Ultimate Guide to Hair Straighteners
I've worked in the Marketing Team at Adore Beauty for almost a year now and love love love skincare! I'm all about vegan products and 5 plus step skincare routines. Recently I've been growing out my coloured hair and focusing on strength/length with hair masks and treatments.
Who doesn't wish they could wake up with shiny, silky, smooth locks? Straighteners do much more than just even out kinks and waves. They seal the hair shaft, creating a glossy, healthy appearance. The high heat of flat irons often comes at a price, though. Hot styling appliances can damage your hair if used incorrectly.
We want you to have gorgeous, healthy hair no matter how often you straighten. Our Ultimate Guide to Straighteners helps you select the perfect straightener for your hair's needs. We'll provide you with tips on protecting your hair from the high heat of the flat iron without compromising on style.
Don't know the difference between ceramic and titanium plates? Overwhelmed by the myriad plate-size, temperature, and coating options? Adore Beauty to the rescue! Our Ultimate Guide series is a master class in getting—and keeping—your hair straight without dryness, damage, or split ends.
Choosing the right straightener begins with understanding plate dynamics. The material from which your plates are made affects everything from how quickly the plates heat to how evenly the heat is distributed. What does this mean for you?
Even heat means a more attractive look, a reduced risk of damage to your hair, and no need to swipe the same section of hair repeatedly with your flat iron. The temperature your straightener reaches matters, too. A quick overview of the basics:
- Fine hair is more prone to breakage at high temperatures.
- Coarse hair is generally less vulnerable to breakage, even under the pressure of high heat.
- If your hair is mostly straight, you need less heat to straighten it.
- Thick, curly hair typically demands the highest heat settings.
Our Ultimate Guide series helps you select the right heat setting for your unique hair type. And because heat is heavily influenced by the type of plates, we'll help you use information about your hair type to select the right plate composition, too.
What About Heat Damage?
The truth is that any hot styling tool can damage your hair. High heat can damage the hair shaft, sapping it of moisture. Extreme dryness due to repeated heat exposure can cause your hair to split and even break. This tends to make your hair texture even more uneven and rob your hair of its lustre. Thus begins the vicious cycle of excessive straightening to make damaged, coarse hair look better.
There's a better way. The right straightener, coupled with a few simple styling products, can stop damage before it begins. And if you're already struggling with unruly or damaged hair, we'll help you straighten things out—literally and figuratively.
Here's what you'll find in our Ultimate Guide to Straighteners:
- Details on whether and how straighteners damage hair
- Tips for choosing a straightener, including advice on selecting the right size, plates, and temperature options
- Why straightening wet hair is damaging, and how dry your hair needs to be before using a straightener
- How to get more versatile uses out of your straightener—did you know you can use a straightener as a curling iron?
- How long the effects of a straightener last, and how to prolong your style
- The difference between a flat iron and a hair straightener
- How to reduce hair damage associated with your straightener
- Understanding how hair type affects straightener choice, and how to find a straightener that addresses your needs
