The Best Flat Irons Hairstylists and Our Beauty Editors are Obsessed With Using for Sleek Straight Hair
It’s time to upgrade your hair straightener.
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Modern flat irons are so much better than the ones we used during the early aughts that fried our hair. Whether your go-to hair straightener finally died on you (or if it’s just not doing the job anymore), it’s time to treat yourself to a new beauty gift to ensure your tresses are sleek, straight, and shiny starting this holiday party season and beyond. To help you achieve your best hair, we consulted experts on everything — seriously, everything — you need to know about flat irons.
The Best Flat Irons
- Best Overall: T3 Lucea 1-Inch Professional Straightening & Styling Flat Iron
- Best for Dry Hair: NuMe Megastar Hair Straightener
- Best for Textured Hair: BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Digital Straightening Iron
- Best Titanium-Ceramic Hybrid: Hot Tools Black Gold 1-Inch Micro Shine Salon Flat Iron
- Best Wide Plates for Long Hair: Conair Infiniti Pro Rainbow Titanium Flat Iron
What to Consider
Titanium vs. Ceramic Flat Irons
If you’re familiar with hair straighteners, then you know that the most conventional ones use heated “plates” to straighten your strands. These plates are usually made out of titanium or ceramic, and each material has a different effect on your hair.
Titanium
- What are they? Titanium flat irons heat up fast and evenly throughout the iron for smooth results. However, if not used properly, they can cause serious hair damage, cautions Cheryl Bergamy, a celebrity hairstylist and founder of Contents Haircare.
- How do they work? “Titanium heats the surface of the hair shaft. That’s why it’s so important to maintain moisture retention while using heat styling tools for your hair, especially textured hair,” says Bergamy, who is based in New York.
Ceramic
- What are they? In our guide to flat irons for natural hair, experts explained that ceramic flat irons are ideal for fine and thin hair. Because they heat up fast and evenly, they’re gentler on the hair, so if you’re shopping for a beginner then gift them a ceramic flat iron on this list.
- How do they work? “Ceramic flat irons transmit heat through infrared technology, straightening the hair from the inside out which is generally more gentle, especially for finer textures,” she adds.
TLDR
Pick the flat iron that’s best for your hair density and styling needs. Although Bergamy loves both titanium and ceramic plates, if she had to choose, she’d pick the latter due to its gentler impact on strands.
Temperature
Since a flat iron is a hot tool, you’ll want to make sure whichever one you purchase can crank up to the necessary temperature range to ensure you only run the iron. “Just because your iron can go up to 450 Fahrenheit doesn’t mean you should keep it there,” says hairstylist Jessica Shakir. “If you have fine hair, you should keep the heat under 200 degrees; thicker hair can stand more heat [up to 450 degrees]."
For your healthiest tresses, Shakir advises using the lowest temperature range possible to prevent potential heat damage. She adds, "To ensure your desired style will stay put for hours, opt for setting your strands with creaseless duckbill clips rather than going over a strand more than once with your hot tool. When using heat, less can be more!”
Speaking of heat damage, now is not the time to skimp on using a heat protectant, such as a hair serum or heat-protection spray. They will guard your hair against scorching hot temperatures and many have added benefits, including imparting a glossy finish, minimizing frizz, and smelling like freshly shampooed hair.
Bergamy, who specializes in natural hair, advises those with textured hair to lock in hydration with a leave-in conditioning cream, (her go-to product is Contents Style & Go Leave-in Conditioner). “Depending on how coarse or tight the curl pattern is, I may have my client sit with a plastic cap for a few minutes just to help infuse the moisture into the hair,” she says. This method can make the hair softer and easy to blow out, without the risk of pulling or breakage before going in with a flat iron.
How We Chose
In addition to including flat irons in my current rotation, I included hairstylist-approved picks. Additionally, after carefully researching dozens of other flat irons, I also found several that are aligned with the above criteria our experts shared. For example, many of these flat irons include multiple temperature settings so they can accommodate all hair types. So keep scrolling for my beauty editor-approved picks that all boast glowing reviews on Amazon, Sephora, Ulta and more of your favorite retailers.
Nicole Saunders is the beauty editor at Best Products with over seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing lifestyle content. She specializes in breaking down complicated topics, like high-frequency wands and microcurrent devices, into easy-to-understand guides. She takes great pride in heavily researching and testing featured beauty products, — such as hairdryers and foundations — on our site, and spotlights her all-time seasonal favorites in her quarterly column Best New Beauty. And she tests quite literally thousands of launches for our Beauty Awards package.
Jennifer is the former beauty editor for BestProducts.com, where she’s testing out everything from the latest lip gloss to the craziest skincare trend sweeping the online beauty-verse. Her work has been featured in Allure, Byrdie, HelloGiggles, and more. When she’s not swatching eyeshadow all over her arms, you can find the NYC-based editor scouring for hours on end for vintage finds, eating pad thai, and hanging out with her cat, Chunks.
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