Hi,

This will be a lengthy post because there's a lot of background information here, but please bare with me. I'm a sixteen-year old male student and I have very thick hair that is naturally sort of a straight-wavy hybrid. My hair used to be about shoulder-length, and the waves really kind of irked me (I'm a stickler for that kind of thing), so I would always straighten it with my mother's straightening iron every day after I showered until perfection...I thought it looked beautiful, and it got a lot of compliments from girls who knew something was different about my hair always asked me if I "blowdried" it, to which I always said no. Anyway, during this time, one clamp of the straightening iron actually broke off (although the wire connecting it to the heat remained, so it still worked fine). I duct-taped it back together, and like I said, although it still worked fine, you wouldn't know that unless you tried it.

Well, my friends arbitrarily decided one day to give me a haircut (ha!). They (especially this one girl whose mother is hairdresser) did a very good job, and it was short enough to the point that I thought didn't need the straightening iron anymore... I stupidly put the damaged iron back into the bathroom cupboard where it once belonged (I had been keeping it in my room generally while I was using it). My mom must have thrown it out or something, thinking it was broken and useless, because I've turned the house upside-down since then and I just can't find it anymore. I really want to grow it out again, but it just looks so gross if I don't straighten it (not that wavy hair is gross, but it just doesn't seem to work for me)... I started using a blowdryer, as all those girls had thought I did back in the day when I used the straightener, but I don't get the results I want very often. So, I either want to learn how to use it properly in order to get the results I want or I want someone to recommend me a new straightening iron. Sorry if these seem like dumb questions, but like I said, I am totally clueless when it comes to hair and I don't know anything...and that's something I want to change here.

1) Is it possible to do a good job straightening hair with a blowdryer? If so, are you supposed to do it when it is wet or dry? For how long is it a good idea to blow? Or better yet, what's your procedure?

2) What is a good model of straightening iron within the $20-30 price range? Or is that too low? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A1WGK/qid=1089701805/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-1409099-1845541?v=glance&s=hpc&n=507846 This sounds perfect, but maybe it's too good to be true...

3) What exactly is "angled" hair... I'm told that was what I had when it was long and I straightened it!

Thank you so much! I really appreciate any answers that anyone can give me.