add a bit of volume and body according to Bustle.

So, if you’ve realised that your existing flat iron doesn’t help your current hair crisis, it’s time to invest in the best straightener for damaged hair: the GHD Platinum. The main reason for this as our top pick is its SMART technology, which is frankly fantastic at preventing flat iron hair damage.

This predictive technology scans your hair during use, taking into account your thickness and your styling speed. The SMART tech manages the power so that your hair is at the optimum temperature of 185 °C at all times. Why 185 °C? That’s the temperature at which your hair benefits from heat without getting damaged or burned. Remember that keratin is an incredibly resilient protein and can easily handle 200 °C.

So not only does the GHD Platinum+ have a host of other useful features, such as universal voltage, auto-off and platinum plates, it takes the guesswork out of deciding what temperature would best suit your hair. GHD even claim that your hair will be 70% stronger and have 20% more shine than if you used another styler.

The main drawback of the GHD is its price, which is at the top end of the scale. If you’re looking for straighteners that don t damage hair on a budget, consider the Babyliss hair straightener. It’s got a temperature control so you can set it to a lower heat to protect your hair while you style. It’s got titanium plates which generate negative ions to protect your hair and condition it during use.

Ideally, when looking for the best straightener for damaged hair, you want one that gives you as much control as possible to prevent further hair straightener damage. The GHD Platinum+ offers gentle heat with complete control and peace of mind.

Keratin Hair Straighteners

If you’re wondering, ‘How can I reverse damaged hair?’, one of the more recent options to help treat heat damaged hair is a keratin treatment where you expose your hair to keratin and use heat to seal it into the hair shaft. While mainly used for straightening hair, keratin treatments actually offer some benefits as well.

You’ve learned by now that the reason your hair looks and feel so bad when it’s damaged is that the protective keratin layer is essentially burned off. What keratin treatments do is they try to expose your hair to extra keratin in the hopes that some of that keratin will bind to the hair, making it healthier and stronger. Silver Bullet has designed a flat iron with temperature control that is specifically aimed at making keratin treatments more effective. Because the plates heat up so quickly, they can work immediately and distribute heat evenly over the entire hair shaft, giving you a smoother, healthier look, especially in conjunction with a keratin treatment. Read our silver bullet keratin hair straightener review here.

Conclusion

Unfortunately for us, heat is something that is always going to cause some damage to our hair. Lower heat is always better, and there are several steps you can take to reduce the impact that your styling has on the quality of your hair.

Always make sure that you use a heat protectant before styling. It’s a small thing that makes a huge difference, and your hair will love you for it. When styling, use the lowest hair straightener temperature that you can get away with. Give your hair a break from time to time. All these steps will protect your hair and preserve its health and shine. If it’s too late and you’ve already suffered from flat iron hair damage, the same steps apply to minimise further risk. You should also then try to use repairing shampoos, masks and other products to nourish your hair back to life. An interesting option is using a keratin hair straightener in addition to a keratin treatment to replenish the hair’s keratin levels. No matter what you do, make sure always to take care of your hair. It’s one of the most visible parts of you, and a small amount of care can go a long way.

Dealing With Grey Hair

One of the more common and obvious signs that we are entering our mature age is the fact that for many of us, our crowning glory becomes looking a little less lustrous and a little more seasoned. Salt and pepper hair can arrive very prematurely if your parents passed down the dodgy grey gene. In researching for this series, I am starting to blame my Mum and Dad for everything!

Sometime, maybe in your late twenties, you will be brushing your hair and notice a silvery strand poking out. Say hello to your future. I still recall finding my first grey hair. In fact, I found it along with a dozen others.  Horrified, I pulled each one out by the shaft, one at a time. While this is surely one way to get rid of grey hair, your can’t keep this up for a lifetime!

FACT – despite the rumour, if you pull out a grey hair, six more do not come to its funeral.

FACT – If I pulled out all of my grey hair, I would resemble Sinead O’Connor.

Here are more facts on why our hair goes grey

Each hair follicle contains a finite number of pigment cells, which produce a chemical called melanin. It is this melanin that determines your hair colour. As you get older, these pigment cells start to pass away peacefully in their sleep. Which is the only reason I think of why you can wake up with new grey hairs overnight.

“That can’t be right? That wasn’t there yesterday…”

“Nutritional and hormonal factors can affect hair colour as well as stress but, by and large, the predisposition to go grey earlier or later in life is genetic.” Well, gee thanks Cosmo..

There are some things you can do to assist in the slowing down of going grey gracefully IF you prefer to remain faithful to your chosen colour. They include doing yoga (seriously! Is that the answer to EVERYTHING?) stop smoking, eat foods containing copper such as yams and turnips and stop hooking onto refined sugar and white flour. So what are your options for a natural defense? Lets recap.

How To Stop Grey Hair

• Give up the cigarettes
• Reduce your stress levels
• Eat copper-rich foods
• Eat more eggs, fish – foods high in amino acids
• Cut out the sugar and white flour
• Add a multi-vitamin into your daily routine
• Try Yoga

Or you can do what I do, and turn to ye olde faithful 4.15 Iced Chestnut and let the box do the talking. That’s right ladies, a simple hair dye is often the easiest path to enlightenment.

But you do not have to fake it. Many folks are embracing their lack of pigment cells and are working with it, producing amazing results!

But if you want to fight the white, cut down on your stress and up your intake of Vitamin B-12. You can always spend a lot of time and appointments visiting the specialists who can check out the function of your pituitary or thyroid glands. Or you can get all Donna Hay-esque and whip up a hearty yam and turnip stew. Or turn to the chemist and get yourself a box of happy. Which is the cheat’s way. Which is MY way.

A Cure for Grey Hair?

Thanks to a team of European scientists, grey hair may soon become a thing of the past… but would you truly want to permanently reverse the aging process that sprouts out of the top of your head?

Imagine all the beautiful white-haired older people you know – now imagine their beautiful older person faces with their young person hair (try not to think of Rupert Murdoch’s bad hair dye job from a couple of years ago as you do this.) According to a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal people who are going grey “develop massive oxidative stress via accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle, which causes our hair to bleach itself from the inside out.”

Most importantly, says the report, this massive accumulation of hydrogen peroxide can be remedied with a “proprietary treatment developed by the researchers described as a topical, UVB-activated compound called PC-KUS (a modified pseudocatalase).”

Whatever that is. The short story is that messy hair dyes may be a thing of the past. (The new research shows the same treatment would work for the skin pigmentation condition, vitiligo.)

Although your first instinct might be yes, when can I get it – would you really want to stop the natural ageing process?

Take a look at these images and use our homepage to tell us what you think…

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Via Advanced Style

Going grey. Stop worrying about it, as you are only making it worse!

The best part about this look is that the amount of work that goes into achieving it is reflective of the style itself: it’s easy-going, it takes little effort, and isn’t complicated or stressful. Once you’ve experimented with it a little bit, you’ll love having this quick and simple style at your disposal any time you need it. It only takes a few minutes to complete, and there’s no pressure for the look to be perfect since it’s intended to look natural and fun.

Beachy waves don’t require any special tools or out-of-the-ordinary styling equipment. All you need is a flat iron straightener, clips or ties to hold your hair back while you work, and some heat protecting spray. If you’re used to simply straightening your hair with a flat iron, you probably already have all these things; there’s no need to invest in any fancy or expensive extras. If you don’t yet own a straightener, check out our recommendations here.

The only thing that remains is to grab your wavy hair styling tools and read ahead to learn how to crimp your hair with a straightener to get gorgeous beach waves.

Prepare Your Hair for Straightening

Preparation is everything, and if you’re used to straightening your hair more traditionally, then you already know that the well-being of your locks, as well as the result of your styling, rely heavily upon how you prepare for it. Keep these tips in mind as you get ready to learn how to make your hair wavy with straighteners:

Always be sure that your hair is completely dry — this tip cannot be stressed enough, as it’s one of the most critical aspects of using a flat iron for any styling. Even slightly damp hair can heavily contribute to avoidable heat damage. The most dangerous mistake that you can make is allowing a searing hot flat iron to contact wet hair.

There is a minimum temperature at which heat will begin to damage your hair. However, at a moderate or low heat setting and with proper straightening techniques, your hair will never get this hot. If your hair is wet, this temperature limit will be lower; therefore, damp hair can get damaged much quicker and easier than it would if it was dry.

Comb through your tresses — this will get rid of any loose hairs or knots that could get caught in your flat iron and make styling more difficult.

Smooth your hair out on a low heat setting — as mentioned above, you never want it to be exposed to more heat than is necessary, as it can dry it out and lead to damage. However, when waving hair with a flat iron, it can be useful to smooth out any kinks beforehand on a low heat setting; this sets the stage for you to get your beach waves just the way you want them.

Apply a thermal protection serum — unless you’re a total pro at quickly waving your hair, you’ll be exposing it to high temperatures for an extended period. That’s no problem, as long as you apply a protective serum to your hair to fortify it against the high temperatures. This will keep it strong and healthy, especially if you use a flat iron often.

Get Beach Waves with A Hair Straightener

Learning how to make wavy hair with a flat iron may take a bit of practice, but you can learn to achieve fabulous results in no time. If you’ve only used your flat iron for basic straightening or curling up until now, learning how to make beach waves will open you up to the possibilities of just how much you can do with a straightener. You may even want to learn how to style bangs with a flat iron!

Make this look work for you by following our tips and styling guide below.

1. Make sure you’re fully prepared — once you’ve allowed your hair to dry completely, combed it out one last time, and applied your thermal protecting spray, you are ready to begin. If you have any doubts, follow the tips above to ensure that you’ve covered all your bases before starting. Remember, all these steps will help to make your hair look great and keep it healthy throughout the styling process. Never sacrifice the health of your hair to look great.
2. Start sectioning — dividing your hair into small sections makes it easier to organise your styling and ensures that you only service each strand of hair once. This makes things go a lot quicker, provides the best results, and prevents you from accidentally exposing your hair to a hot flat iron multiple times. When separating and pinning down different sections of hair, be sure small pieces do not get loose and go through the straightener if they already have. Depending on what kind of hair you have, the number of sections that you decide to make may vary. Some people usually opt for 2–4, but feel free to experiment to find out what makes the most sense for the thickness and length of your hair.
3. Begin styling — go section by section, gripping your hair firmly, yet gently between the clamps of the straightener and rotating your wrist in either direction. Hold this position while sliding from the top of the strand all the way down from the root to the end. It doesn’t matter which way you twist your wrist, and you can even alternate the direction of this movement as you work different strands of hair. Remember: this look is meant to be fun and carefree, so there’s no need to aim for absolute symmetry or perfection. A quick tip: if you’re not 100% confident attempting this with a hot flat iron on your first try, practice the movement a few times before turning on the heat. That way, you don’t have to worry about needing to redo any sections of hair or applying heat to your hair several times.
4. Work evenly from one section to the next as you go — since you’ve already sectioned your hair, it should be easy to keep track of which strands of hair have been styled and which ones haven’t. Repeat step three across each section until you have twisted your way to a gorgeous head full of beach waves. Keep in mind that the sectioning method works as a way for you to systematically work from one part of your hair to the next. Although it is an extra step in the process, it saves you a lot of time in the end and delivers the most even, consistent styling results.
5. Apply the finishing touches — once you’ve worked your way through all sections of hair, apply your holding product of choice to keep your styling efforts in place all day. Don’t use anything that will make your hair feel stiff, as you want your look to fall naturally. Run your hands through your hair and tousle it a bit to give it that relaxed, fun-loving look. Remember, beach waves are meant to look natural, and they don’t need to be perfect or symmetrical. Have fun with it! Finally, take a look in the mirror and appreciate your newly-styled, flat iron waves. You are bound to get compliments and queries about how you styled your hair! This is a versatile look that you can use again and again for a variety of occasions; you’ll be addicted to it once you’ve mastered how to make it work for you, and the more you practice, the less time it will take you to complete!

Beach Waves with Flat Iron for Short Hair

You can achieve beach waves for short hair with a curling iron as well. There are definitely a few things to keep in mind which are specific to short hair when going for this look. For instance, you can get away with sectioning your hair a lot faster, and even just clipping up the top of your hair may be enough. You should also only curl about 3/4 of the way down your strands rather than all the way.
If you have short hair, you’ll want to use a flat iron that has narrower plates as opposed to wider ones. This makes it easier to get closer to the root. For example, the Babyliss Pro OPTIMA3000 Straightener is an excellent choice for short hair. It has a variety of settings and titanium plates that are well-sized for short hair, and it is designed for both straightening and curling. The adjustable 150°C-230°C temperature setting also enables a wide range of styling options. See our in-depth review for more info on the Babyliss.

Other than the size of the flat iron, the process of getting beach waves for short hair is essentially the same; definitely try these techniques if you want to create flat iron waves for a lob. This style can be

pulled off in a way that is especially cute and energetic if you have short hair, so don’t hesitate to try it out if you’re looking for a new way to spruce up your hairstyle.

Beach Waves with Flat Iron for Long Hair

This style looks fantastic on long hair. If you have long or thick hair, you should get a straightener with wide plates, and curved plate edges so that it’s easier and quicker to get beach waves. Whether you want to get big curls with a flat iron or beach waves with a curling iron, a hair straightener will only be able to get the results that you want if it’s well-suited for your hair.

A narrower straightener would not work well on long hair for a couple of reasons. First, it would take much longer to curl all your hair; more hair equals more time and effort. It would be inefficient, which goes against the quick and easy nature of this hairstyle. Second, it would create tighter curls which are more suited for short hair.

The ghd gold max styler is a fantastic tool for getting this kind of style. If you’re looking for a high-quality, multi-purpose flat iron from one of the top brands, ghd is one of the most highly-recommended names on the market today. It may even be the best flat iron for waves.

If you already have a good idea of how to get beach waves with a curling iron, then it will be a snap for you to learn how to get flat iron waves for long hair. With the right styling tool and a bit of practice, you’ll be rocking this look in no time.

Conclusion

Beach waves are such a versatile style, and the best part is that you can get them for any hair type. They add so much personality and life to your look, and they’re an appropriate style for both casual and formal occasions. Once you become experienced with styling your hair this way, you’ll have a hard time resisting the temptation to go for it all the time.

No matter your hair type or style, always remember that there are ways to tweak these looks to make them work just for you. Using a multi-purpose, high-quality flat iron is a significant factor that will determine what styling flexibility you’ll have. It will also get the job done faster and with better results than a cheaper model would be capable of achieving. Above all, be sure to care for your hair well and to avoid heat damage if you’re a frequent flat iron user.

Besides which, chemical treatments are permanent. What if you want to rock an afro one day and switch to smooth and sleek the next? You’ve probably wondered if there are methods to achieve natural hair straightening at home. Relax, we’ve got you covered. And there won’t be a chemical relaxer in sight.

In this post, we’ll let you know how to straighten hair naturally permanently or otherwise so that it stays sleek and sassy as long as you like.

Hair Straightening at Home Naturally

We’ve got the perfect answer to how to make hair straight and silky naturally for you. Our first method is not completely natural – you’ll need a hair iron. While heat occurs in nature, hot irons don’t, and it could dry out your locks a bit. Even so, it’s a lot better than chemical treatments.

It’s also perfect if you want quick and temporary hair straightening at home. If you’re really against using a straightening iron, then these natural tips will help you to learn how to keep your style smoother without using a hair straightener.

Before you check that out, though, why not choose your favourite hair-smoothing treatment at home from the methods below?

We’re not saying that you’ll never want to use your steam flat iron on natural hair again, but these methods will teach you how to straighten hair without heat damage. Also, when you do decide to find the best flat iron for natural hair, these treatments will help to protect your tresses. These treatments will help you keep your straight hair natural and beautiful-looking.

Coco/ Citrus Hair Strengthener

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

¼ cup full-cream coconut milk

This treatment couldn’t be simpler. Mix up the ingredients the night before you want to use them and place in the fridge. The next day, massage into your hair and scalp so that every strand is coated. Leave it on for half an hour before rinsing with a mild shampoo.

Doing this once a week will help keep your locks luscious and protect them from damage as the result of using a hair flat iron or other hair straightening tools. This recipe is one of our top strengthening treatments for preventing damage from hair straighteners. The coconut milk provides moisture and is a healthy hair straightener.

The lemon juice conditions the shaft for the next time you pull out your straightener—whether its the best flat iron for healthy hair or the worst!

Hot Oil Treatment

1 tbsp slightly warm coconut oil

1 tbsp castor oil

This mixture needs to be somewhat warm so that you can mix it. Applying it slightly warm will also give the best effects for temporary hair straightening at home. Mix well and then apply to your scalp right through to the ends.

Make sure the whole shaft is coated for the best straightener effect. Massage into the scalp for fifteen minutes. This massage invigorates the scalp and causes blood circulation to the scalp to increase.

Once the time is up, put on a shower cap and wrap your head in a warm towel. Leave on for another half an hour. To get the residue out, lather up a little shampoo and apply. Rinse and repeat.

This is deeply moisturising and perfect for damaged and dry locks. Repeat twice a week if you battle with frizz.

This treatment matches the results that you get from the top flat irons without all the damage. If you have a problem with dryness, this is the best hair-smoothing treatment at home.

Smooth as Milk

This is another ultra-easy treatment. Take a quarter cup of full-cream milk and spray it in. Each strand must be completely coated with it. Leave it on for half an hour, and then rinse and wash as normal.

Since we’ve been talking about the process of permanent hair straightening at home, this might seem like a method that’s way out there. Bear with us, though. The lactic acid in the milk soothes and straightens, while the fats in the milk act as a natural hair straightener and conditioner. Do this once or twice a week.

Olive Oil and Egg Mask

2 fresh eggs

3 tbsp decent-quality olive oil

Mix well and then apply. Massage it into the roots and brush through to the tips. Leave it in place for about an hour. Rinse out using a little shampoo lathered up together. Rinse again and then wash as normal.

Eggs contain tons of proteins and nutrients. These help to repair dryness and damage. The olive oil is nutrient dense and has similar properties to the natural sebum your body produces. This is a good hair straightener recipe that repairs damage to boot.

It’s a good recipe to use if you use a steam flat iron on natural hair. Even the best iron for natural hair will cause some damage. This treatment can limit that damage.

Using Bands

If you have long hair, friction is not your friend. This method prevents your hair from getting tangled while you sleep and helps it dry more naturally. This process should be done just after washing your hair.

Divide the hair into two equal pigtails, and secure loosely with bands. Place the bands along the length of the ponytail every five centimetres or so. The bands should be tight enough to hold things in place, but loose enough that they don’t leave marks.

Take a silk scarf and wrap it around your head loosely. Secure in place with bobby pins and let the locks dry naturally. This reduces the amount of friction experienced overall and stops tangling. It’s a great natural hair straightner for long, coarse tresses in particular.

Natural Black Hair Straightening Tips

Natural black hair is beautiful if you’re happy to leave it as is. If you want to tame some of the dryness and frizz, it’s going to take a little more work. We’re going to suggest using a good flat iron for natural black hair in conjunction with a keratin hair straightening treatment.

We do recommend doing some research into the best flat iron for natural black hair. You want to find a reputable brand that has developed their flat iron for natural African American hair.

Spending a bit more here to get a flat iron for black natural hair is going to be one of the best investments you’ll make. These products consider the tendency of the hair to become dry and brittle with too many heat treatments, and so use higher quality plates.

A titanium hair iron will be the best flat iron for natural hair as they require less heat to straighten the hair.

Don’t Overdo the Heat

We are going to make this proviso, though – don’t overdo the heat. Even the gentlest flat irons for natural hair are going to do some damage. Make sure also to give your hair a break every now and again. Learn fun ways to style your hair naturally and make sure you give it a lot of TLC.

Letting your hair rest occasionally will help to prevent heat damage and also keep your hair more manageable. Why not try some of the treatments that we outlined in the previous section for a change every week to help strengthen and repair your tresses.

We also recommend using a treatment that helps to protect the hair before you start to heat set it. Coconut oil is a good choice here and will help tame frizzy fly-aways.

If you do need to heat set, we’d recommend using the lowest setting you can get away with. Keep it on your locks for the minimum amount of time possible. Otherwise, they’re just going to fry.

Use a Keratin Hair Treatment

In a perfect world, you would be perfectly happy with your hair, and leave it styled all the time naturally. We don’t live in a perfect world, and we all want more options with our hair. Using a keratin treatment is going to be the best approach as far as how to get straight hair naturally permanently, or as close to it as possible.

The advantage of this treatment is that the effects are longer-lasting. It’s the best straightener for natural hair outside of a professional hair tool or salon visit. The results will last for at least a few weeks.

More importantly, though, you don’t have to worry about heat styling your hair every day. Now, we’re all about natural treatments, but here we’ll make an exception. If you use heat styling every day instead, all it requires is some humidity to undo your efforts.

A keratin treatment will mean not having to use all that heat, and so it won’t do nearly as much damage. A bonus is that keratin is a naturally occurring protein that repairs the shaft. As a result, the treatment will also help to restore some of the proteins that your locks need.

Do I Need to Go to the Salon?

A professional stylist will say that you must go to the salon for a keratin treatment. That’s out-dated advice. Home care products have changed a lot since they started hitting the market. Manufacturers are beginning to understand hair better and are creating products more suited to a variety of hair types.

Just stick a reputable brand and a high-quality iron, and you’ll be fine.

Keratin Hair Straightening Treatments

Our final tip is on how to get permanent straight hair is to use your home treatment with a high-quality keratin flat iron. Our favourite product is the Silver Bullet Keratin Gold Titanium Hair Straightener (See full review).

We love this keratin flat iron because:

· You have a choice of three different plate sizes: The biggest plate will allow you to cover 50 per cent more hair. That means less time spent styling and less heat exposure.

· You get to choose if you want titanium or ceramic plates: Titanium is better if you have a strong curl because the ions it produces help speed up the time it takes to flatten out the kinks.

· You can adjust the heat: The maximum setting is 230°C, but you can adjust this down if you like. That means that you get to find the perfect setting for you.

· Fast and even heat distribution: For the best results with a keratin hair straightener, you need heat fast and evenly applied.

· It’s also a keratin curling iron: It features the patented surround heat tech to help lock in your style for longer. You can curl or flatten as you prefer.

· Advanced plate design: The plates float on the handles. This helps it glide.

· Settings can’t be changed accidentally: The settings are inside the handle. This means no accidentally knocking them to the wrong settings.

· The settings are variable: Choose the right one for you.

· You get a lot of extra goodies with your purchase: You get a styling comb, paddle brush, sectioning clips and handy pouch to store everything in.

· The keratin flat iron reviews are great: Those that try this keratin straightner rave about it. The most common comment is that it makes keratin hair straightening at home look like it was done professionally.

Use Your Keratin Hair Styler to Lock in Your Keratin Straightener Treatment

Using this keratin smoothing iron gives you salon-quality results at a fraction of the price. Your friends won’t believe that you used a keratin-infused flat iron. Let them in on the secret and encourage them to buy their own keratin straighteners, and you’ll be their hair hero. The key is to choose a reputable brand and treatment product according to Cosmo.

Finding the Right Product

Be sure to check what other users are saying about the product. Look for a product that has overwhelmingly good reviews. Next look at the ingredients. If Formaldehyde is one of them, move along. Also, look out for chemicals that release formaldehyde like:

· Glyoxal

· Polyoxymethylene Urea

· Diazolidinyl Urea

· Imidazolidinyl Urea

· Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate

· Quaternium-15

· Methyl Glycol

· DMDM Hydantoin

Stay away from these formulations. They make it easier to get rid of kinks, but Formaldehyde is not a safe chemical to be around.

Preparation

Get a clarifying shampoo that removes residue from the strands and scalp. Hit the showers and massage the shampoo into your scalp and through to the ends until it forms a rich lather. Leave in for about three minutes or so, rinse out and then repeat.

Dry Your Hair Properly

These products work best when on dry locks.

Divide into Equal Sections

Divide the hair into at least four even sections and clip securely into place. If you have thicker locks, make more sections. You want to be able to get the product on each strand and then be able to heat it evenly.

Follow the Manufacturer’s Instructions

This isn’t the time to wing it – read the directions carefully and follow them to the letter. You’re going to want to coat each strand evenly to a point where it’s covered. Comb it section by section to help the distribute it properly. Clip each section away and leave it in according to instructions.

Get to the Treatment Part

It’s not the product that sets the treatment—it’s the heat. Normally you don’t have to rinse the product out first. Just check what your instructions say and dry as directed.

Now Use the Iron

Don’t forget to check what the optimal temperature for the product is and don’t go above that. Style using the iron, section by section, and you’re done.

Final Tips

• You should normally let the product sit there for three days without washing it out. You can use dry shampoo to keep things tidy if need be but avoid styling it.
• You’ll want to avoid clips and ponytails for at least the first two days, so find a more relaxed, messy style.
• Maximise your results by using a sulphate-free shampoo when necessary. The less you mess with your hair, the longer the results will last.
• Crazy sleeper – check out these steps to help keep your hair straight and under control at night.

Conclusion

There you have it. Three great ways to tame unruly tresses. The natural recipes that we suggested will work whether your hair is coarse or fine. If yours tends towards fine, leave the ingredients in for a shorter period and stick to once a week.

When it comes to African American hair, learning how to get permanent straight hair is tougher. That doesn’t mean that you need to resort to harsh relaxers or chemicals, though. These products will end up doing more harm than good – it’s better to stick to something more natural. You’ll need a bit of extra help to loosen the bonds in each additional strand. The Silver Bullet helps you get salon-quality results at home with far less damage. It can help you with day-to-day styling or locking in your keratin product.

The advantage of using treatment of this nature is that it offers semi-permanent results. It does alter the chemical bonds to relax the hair a little. This is not nearly as damaging as formaldehyde-based treatments, though.

Overall, it’s basic common sense. Learn to work with more natural styles, nourish and protect each strand, and keep heat styling to a minimum.

On a mission to learn more about your hair? See more hair articles here.

When it comes to getting ready in the morning, every single minute is precious. It can feel like there are so many things to get done before you get out the door and tending to your tresses can be one of the most time-consuming parts of your routine. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure that a good night’s sleep doesn’t end up becoming a bad hair day. Don’t let your hard work go to waste—read on to discover how you can keep your hair straight overnight.

Keep Hair Straight After Straightening

Before you ask how to keep hair straight overnight, it’s advantageous first to know how to keep hair straight after straightening in general. The most effective tricks that you can use to maintain straight hair will start with how you care for your hair in the shower, so let’s begin there.

Reduce possible frizz with a moisturising conditioner — not only will this make your hair easier to manage and more likely to stay straight, but it will treat it and make it stronger so that it can handle the heat from your flat iron and stay healthy.

Only straighten your hair when it’s fully dry — straightening wet hair is more likely to result in heat damage, but beyond that, it limits the effectiveness of styling. Blow dry your hair on a lower heat setting and only begin using a straightener or flat iron once you’re sure that it has dried completely. This will allow for the best possible results in every aspect of tending to your tresses.

Use heat protectant serum during straightening — a good heat protectant serum is designed to nourish and protect your hair when exposed to high temperatures, and they even resist frizz-causing humidity. It’s a huge advantage to use this because it not only protects hair from damage, but it also leaves it healthier and smoother so that it remains straight for a more extended period after you’ve styled it.

Invest in a high-quality straightener — a good-quality straightener with ceramic plates will allow you to heat your hair evenly each time for a smooth straightening job that will last. Also, be sure to select a straightener with various heat settings, as you’ll want to find the lowest possible setting that can achieve the results you need for your hair. This ideal temperature setting will allow you to straighten your hair effectively while preventing any unnecessary heat damage. Not sure which one to choose? Check out our guide!

Comb through it once you’re done straightening — smooth, tangle-free hair is likely to stay straight for a longer period. Although you should also comb before straightening, it never hurts to go through one more time afterwards to ensure that it’s as sleek as possible. This is especially true if you plan on pinning it or wrapping it before bed.

Use dry shampoo after straightening — dry shampoo is great for removing moisture and oils which would otherwise contribute to the loss of straightness. By cutting down on their presence after straightening, you can maintain straightness for a few more hours.

Give your hair a break from straightening now and then — although there are ways to minimise and prevent heat damage from using a hair straightener, it’s still unnatural to expose your hair to that kind of temperature every single day. Even if your hair isn’t severely damaged, giving your straightener a day off here and there allows your hair a chance to recover. Ideally, it would help if you used a deep moisturiser on these days to nourish your hair and rehydrate it. Healthy, recovered hair will always be much more manageable than hair that is dried out from constant straightening and exposure to hot tools. Check out a few of our natural hair straightening methods here.

Hands off the hair — while the temptation to play with one’s hair may be vast for some people, it can also do a lot to detract from the effects of holding spray and styling efforts. Constant fiddling encourages frizzing and curling and can cause your hair to lose its straightness sooner than necessary.

How to Sleep With Straightened Hair?

Have you ever wondered how you should sleep with straightened hair to keep it nice overnight? There are several things you can do to keep your hair straight and smooth overnight to save yourself valuable time in the morning. The best part: once you figure out what works best for you, you only need to spend a few extra minutes on applying these practices to your nightly routine to maintain your hair’s straightness as long as possible. Here are a few quick hacks which will allow you to wake up with great-looking hair even after a full night’s sleep.

Pin it down — by minimising the amount of movement that your hair experiences overnight, you can effectively reduce the friction that it’s exposed to, which will cut down your frizzing by a noticeable amount. Pinning your hair is one of the easiest and most efficient ways you can sleep with straight hair. Comb it, separate it into sections as you would for straightening, and pin it using a standard hairpin. Elastic bands are also an option but be sure not to tie your hair too tight, as this can leave unwanted indentations if it’s tied that way for an extended period.

Use a hair scarf — silk and satin hair scarves offer a protective barrier between your hair and your pillow. This is a great way to keep everything in place while you sleep. You can read more about this option in detail below, but what makes it a great choice is that it can also be combined with pinning to achieve optimal results. On top of that, it only takes a few seconds, so you don’t need to spend much valuable time on this quick trick.

Apply hair serum before bed — there are several excellent hair care products on the market that can be used to reduce oil and moisture in dry hair. By giving your hair a once-over with a product like this, you give it a much better chance of maintaining its style for a more extended period. Some heat protective straightening serums even have these properties, so you don’t necessarily have to buy two different products for both heat protection and pre-bed treatment.

Minimise exposure to heat and humidity — hot and humid conditions are notorious for putting a quick end to any styling efforts, especially if you have hair that tends to curl. Using air conditioning or a fan, you can make the temperature of your room a bit cooler to cut down on your hair’s exposure to these conditions. If you’re somebody that is comfortable sleeping in colder temperatures, this is a way to create ideal overnight conditions for maintaining straight hair. Many hair care products also feature anti-humidity care, so be on the lookout for that as you shop for them.

Sleep on sheets made of a low-friction material — as is the case with choosing a headscarf, satin and silk sheets are less prone to creating friction as compared to cotton sheets. Materials like cotton tend to catch your hair and pull on it as you shift during the night, and this is what results in a dreaded case of bed head the next day. Treat yourself to a nice, smooth material that won’t frizz up your hair while you sleep. You’ll rest well, and your hair will look fantastic the next day as a result.

Wrap Hair After Straightening

Wrapping hair after straightening is a surefire way to guarantee that your styling efforts are securely maintained overnight. This reduces the amount of friction between your hair and your pillow and in turn, can drastically lower the chance of a serious case of bed head the next day. It makes no sense to spend time and energy styling your hair at night, only for it to be messed up the following day. This is one solution that many people swear by to maintain straight hair overnight. In just a few easy steps, you’ll be on your way to wrapping your hair like a pro.

Choose a scarf — we recommend materials that minimise friction, such as satin or silk, which will prevent frizz and ensure that you don’t have to tend to your hair much in the morning. These scarves are available in many different styles, but the most essential things to bear in mind are the material and the fact that the scarf is large enough to wrap around your head and cover your hair.

Consider applying a straightening serum — using a product such as an Argan oil serum to protect your hair overnight and retain its straightness is very common. These serums are designed to combat frizziness and humidity, so be sure to choose one that is well-suited to treat your hair.

Securing your hair — one standard method of securing your hair is to brush your hair into 2–4 sections (depending on its thickness) and then pin it using standard hairpins. You can secure the ends of your hair by wrapping the sections around your head and pinning them. Remember not to pin too tight, as this can cause knots to form.

You can also wrap your hair into a low bun if you wish to avoid using pins. You can use an elastic band to keep the bun in place, and the results should be very much like those which you could get from pinning.

Wrapping your hair — finish the job by wrapping your scarf around your hair to keep everything where it belongs; this will keep your hair neatly covered so that it can remain straight while you sleep.

Keep Short Hair Straight Overnight

Most of the tips given above can be applied to both short and long hair, but there are also a few wrapping techniques that are specific to how to keep short hair straight overnight. For instance, when using a headscarf, you should wrap in the opposite direction of your natural hair part to create more volume for your hair in the morning according to instyle.com

Another huge advantage to having short hair is that it can air dry relatively fast. With this in mind, try to forego blow drying as much as possible, as constant exposure to that kind of heat doesn’t do your hair any favours in terms of keeping it strong and healthy. Air drying can also allow you to maximise the natural volume for your hair.

Conclusion

No matter what kind of hair you have, a lot of effort and time goes into styling it the way you like. Different methods work best for different people, so it’s worth the time to experiment with some of these tips to figure out what works best for you. Straightening your hair can be a significant part of getting the look that you want and knowing how to prepare your hair for bedtime pays off in the long run by keeping the results of your styling efforts intact. Try combining a few of these tips to figure out the best way to hack your daily hair care routine.

On a mission to learn more about hairstyling and haircare? Check out our industry leading hair blog!

Your hair protects your scalp from the sun and keeps it cool in hot weather. It also keeps your head warm and helps you to retain heat in the cold. It serves a fundamental purpose beyond looking good.

Your hair follicles hide inside your scalp. They are complex mechanisms that house many cells. The shape of your hair follicles determines the texture of your hair. A curved hair follicle will grow curly hair, and a straight hair follicle will grow straight hair.

So, the question now stands: how do some hair follicles curve? What makes them that way and why?

Ever wondered what makes hair curly or straight? Could it be down to your genes or the environment and humidity you live in? Let’s look at some reasons.

Types of Hair

Not only are there many types of hair, but there are many types of curly hair. Curly hair comes in waves, twists, kinks, and crimps. They can be big curls or small curls. They can even vary throughout the same head of hair.

Some scientists in the United Kingdom from Unilever R&D and the Center for Skin Sciences at the University of Bradford try to explain how hair grows and even published an entire article explaining their research.

The shape of your hair follicles is determined when you are only an embryo. However, scientists still don’t know how this development happens. Curly hair follicles have two bends and are shaped like the letter S.

This shape remains intact for life, but your hair follicles undergo natural changes every few years with the cycle of hair growth. Every hair on your head grows for 3 to 5 years and then rests for a few months before it falls out.

In the resting phase, the hair follicle shrivels up into the skin, takes a break, and gets ready for a new cycle. To start the new cycle, it grows back in its original shape and begins growing hair again.

These curvy follicles always grow back curly. They never grow back in a different shape than before. However, scientists also don’t know how the follicle retains its shape as it shrivels in preparation for the next cycle. Simply put, naturally curly hair will always be curly.

What Makes Hair Curly?

The shape of your hair follicle isn’t the only thing contributing to your curly hair, however. Cell behavior during hair growth can also affect the way your hair looks. For instance, hair cells in straight follicles are organized and coordinated. They grow straight and round in a symmetrical fashion.

Hair cells in curly hair multiply and divide in an asymmetrical pattern, producing proteins that correlate with waves, bends, and curves in the follicle. The result is a fiber of hair that grows in an elliptical shape, allowing it to curl as it grows.

The only problem now is that scientists still don’t understand what contributes to the different curl sizes, waves, kinks, or twists that make your curly hair unique. The size and shape of your curls come from the elliptical-shaped fiber, but what controls these differences is unknown.

Curly Hair Genes

Scientists are getting closer to discovering how all of this happens. They already know that your genes have much to do with hair shape. They know that the shape of your hair follicles determines whether your hair is curly or straight.

They’ve also discovered that the main gene responsible for these curls produces a protein that strengthens your hair as it grows. This protein is called trichohyalin, or TCHH. TCHH is responsible for different hair shapes all over the world.

It contains nuclear polymorphisms that vary based on race. The particular variant that produces straight coarse hair in people of East Asian descent is located in the EDAR receptor.

Variants, or polymorphisms, in different receptors are responsible for the differences in the distinct hair types of certain races. There are a few other genes that scientists have discovered to affect hair shape as well.

The far more interesting part of all of this scientific discovery is that these genes may or may not be inherited from your parents. They could be products of your environment or a combination of both.

While scientists don’t know everything about what makes your hair curly, they’re working on it. In the meantime, there are plenty of solutions to the problem of wishing you had a completely different hair type than you do. If you have naturally curly or thick hair, sometimes you might want to try a different hairstyle for which you need a compatible blowdryer suitable for curly hair.. A quality flat iron will allow you to experiment with different hairstyles.

Best Flat Iron For Long Hair

If your hair is long, the chances are it takes a long time to style, whether it’s curly or straight. Long hair can be difficult to style at home because it takes a long time and because holding your arms above your head for that long can be tiring and even painful. The best flat iron for long hair is one that’s lightweight and has many different temperature settings, like the Babyliss Pro OPTIMA3000.

Best Straightener For Short Hair

Short hair isn’t too time-consuming to maintain because there’s not as much of it, but it can still be a pain, especially if it’s very curly, coarse, or unruly. The best flat iron for short hair is by far the GHD Platinum+ because it’s perfect for all hair types. Whether your short hair is curly, wavy, coarse, or fine, the performance of this styler will meet your needs.

Best Flat Iron For Thick Curly Hair

Thick, curly hair, no matter the length, is generally coarse and unruly. It tends not to retain that much moisture, which is what makes it so thick and frizzy. The important thing to remember when styling your thick, curly hair is you need to protect it from heat. Even though flat irons get hot, the best flat iron for curly hair is the GHD V Gold Max because it offers a single heat setting that protects your hair and styles it with ease.

Best Straightener For Fine Thin Hair

Fine, thin hair is susceptible to more heat damage than other types of hair because it’s fragile. Styling fine, thin hair requires a bit more care when it comes to heat settings, which is why the best flat iron for fine hair is the GHD Original IV. It only has one heat setting that’s much more conservative than other hair straighteners, and its basic feature set is easy to use every day without fuss.

Conclusion

Now that you have a better understanding of what makes your hair curly, you may realize that there’s not a lot from a biological standpoint that you can do to fix it. Naturally curly hair will always be curly, so you should rock your gorgeous curls whenever you can. Failing that, check out our post on how to straighten your hair now you know which straightener is best.

However, if you prefer to straighten or style your hair differently than what comes out naturally, there are plenty of great products on the market that will help you achieve this style with minimal frustration.

GHD, Babyliss Pro, Flair, and many others make hair straighteners with great features like digital temperature control and smart technology. Swivel cords, travel-ready voltage, and friendly notifications will make your use of these quality flat irons even better than you expect.

Enjoy your natural curls when you can, and get the perfect straightener for your hair type when you want to try something new. For more inspiration check out our hair section!