Hair Styling Tools

Obviously, the most common practice nowadays is to use a flat iron on your hair to achieve the optimum results.  Of course, using a straightening iron could potentially be damaging to your hair if you do not use it properly and also if you are not using one that has been manufactured with all of the new modern technology that has been designed to provide the least amount of damage to your hair.

If you don’t already have a flat iron, or are in the market to replace one, make absolutely sure that the plates are 100% ceramic.  One of the most important reasons for this is that the ceramic technology allows for a more even heat distribution across the plate so that when you are gliding the plates through your hair you are not getting hot spots in certain areas, thus resulting in damage to overheating of those strands of hair.  In your search for flat irons if you can also find a ceramic plate that has been infused with tourmaline, the quality of the flat iron is even better.  The reason for this is that tourmaline is a crystal that when ground into a fine powder, and then infused onto the plates of a flat iron, will also product negative ions that ultimately results in shinier and smoother hair.

So now that you have the proper hair straightener I recommend that you follow what I call my ”Be Smart” straightening guidelines.

1)  Straighten your hair only when it is completely dry, unless you are using a specific “wet to dry” hair straightener.

2)  Unless you are African American or have thick, course hair, you should not have to use a temperature setting of more than 400 degrees.  If the flat iron has fixed heat settings they generally have been calibrated for normal-to-thick hair.  Therefore, if your hair is fine or damaged, or even chemically treated, try to resist the higher temperatures.

3)  Do not straighten your hair more than 2-3 times per week.

4)  Be kind to your hair by using haircare products that contain moisturizing ingredients not only in the shampoo but in the conditioner as well.

5)  Use a heat protectant spray or creme on your hair prior to straightening.

6)  If your hair is already straight or wavy, you need only pass the iron once through each section of your hair.  Move the iron slowly down the section of hair and don’t use the iron as if you were trying to iron a garment.  If your hair is thick, course, or curly, the hair can withstand a second pass through.