If you have an interest in styling your hair every morning, a hair straightener may be one of the most important tools in your kit, but like every item, not all are created equally. Because hair styling tools can be expensive, it’s important to know that you’re going to be investing in something that will work for you and pay off when you’re using it. You may be wondering what makes a good straightener, and how you can choose the one that’s best suited to you, so here is your guide!
Plates
Firstly, the plates are the area of the flat iron that heats up, and they are found on the inside, where the hair slides through. Although it’s not always clear, the plates of the hair straightener can vary in their material, and this is something worth researching about the product you may be interested in. Usually, the options are titanium, tourmaline and ceramic. Titanium plates are known for heating up much faster than ceramic ones, making them much more efficient to use, elevating your straightening experience. Tourmaline plates are used for their great hair-restoring properties, as their rays can penetrate the hair without any damage. Using ceramic plates is usually slower and less effective, and it’s a lower quality material, found to wear out quickly and can snag and pull at the hair, causing damage.
At, José Eber, all of the straightener plates are made from either tourmaline or titanium plates, making them great for you and your hair.
Shape
Although you may assume that all straightening irons are made flat, as that’s the purpose of them – to flatten your locks – but you should consider the shape of the entire tool, as well. This includes the edges of the plates as well as the rest of the casing on the outside of the plates. When the straightener has a more rounded shape around the outside, it can usually be used to curls your hair as well, using a simple twisting action when you use it. However, those with a flat shape generally don’t work the same. While this doesn’t necessarily affect the straightener’s performance directly, it does allow for more versatility.
The Jose Eber Air Styler is an example of a rounded hair straightener, so it can be used for straightening your hair, as well as curling it!
Heat
The main element you have to thank for straightening your hair is the heat, and that is a very important part of the tool. Styling with heat is what enables your hair to take the certain texture and pattern, and the temperature makes a difference to your results. There are a few things to consider with this, and one of them is whether or not the temperature is fixed or variable. If the temperature is fixed, there won’t be any control over the temperature, so you won’t be ab le to turn it up or down for different needs. Variable temperatures tend to be better, as you can use a lower temperature to prevent damage, and a higher temperature when you need it.
The José Eber Infrared Wet/Dry Flat Iron has an adjustable temperature, so you can alter it to suit your hair.
Width
Lastly, the width of your straightener doesn’t necessarily tell a good tool from bad, but it does allow you to choose your straightener to be specific for its purpose. These tools come in many different widths, meaning the plates are either narrow or wide, and there are different situations to use each. For someone with thicker hair, a wider plate can be better, as it covers more of the hair and tends to work faster, but something narrower is better suited to finer hair. If you’re intending to style bangs or any other similar small details and framing, a narrow plate is the best, as it’s much more intricate, and you can usually find one specifically for this purpose.
José Eber’s Vibrating Flat Iron has a 1.5” plate, making it a wider one, whereas the Midi Titanium Plates Pro Flat Iron has a 0.75” plate, making it better for finer hair, small touch-ups and bangs, and can be used to curl hair, too, with its rounded edges.
