A hair straightener is an essential part of a woman’s vanity. Every time you can not head to a salon to achieve that super straight hair look. So there is nothing better than having a quality straightener available among the other hair styling tools of yours.

Hair Straightener

What To Look For In a Hair Straightener?

A good hair straightner must have the following features. So next time, when you are to buy one, keep these points in mind.

Heat Control

Invest in a good hair straightener because it is going to have a direct impact on the quality of your hair. Gone are the days when the hair straightener used to have just an on and off button. Now it comes with advanced heat setting buttons to ensure minimum damage to your hair due to the heat. Opt for such a straightener which has got advanced features to control heat. 

Edges

The straightener should not have sharp edges as it can snag your hair. Try finding one with rounder edges because you can also use it as a curling iron then.

Width of straightener plate

For this, observe the volume and type of your hair. If you have thick and voluminous hair, go for a straightener that has wider plates. Women with thin hair can choose straighteners with narrow plates.

The material used in plates

What material has been used in the making of your flat irons is important to be considered. If you have coarse hair then it is better to choose a straightener with titanium plate. It gets heated quickly and makes the coarse hair super straight in less time. On the other, if you have fine and thin hair, a ceramic plate straightener would be suitable for you. In that case, there is no need of spending extra money on titanium plates as they cost significantly higher than ceramic ones.  

You must be spending your hard-earned money on a straightener so it is no harm doing a bit of research before buying one. 

What Hair Straightener Is The Best?

A good straightener gets heated quickly. Nowadays there are flat irons available that can reach up to the temperature of 450 degrees in less than a minute. Such straighteners have advanced heating technology that ensures that your hair receives minimum damage.

You will see a good straightener having a ‘predictive technology’ by which it can adjust the heat according to the texture of your hair. If you have coloured hair, make sure that it also has color protection technology. 

Some straighteners allow the user to work on damp/wet hair as well. However, you do not need to pay an extra price for this feature as most of the time it proves to be futile. When you want to curl your hair, your hair must be dry otherwise the curl won’t hold for a long time. So those looking for a two-in-one purpose while buying a flat iron can avoid this feature.

The quality of your straightener has a big impact on the time for which your hair would remain straight/curled and the shine on it. So while buying a straightener, think that you are investing in your hair. Do not pick any random brand just because you found its price be on the lower side. 

If you have super frizzy hair, you must look for a straightener that has advanced technology to prevent frizz. 

How Does A Hair Straightener Work?

You must have wondered sometimes how a hair straightener works. Well, the shape and texture of your hair are determined by the hydrogen bond present inside your hair. When you apply heat onto it, the bond breaks down and your hair gets straight. If we do not talk too scientific then simply remember that heat alters the texture of your hair for a time being. As you use flat irons, your hair would appear flat i.e. straight.

How To Use A Hair Straightener?

Before you start using the straightener, first comb and detangle all your hair. Now part your hair in small sections to ensure heat to maximum hair strands and achieve the perfect look. 

Now take one section at a time, tightly clamp it between the flat iron plates and start bringing your hand down towards the end of your tresses. Do the same to the remaining sections. 

If you do not feel satisfied with the result, you can repeat the process. Once done, put some hair spray on. Now either make some hairstyle or simply keep the hair open.

How To Style Your Hair With A Straightener?

There are several manners in which you can style your hair with your favourite straightener. Give your hair a wavy texture, curl them or simply straight them. Women who have a bit thin hair can enhance its volume by curling the hair on their crown area. 

To use the flat iron, heat it to the minimum temperature according to the texture of your hair. For thin and fine hair, the minimum temperature should not be more than 300 degrees, for normal it should be between 300-360 and for thick and frizzy hair, keep it between 360-400. 

You may think that such a high temperature can damage your hair. Yes, it does! but you can minimise the damage by applying heat protectant/ thermal spray just before you expose them to the heat of flat irons. 

Just by heating hair at different points, you can create different styles. The internet is full of such ideas. If you are not sufficiently confident about making a new style with a hair straightener, you can always try on a real hair wig first.

How To Curl Hair With A Straightener?

You do not need to buy a curling iron separately if you already own a flat iron. You can easily curl your hair with it. However, it would be better if the iron plats of your straightener are thin. 

So to begin with, make sure your hair is dry and clean. Remember, wet hair does not get curled. 

If you want your hair to hold the curl for a long time, you must use a good hairspray on them before you are about to curl them. Take the targeted section, spray on it and curl it by clamping it between the flat irons. Turn the iron at a halfway angle and slowly move it down. The speed of bringing the flat iron down would determine the prominence of your curls. If you want not ‘so intense curls’, then you can fasten the speed of your hand.

Once you achieve the desired curls, spray them again so that they retain their shape throughout the day.

What Kind Of Straightener Is Best For Curling Hair?

Hair that is curled using a flat iron looks more lively and natural as compared to the case when you use a curling iron. So it is good to use a flat iron for both straightening and curling.

While buying a flat iron, take care of some points so that you can use it for curling as well. The straightener should have a round edge and not be pointy to avoid snagging while styling. Also, the plates must not be too wide. The width should be somewhere between 1-1.5 inches. Both titanium and the ceramic plate would work for curling the hair.

How To Wave Hair With A Straightener?

Doing waves on hair is much easy and time saviour than doing curls. Also, the waves look super chic and stylish. So on a day when you are running late but still want to make a trendy hairstyle then go for waves.

To create waves, first, make small sections of hair. Now take the sections one by one and keep the remaining clipped. Put the hair section between the plates and turn it while clamping it. It would create the first wave.

Now unclamp it and form the shape of “S” with the section and again clamp the plates where it curves. Repeat according to the length of your hair.

With this method, you would get those natural-looking beach waves. 

How To Crimp Hair With A Straightener?

Basically, crimped hair is a 90’s trend but it is never out of fashion. Even in 2021, it looks desirable and chic. With celebrities like Katy Perry, Sophie Turner endorsing this look on the red carpet, you must have desired to get this look on one of your special days.

Here we would tell you the method to crimp hair at home just by using your flat irons. Begin by applying a heat protectant on clean and dry hair. Make very small sections of all your hair and create tight braids out of it. Remember! Keep them tight and closest to the scalp. Once done, take as many braids that you can handle inside the plates of the flat iron, put an ample amount of hairspray on them and start clamping them from top to bottom. You can repeat the step if you want tight crimps.

Once done, let the hair get cooled off. After some time, unbraid them and see the magic! You have got the crimps of your dreams.

How To Straighten Hair Without A Straightener?

We understand sometimes you may not want to use a hair straightener on your hair due to the possible heating damaged or just because of the mismatched time schedule. So what to do in that case? Can I straighten my hair without using flat irons is a question that must have been popped in your mind once in a while? Yes, you can. For this, use hair straightening cream or brush.

How To Use Hair Straightener Cream?

Hair st raightening cream helps you to achieve a temporary straight and smooth hair look without having an advanced heat treatment. 

Your hair must be clean and tangle-free when you use a straightening cream. Now you are to apply the cream first. Take small sections of hair and apply the cream in an even manner. Ensure an even spread of the cream by using a shampoo brush.

Once you are done with applying the straightening cream, now comes the blow drying part. Take small hair sections one by one, keeping the others pinned. Place a round brush under the hair section and start blow-drying. With this heat, the cream will set into your hair.  Keep brushing the hair throughout the process for better results. Once you are done, you will have perfectly straight hair with no sign of frizz. The hair would remain like this until your next hair wash.

Hair Straightening Brush

In recent times, this new tool has come up which has proved to be an effective alternative to the traditional hair straighteners. The hair straightening brush is not only more convenient to carry but not much damaging to your hair. 

Those who have thin and fine hair should try this handy tool. If you have frizzy and coarse hair then you might not find the hair straightening brush to be of much use but yes you can definitely try one to check the results. Any decent beauty store either online or offline would have hair straightening brushes.

How To Clean A Hair Straightener?

Like all other fashion tools of yours, the flat irons are also needed to be cleaned if you use them regularly. Clean them once a week and you are good to go for the other six days.

You would need a few basic things for it which are so easy to find at home. What you need are:

Cotton

Rubbing alcohol

Soft cloth

Make sure that your straightener should not be plugged in or hot when you do the cleaning process. So to begin, take the rubbing alcohol, pour it on the cotton and start cleaning the plates with it. Also, clean the edges, handle and outer body. Take more alcohol if you feel so. Once done, wipe down the whole straightener using the cloth. Congratulations! You are done for the week.   

On normal use and proper care, a quality straightener would last you for a minimum of 3-4 years. As we already said, it is good to buy something which lasts for quite a long time. Therefore always purchase a good straightener from a trusted brand. We promise that in future, you will not regret spending those few extra bucks.

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