12 Best Hair Straighteners & Flat Irons 2024, Tested by Experts
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With a 4.5-inch long brush head, this straightening brush makes styling quick and easy. "I was a bit weary but very pleasantly surprised by the ease of use and the end results in 10 minutes," one reviewer says. "It straightened and tamed my hair and left it shiny." While we didn't test this one in the Lab, we love that the brush also features multi-dimensional bristles to help detangle your strands. Note that it doesn't have an automatic shut-off feature, and some reviewers said that the ends of their hair is still flipped up even after using the brush to straighten them.
How We Researched & Tested
“Ceramic plates are often ‘safest’ for dry, damaged, or fragile hair,” says hairstylist Amy Abramite, adding that these plates, in general, don’t get overly hot, so the overall temperature of ceramic irons stays in a relatively safe range. Still, it ranked best in almost all categories, including fully straightening hair and keeping it sleek and frizz-free all day. It also got perfect marks from testers for gliding smoothly through hair and being easy to use, with all commenting on the "noticeable shine" in just one pass. "I really like how fast I was able to style my hair," said one tester, with another saying, "I would buy this product in a heartbeat."
The 12 Best Hair Straightening Products of 2024
Byrdie contributor Melanie Rud has over a decade of experience in the beauty industry, writing for some of the biggest magazines and websites out there. Her hair is fine and relatively straight but prone to frizz (especially when there’s no blow-dryer involved), so she tends to reach for a straightening product anytime she wants a super sleek look. The Color Wow, Odele, Olaplex products on this list are some of her personal favorites. How much money you spend on a hair straightener definitely comes down to preference. Expensive hair tools aren’t necessarily “better;” they often just have more accessories and controls—basically, the difference between a five- and three-star hotel. If you want a tool with unique features (like cordless, “smart” technology, copper and ion-infused plates, etc.), you can expect to pay a bit more.
Bio Ionic 10x Pro Straightening & Styling Iron
We put many of these tools to the test at the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab with both consumer and Lab testing. A total of 55 women tested 11 hair straightening brushes (five for each tool) and shared their findings after, rating multiple factors including ease of use, performance and overall satisfaction. In the Lab, experts measured other elements including weight and cord length and more. Keep reading for the best hair straightening brushes which include top picks from our GH Beauty Lab test and highly vetted top sellers online. Despite having a shorter than normal cord, we really loved this Hot Tools iron, especially for fine hair. It glides through hair with ease (shoutout, charcoal ceramic plates!) and doesn’t tug or pull at individual strands.
Just spray some water into dry hair, and you can start straightening whenever you like. Some hair straighteners even come with a twin variety of hair styling as you can also twist and curl them easily. What’s better, most of these are quite easy to use at home, outdoors, on a vacation, and are easily compatible with any electrical plugs. "You can achieve a sleeker pin straight look with flat irons and you can also get creative with looks like curling or flipping out the ends," says Wnek. "Because they are a bit bulkier, consumers noted it was hard to get into roots and to flip or curl out ends," she explains. Unlike the sleek, straight look that can be achieved with flat irons, hair straightening brushes create more of a natural straight look and are great for quick touch ups.
I first bought a CHI in college and have been obsessed every since First off, it's the most durable hot tool I've ever tested. No exaggeration I used mine multiple times a week and it lasted me 10 years. Plus, it quickly straightened and smoothed my frizzy hair without making it look or feel plastered to my head. The ceramic plates are "floating" too, so you can easily adjust the amount of pressure you apply to your hair, something I find super helpful when straightening my roots vs my ends. When it comes to material, professionals tend to favor titanium flat irons. "Titanium is preferred among stylists because [it tends] to get hot really quickly," says Eugene Toye, stylist at celebrity-favorite hair salon Rita Hazan.
How we test flat irons
If you don’t want to spend a bunch of money on more heat tools, you truly can’t go wrong with this one. Ceramic flat irons are excellent at straightening, smoothing, and adding shine at lower temps—but they can also take longer to heat up. But not this one, which only needs 20 seconds (yup!) to reach its maximum temperature of 365 degrees. According to the smarties in research and development at GHD, this is the optimal temperature for changing the shape of your hair with as minimal damage as possible. You’ll get straight hair in one single pass and save a lil heat damage in the process.
ghd Glide Smoothing Hot Brush
13 Best Straighteners and Flat Irons for Natural Hair in 2022 - Cosmopolitan
13 Best Straighteners and Flat Irons for Natural Hair in 2022.
Posted: Wed, 29 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]
"Even with just one pass, this brush significantly smoothed, straightened and tamed my hair." Using this brush can be a bit of a workout, though. "This brush is bigger and heavier than many others I've tried," she adds. The BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Dual Ionic Flat Iron took the cake as our best overall, thanks to its accessible price, smooth ionic plates, and the fact that it works well on all hair types—fine, wavy, thick, curly, you name it. For a more budget-friendly pick, you can’t go wrong with the TYMO Ring Plus, a top-notch hair-straightening tool that helps smooth hair in one or two passes. Those looking to splurge should consider the Dyson Corrale Hair Straightener; its innovative flex plates and rapid heat-up time are sure to impress. This straightening brush aims to be more gentle on hair than some of the other options.
We updated this article in May 2023 to add more information about each featured product, plus added new picks selected by the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. On top of all that, we also survey our proprietary consumer panel to get in-depth feedback from a wide range of people. In our latest test, we tallied up 2,013 heat data points and 960 consumer survey questions to find the best of the best.
"You should use protectant serums, oils, or leave-in styling creams in daily for the best results especially when using thermal styling tools," Hillier says. If your product of choice is also a bond-builder like Olaplex, there's more you should keep in mind. "Olaplex products cannot be overused so it’s important to add them to your daily routine for optimal hair care and health," she says. "Be sure to apply enough to get the job done but keep in mind a little goes a long way since these formulas are highly concentrated."
If you tend to avoid styling products because they turn your hair greasy, this is the one you need to try. Lightweight and nourishing, this blowout milk was designed to work on all hair textures. You can use this spray on damp or dry hair to add thermal protection and calm frizz for up to three days. Danusia (she/her) is a senior chemist in the Beauty, Health and Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute where she evaluates haircare, skincare, cosmetics and beauty tools. In pharmaceutical sciences with concentration in cosmetic science from the University of Cincinnati. Danusia has over 10 years of experience in the personal care industry including formulation, product development, claim evaluation and efficacy testing.
This titanium iron heats up fast, bringing its plates back to the ideal temperature quickly after each pass, so you won’t need to go over each section multiple times and destroy your hair. To get your hair extra sleek and straight, brush through each section with a fine-tooth comb while following right behind it with the straightener. This lightweight and bargain-priced Remington delivers smooth strands that stay in place. The tool was the lightest-weight of the winners in our most recent test (0.77 pounds!) and tied for best at maintaining sleekness.
Dori has over 15 years of experience researching and writing haircare and hairstyling stories, combining her knowledge with the expertise of top industry professionals such as hairstylists, hair colorists and trichologists. She is an expert in all hair product categories, from shampoos, conditioners, treatments, styling products and tools to hair color, professional services and more. This speed-heating, power-smoothing CHI earned a rare perfect score with GH’s expert evaluators and was by far our top-tested flat iron. In tests, it warmed up to 96% of max temp in 60 seconds, although our pros wish there was an audible tone to indicate when it reaches temperature.
It had the widest temp range (180°F to 455°F) in our tests and at 4.9 inches, the longest plate length we tested ("but not too long," said testers) which aided in "making the process quicker," a pro noted, although it does have a shorter-than-average cord. "I love these products because I think it's very important to protect your hair while straightening it," Kimble says of her eponymous line. This heat protectant uses sweet almond oil and coconut oil to keep hair sleek. Dori Price updated this story, adding new information about testing, existing product picks and new picks.
When your goal is a super straight, super sleek, super smooth style, prepping your hair with a straightening product is the move. The Matrix Total Results Mega Sleek Iron Smoother and Color Wow Dream Coat tie for our overall top pick, both having the added benefit of also offering heat protection. Beyond material, "some of the aspects that make a great flat iron include the heating element ... a good visual digital thermometer, the quality of the plates and the length of the cord," says Toye. "The best flat irons are ones that sit comfortably in your hands, have an even heat distribution and selection of temperatures so that you don't damage your hair," adds Porsche. "A few tips I have for getting straight hair really fast is using the right shampoo and conditioner to help smooth your hair," Kimble says.
They also have waxing services for full/half legs, full/half arms, and more. For more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch with your local Regal Nails salon. Kim Kimble, celebrity hairstylist and founder of Kim Kimble, not only works on celebrities like Kerry Washington, Beyonce, and Zendaya, but she was also Emmy-nominated for her work on Euphoria. Dori Price is a New York City-based freelance writer and editor and beauty, style and wellness expert who was the Beauty & Fashion Director at Family Circle for 13 years before she joined Good Housekeeping, Prevention and Woman’s Day as a freelance beauty editor. She has also written for WomensHealthMag.com, Elle.com and HealthCentral.com.
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