People with frizzy or curly hair always wish to have straight hair. This isapplicable to both, women as well as men. Straight hair has always beenconsidered ‘hot’ or ‘in’. You must have tried straightening your hair with acomb and blow drying it. Blow drying your hair is the simplest and easiestmethod of straightening your hair. But it is not that effective as it doesnot last long. Using a flat iron is the best way to straighten wavy or curlyhair.

Flat iron is an instrument used for straightening hair. Some women also usethe ordinary clothes iron to straighten hair. But this is extremely riskyand can damage your hair to no end, and this method should be completelyavoided. But then what is the best hair straightener? Choosing the best hairstraightener is very vital and necessary for your hair. What is the bestflat iron available on the market?

Let us have a look at the top 5 best flat iron hair straighteners:

Ceramic Hair Straightener
Hair straighteners are broadly divided into those with ceramic plates andthose with metal plates. Ceramic plate flat irons heat up quickly and alsoremain heated for a long time. There is better temperature control and lessdamage of hair. It is also easy to handle. This is why hair straightenerswith ceramic plates cost more than the ones with metal plates.

Sedu Hair Straightener
This is the best hair straightener in the market today, after admitted beingused by Jennifer Aniston. It has tourmaline or ceramic plates, hence, it hasa faster heat up time. They are ultra smooth, which prevents pulling andbreaking of hair. There is less damage of hair and the hair becomes smootherand silkier. It is easy to use and also has a long-lasting effect. Sedu flatirons are also easily available in the market.

Steam Iron Hair Straightener
The best feature of a steam iron hair straightener is that it can be usedfor wet as well as dry hair. You can use it on damp or towel-dried hair. Ithas vents along its sides that help in removing moisture from your hair. Allother flat irons have to be used only on dry hair. Though, steam iron hairstraighteners can be damaging for extremely dry or frizzy hair.

Ionic Flat Iron Hair Straightener
It is also one of the best hair straighteners available. It has ridges whichmakes straightening, curly or wavy hair, much easier. But this has to beused only on dry hair. You should not expose your hair to any hair productsprior to straightening. It is also useful because it saves energy.

Chemical Hair Straightener
Chemical hair straightening is the same as relaxing the hair. High qualityhair products are used for hair straightening. It is permanent hairstraightening and the hair remains straight till they grow or until they arecut. It is not recommended to carry out relaxing at home, and you must takeprofessional help.

Solia hair straighteners; wet and dry hair straighteners are the other typesof flat iron hair straighteners. You must remember that the best hairstraightener costs a good amount of money. But it is worth the buy. Neveropt for something cheap as it can result in damage to your hair. Hairstraighteners are available in various sizes and designs. They are meant forall types and patterns of hair.

If you covet for silky straight hair, do not compromise on any aspect andchoose the best flat iron. You will enjoy your new-gained appearance andconfidence!
 
By Madhura P
Published: 6/29/2009

From: http://www.buzzle.com/articles

Personal recommendations from friends and family are great, especially if you can try out the straightener. That way you can see the results and decide if it works the best for you. Also, read as many flat iron reviews as you can. When using reviews you should compare like with like; obviously comparing an expensive GHD flat iron to that of a cheap Conair flat iron is meaningless.

The following recommendation are by no means exhaustive, but are meant to help you along the way.

Cheap

A good cheap iron is one that will at least straighten hair and not burn it. No matter what model you buy make sure it has ceramic plates; it’s best if the plates are solid ceramic and not just coated, though this is easier said than done. The Conair flat iron is great value for money. The Infiniti 1 1/2″ is a good all round straightener and costs as little as $40. It’s cordless and also has tourmaline coated ceramic plates. What’s really very appealing is that it comes with a 5 year limited warranty.

Wet To Dry

The wet to dry flat iron is becoming increasingly popular as the need to first blow dry hair perfectly dry is done away with, which saves times and subjects hair to less damaging heat. Nearly every manufacturer now makes one. The model you buy should have special channels and vents to allow excess moisture to drain and evaporate away; if it doesn’t have these, it’s not really a wet to dry appliance. A good budget model is the Wigo Damp or Dry Ceramic 2″ flat iron. The Maxiglide has ‘bursts of steam’ which those with very unmanageable hair might like, though it’s rather heavy and bulky. My favorite is the Corioliss Tourmaline Ceramic Wet to Dry flat iron with 1.75″ plates – a very well-built and easy to use tool.

Professional

If you really want one of the best flat irons you should look to buy a professional standard model. They’re expensive but they’ll last longer, do the job quicker and better than cheaper models. Companies like Paul Mitchell, CHI and Solia make good models, however I would recommend the GHD Mk4 flat iron – very expensive but probably the best styling tool on the market.

Trendy

Yes, hair straighteners are becoming more beautiful to look at. First we had pink ones and even purple ones and ones with lime green plates. But, the most trendy and stylish looking has to be the Linea-Pro Corioliss C2 flat iron. It not only looks good but is also a very good styler. It has nano-silver technology (kills 99% of bacteria and removes dirt from hair, leaving it shinier), an overall sleek design, has a funky digital remote control and comes in very stylish color combinations.

As I said earlier, there’s no such thing as the best flat iron. You can pay top dollar for one like the GHD flat iron or buy one that’s cheap like the Conair flat iron, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that your happy using it and are happy with the way it straightens and styles your hair.