If your hair is fine or relatively easy to straighten…
Set your sights on a flatiron with ceramic plates, says Lacy Redway, Unilever stylist and celebrity hair artist. Raven Hurtado, a stylist at Maxine Salon in Chicago, says, “Ceramic takes longer to heat and is lighter with passes, which makes it okay to use daily on normal-to-colored or fine hair.” What's more, ceramic plates are often combined with tourmaline, “a mineral that helps smooth and adds shine while locking in moisture,” Hurtado explains. Think less static and frizz.
Consider a flatiron with titanium plates, which heat up faster and maintain a higher temperature. Redway explains that the quick heat-up time and temperature require fewer passes on the hair. Of course, the hotter your setting, the more likely it will damage your hair. Always apply a heat protectant before you start straightening. Redway likes the Tresemmé Keratin Smooth Heat Protectant, which she recommends applying to damp hair and then, once it's completely dry, “proceeding with the flatiron at a safe temperature for your hair type.”
What’s the ideal temperature setting for your hair texture and type?
- Fine-to-medium hair: Experts recommend lower temperature ranges of 250°F to 300°F.
- Curly-to-coarse hair: Experts recommend staying within the 350°F to 450°F range. But you'll want to use a protective spray or serum beforehand and smoothing oils afterward to balance out the extreme heat.
- Colored or damaged hair: Experts recommend using heat sparingly, as bleaching and highlighting dries out and damages hair—and if you do use heat, stick to the lower ranges of 250°F to 300°F.
Ready to find your new flatiron? We asked professional hairstylists and Glamour editors with all different hair types and concerns to recommend the hair straighteners they actually use—and here are the results, including a few Glamour Beauty Award winners.
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