Straightening Irons...Which One? [Archive] - HealthBoards Message Boards

RiotGirl00

08-05-2005, 10:22 PM

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caliente

08-06-2005, 12:04 AM

i own a Revlon ceramic iron from Target. it was only $25. my sister-in-law is a hairstylist and she recommended it to me. she says it works just as well as a CHI.

Bardot22

08-06-2005, 01:07 AM

Hi :) ,

I bought my first and only hair straightener a few months back and I loooove it! Its called Maxiglide and you can get it for about $80 (I ordered mine from a shopping network channel). I know thats still kind of expensive but it is totally worth the investment if you want to save your hair. It uses ceramic plates which are supposed to be gentle on the hair and has this button you can press to shoot steam out of it which will straighten any stubborn spots you may have.

Also, you don't have to blow dry your hair straight before hand. Just let your hair dry naturally and the maxiglide will straighten it perfect (at least it does for me :) ).

Whatever straightener you buy, make sure you use a heat protectant first, and do not get a straightener that you use on wet hair. . . it is so damaging!
Good luck!

hanelo4

08-06-2005, 05:18 AM

I've recently thought about buying a straightening iron, and since I have a little bit of extra money I decided to get one.

I just did some research online to find the best one.. and there are like tons of different ones out there.
I know CHI and HAI are the best ones (according to like everyone!)..but I don't really want to blow all my money on one of those since they run for up to like $150!
I know they're "worth the money"...But I don't really need a super-awesome expensive iron. Even though my hair is really thick, it's naturally straight. And I've found that blowdrying straight really well works awesome for my hair. It looks as if I straighten it. People even ask me if I straighen my hair with irons because it looks good (but I don't).
I just want an iron to use occasionally..like when it's really humid out, because then my hair gets all puffy and looks like a nighmare.

So anyway...
Does anyone have any good recommendations?
I've read a lot about Conair ones. It doesn't seem like a good one since a lot of people say it burns hair easily. My hair looks really good right now, I don't want to ruin it.

I've also read some good reviews about the Revlon and Vidal Sassoon ceramic ones.
Which one is the best? If anyone has any other good suggestions that would be awesome. I want something that works well for occasional use and isn't very expensive.
Thanks!

Definitely get the MaxiGlide!! It is totally awesome! I am telling all of my girlfriends about this one. I just got mine is yesterday. My daughter and I have VERY curly hair and we could never find anything that could make our hair straight. I finally saw Maxiglide on TV and decided to try it out. It's very easy to use and has a steamer in it too. Just like you iron clothes with the steam? It does the same thing with your hair. Just ONE pass in my daughter's curly hair and it was straight as a nail. We just looked at each other with our mouths open. I couldn't believe it was that easy. Search for MaxiGlide on Google. I think there's an area on there that you can make 3 easy payments to get it and if you don't like it after 30 days, you get your money back. Good luck!

BTW, I have the Chi and it is NOTHING compared to the MaxiGlide.

I also wanted to tell you to get the Chi product to keep your hair from frizzing. It works really good for that.

Chantel

RiotGirl00

08-06-2005, 04:49 PM

Awesome, thanks!
I'll look into that online and maybe either get that or something like it.
At least now I know what to look for. I don't want to burn my hair or do it incorrectly.

caliente

08-06-2005, 10:54 PM

the steam can ruin your hair. steam with the high heat can literally boil your hair.

hanelo4

08-06-2005, 11:39 PM

Awesome, thanks!
I'll look into that online and maybe either get that or something like it.
At least now I know what to look for. I don't want to burn my hair or do it incorrectly.

You're welcome and good luck!

Chantel :wave:

Carina

08-07-2005, 01:12 AM

I heard that Helen of Troy is very good. You can get it at Sally Beauty Supply. It is around $50.

princess72

08-07-2005, 12:47 PM

hmahappy

08-07-2005, 12:54 PM

RiotGirl00

08-07-2005, 02:44 PM

Well, I went to the store last night and accidentally ran into the flat-iron section.
They have soooooo many different ones, it was crazy. I was totally surprised to see so many different kinds.
So far all the Conair ones I saw were really cheap and really crappy looking. Even though I haven't tried them I'm pretty sure I would never get one of those. They have them for like $15... and if it's that cheap it's gotta break really fast and/or ruin hair.

The only ones that seemed appealing where the two Revlon ones. I think one was 100% pure ceramic and the other one was gold. I'm definitely going with the ceramic no matter what. I've seen this one girl use an iron with metal plates and it didn't work AT ALL. It was really crappy and seemed to make her hair even worse because she was trying to do it on damp hair.

I also saw the Vidal Sassoon ones... They also have two different kinds (I think). I didn't read the box much because I didn't really have a whole lot of time to shop around. But they looked good.
So one of these days I'm definitely going to go when I have a lot of time and just look around to see all of them and which one is best.
I'm glad I know what to look for. You guys have been a lot of help.

caliente

08-07-2005, 11:16 PM

So, are the one's you can use of wet hair............wet/dry iron's damaging to your hair? I heard they work well............I just bought one $30! Havent used it yet! I have very fine thin wavy hair! Can someone tell me if this is a horrible one, and if it damages hair??????????????

please do not use this on your hair! what happens when water gets hot? it boils. this iron will do the same to your hair. only iron your hair when it is COMPLETELY DRY. otherwise your hair will end up fried and brittle. ceramic plates do the least amount of damage, and be sure to use a heat protectant (or any type of product - serum, gel, anything) on your hair before flatironing. that way, if the iron is extremely hot, it will burn the product that is on your hair shaft, and not the hair shaft itself.

hanelo4

08-08-2005, 06:21 AM

the steam can ruin your hair. steam with the high heat can literally boil your hair.

Hi there:)

I'm not sure which iron you're talking about, but the MaxiGlide has steam and it is also ceramic and it DOES NOT ruin your hair. I have already done mine, my daughter's, and a friend's hair. My friend's hair is very curly and course and she even had split ends and it did not damage her hair. There is a dial on the MaxiGlide that you can set. It's from 1-10. 10 being the hottest. My friend was actually crying because she said she went to a stylist to do her hair and they couldn't even get it as straight as I got it. She was literally in tears. It is a great product.

Chantel

hanelo4

08-08-2005, 06:23 AM

Hello, i also want to know what straightening irons u can use on wet/damp hair. I hate having to wait for my hair to dry in order to straighten it, Chantel2003, does the maxiglide only work on dry hair?
thanks!

No, sorry hun. You can't use this iron on wet hair. Google it and read on it. It is a good product and it doesn't take nearly half the time that regular irons take.

Chantel

tdot

08-08-2005, 11:53 AM

I have been using a Ceramix for about a year now and I love it. It's 100% ceramic (obviously as the name implies). I have wavy hair that is hard to straighten and find the Ceramix does a good job. I think I paid about $100 for it.

Ms_ENV27

08-08-2005, 02:10 PM

MaxiGlide for SURE!! My mom bought it first, then me, then I got a friend to buy it. I ordered mine from the Shot at Home channels website, and got in a week or less, my mom and friend ordered it on the phone and got it in a week and a half. I would suggest ordering it online. Plus we all got the easy payments. I love it so much, it saves so much time. Before I bought the MG I was using a flat iron by Infrashine. It was good, good as the Chi, but it was to small and took too much time! I would definately recommend the MG!!

caliente

08-08-2005, 04:40 PM

Hi there:)

I'm not sure which iron you're talking about, but the MaxiGlide has steam and it is also ceramic and it DOES NOT ruin your hair. I have already done mine, my daughter's, and a friend's hair. My friend's hair is very curly and course and she even had split ends and it did not damage her hair. There is a dial on the MaxiGlide that you can set. It's from 1-10. 10 being the hottest. My friend was actually crying because she said she went to a stylist to do her hair and they couldn't even get it as straight as I got it. She was literally in tears. It is a great product.

Chantel

it DOES ruin your hair. you wont see damage done the first time you use it. the damage is done slowly over a period of time.

i learned all this the hard way, before my sister-in-law became a hairstylist and educated me on hair health. i had been using a basic ceramic flatiron with no heat protectant. every time i ironed my hair, it was soft and silky. but after close to a year of use (1-2x/week), i could not believe the damage done. my hair was litterally breaking off at the ends. i was using no other chemicals (hairsprays, gels, perms, or coloring), just virgin hair. i ended up having to chop five inches off my hair in april of last year, another four inches in august, and then four inches in january. i am still trying to grow my hair out from all that damage.

my sister-in-law showed me what these irons can do to your hair. its called "bubble hair." the wet/dry iron is the worst, followed by a steam iron. the best way to protect your hair from long term damage is to use a heat protectant (or any type of coating product) on your hair, and then iron with a ceramic iron when the hair is completely dry.

of course, the best way to protect hair is no heat styling at all. but i dont think i could live without my blowdryer and flatiron. :D

RiotGirl00

08-09-2005, 03:46 AM

it DOES ruin your hair. you wont see damage done the first time you use it. the damage is done slowly over a period of time.

i learned all this the hard way, before my sister-in-law became a hairstylist and educated me on hair health. i had been using a basic ceramic flatiron with no heat protectant. every time i ironed my hair, it was soft and silky. but after close to a year of use (1-2x/week), i could not believe the damage done. my hair was litterally breaking off at the ends. i was using no other chemicals (hairsprays, gels, perms, or coloring), just virgin hair. i ended up having to chop five inches off my hair in april of last year, another four inches in august, and then four inches in january. i am still trying to grow my hair out from all that damage.

my sister-in-law showed me what these irons can do to your hair. its called "bubble hair." the wet/dry iron is the worst, followed by a steam iron. the best way to protect your hair from long term damage is to use a heat protectant (or any type of coating product) on your hair, and then iron with a ceramic iron when the hair is completely dry.

of course, the best way to protect hair is no heat styling at all. but i dont think i could live without my blowdryer and flatiron. :D

That's really helpful and good to know .Thanks for posting.
I never knew that there was a difference between irons..like wet and dry. I thought they were all just for dry hair. But I know now thanks to all the replies.
I also didn't know about the steam ones till I was reminded about the MaxiGlide. I remember seeing this iron on tv a really long time ago. If I got that one I wouldn't use the steam feature anyway. Steam, humidity, or any kind of moisture always leaves my hair frizzy in the end. Even when I think it's dry it's really not dry enough, so about an hour later it blows up and looks awful.

Oh, and thanks for mentioning the protectant. I'm sure putting anything on hair before straightening is better than nothing at all.

I remember when I was in high school a few years ago people were going crazy with straightening irons. There was this girl who had perfectly straight hair (she probably did it everyday).. and it always looked pretty good. Till like the last year I looked her hair up close and it was sooooooooo BAD! Omg, it looked so fried and just plain gross looking.
A couple of months later she ended up chopping at least 5 inches off and she ended up having like really short hair for a while.
That made me think twice about just buying and iron and using it on my hair.
This has been really helpful.

hanelo4

08-09-2005, 06:24 AM

caliente

08-09-2005, 01:56 PM

mary777

08-10-2005, 01:05 AM

Chi iron $100.00. The best. Doesn't burn the hair. Buy it at a beauty supply.

silver515

08-10-2005, 11:09 PM

Hot Tools is another good one...ceramic plated...around $40.00...you can probably find it on ebay...not sure what stores...

hanelo4

08-11-2005, 07:25 AM

lol!

i'm so glad you use products on your hair. they cause build-up, but that is so much better than fried hair! build-up can be removed :)

i really ought to stress that ANY iron can damage hair very badly. i was using a basic ceramic iron and it totally ruined my hair. but that was before i knew about heat protectants. lesson learned!

I think my hair is used to it by now or I'm just lucky, LOL. I've been bleaching and dying my hair for so long and I've never had any kind of damage yet. But, I use deep conditioners that I leave in my hair for about 30 minutes. I do this every two weeks.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the flat iron. I know I would have been devastated.

Chantel

caliente

08-11-2005, 11:52 PM

Tellesfamilia

08-12-2005, 03:51 AM

Have you guys tried the revo styler, I have friends of diffrent races, and they say that it is great, it starightens and relaxes the hair with out breaking, I have straight hair so I dont use it, but it is really cheap like 40-50 dollaars and can be bought online or at the mall at one of those as seen on tv stores.

paperdoll

08-14-2005, 01:29 AM

just wanted to weigh in...i bought mine from walmart
it's the same one caliente mentioned in her early post.
i like it a lot, and i am very curly.

hanelo4

08-15-2005, 07:02 AM

when i was in high school, i had long waist length hair that i spiral permed. a year later, the perm started to grow out so i went back to the salon and they chemically straightened it (put perm solution on my hair and kept combing it straight until the solution was done doing its job). you can imagine the kind of damage this did to my poor hair. a few months later, my waist length hair was chopped to above my shoulders. i cried!

this was the same kind of damage i had after using a flatiron with no product for a year. i was so sad when i chopped my hair last summer. i was even more depressed when i had to chop off even more last winter. but now my hair is FINALLY growing out with NO damage!!! i straightened it yesterday and its actually passed my shoulders! woo!!

now, if only i could get my naturally light blonde hair to hold onto brown hair dye... lol

Oh Gosh! That is just terrible:( I've never had damaged hair, but I know how it feels to have short hair. I had waist length hair too and last year I cut it to my shoulders. I have no clue what I was thinking at the time, but I will never do that again!! I was miserable. I couldn't believe I had done that. Mine is finally growing out again and is now to the middle of my back. I just don't look good with short hair.

Why doesn't your hair want to dye?

Chantel

caliente

08-15-2005, 11:53 PM

hanelo4

08-19-2005, 09:55 AM

my hair is naturally a very light golden blonde. the way it has been explained to me by many different hairstylists is, my hair has very little pigment which is why its so light blonde. hair dye clings to the natural pigment in the hair. with little pigment in my hair, the dye has nothing to hold on to, so it just washes right out. i have spent a lot of money getting my hair dyed brown at salons, but it was always just a waste. they've even used fillers in my hair to no avail. i really want to be a brunette for a while!!

my sister-in-law is going to dye it again soon, but she knows what my hair is like so she's doing it for really cheap. she'll just have to come over and dye my hair every two weeks to keep it up. but hey, at least i wont ever have to worry about my roots showing. the dye is gone by the time that happens! lol

Sheesh! You do go through a lot with your hair huh? And I agree, dying your hair can cost so much. Luckily you have someone who can help you out. I've been a blonde for years now and just switched back to my natural color which is dark brown and I love it. No more hassling with hair color.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your color while it lasts and I hope you find something to help it stay in longer soon.

Chantel

caliente

08-19-2005, 04:08 PM

your natural color is dark brown? i'm so jealous. :p lol

RiotGirl00

08-25-2005, 09:47 PM

After all the debating whether or not to get an iron, I finally went to the store to look for one today.

They had a TON of different kinds...mostly Conair. I don't like Conair much since it's all so cheap and the plates are either gold or it's wet2dry. I didn't want either.
I looked around at the Vidal Sassoon ones which were pretty good, but more expensive then I wanted to spend.
So I ended up getting the Revlon 1" Ceramic for like $26.
I'm soooooooooooo glad I didn't decide to blow all the money I have on a MaxiGlide.

As much as people praise it and say it's great, I don't think I need one.
I was watching the infomercial on tv the other day. It looks good and all, but they used it on people with like SUPER awful frizzy hair,and my hair is far from that. I also don't think the steam feature is that great anyway. I wouldn't use it.
So I definitely now know that blowing almost $100 on a MaxiGlide would have been a major waste.

I washed my hair today, blowdried it straight... then I put this ThermaSilk Leave-In Cream to protect it (that's all I had, still gooed enough).
So I straightened my hair and realized that it barely made any difference. My hair is definitely straight enough as it is without an iron..I don't need anything special.

But I'm keeping this one for days when I really, really desperately need it..which barely ever happens.
So yea, thanks for all the feedback though. It's been very helpful.

princess72

08-25-2005, 10:45 PM

I bought a wet/dry straitner. I used it today......... It's scary, the cracling from your hair, likes it's frying it!!!! Im never using it again. Im sure this will damage hair. The reason it appealed to me is, i dont want to spend alot of time on the mornings, do i figured i could dry and straiten at the same time! Dont buy one-------it's horrible!

paperdoll

08-26-2005, 01:26 AM

you can actually use ANY straightening iron on wet hair with the same results as the specially made wet/dry ones....what marketing :)

RiotGirl00

08-26-2005, 04:29 AM

Haha yea, that's what I was thinking. You can definitely do the same with a regular iron.
But who would want to fry their hair up like that with such extreme heat? That's so much damage.
I never even know there were such things as wet2dry irons till I read it on here.
Strange.

PinkCherryCream

08-29-2005, 02:49 AM

I think my hair is used to it by now or I'm just lucky, LOL. I've been bleaching and dying my hair for so long and I've never had any kind of damage yet. But, I use deep conditioners that I leave in my hair for about 30 minutes. I do this every two weeks.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the flat iron. I know I would have been devastated.

Chantel
Hi! Wow, I am super impressed! I cannot believe that you haven't had any damage to your hair from bleaching and coloring - especially when you've been doing it for a long time!! That is so awesome!! You said that you use deep conditioners every 2 weeks......can you tell me what kind you use? Do you use protein treatments as well? If so, what kind? Gawd, I used to bleach and color my hair ALL THE TIME back in the day when I was a teeny bop, and I trashed my hair.....salons also ruined my hair.....so I can't imagine not having damage from having chemicals like that applied to your hair. So obviously you're doing something VERY right!! Good for you!

Antoinette :)

peregrine

08-29-2005, 07:27 AM

I have been researching them for some time for my daughter, who has very long curly hair. The ceramic are rated the best as well as the ones with negative ions (the more the better) which give the hair that silky look and also has adjustments for the degree of heat for short and long hair. I found one with all these features at a beauty supply in NYC on sale for $89 with a lifetime warranty. This is important because the ceramic plates are well known to wear out after a few years. This one will replace them for the lifetime of the product.

RiotGirl00

08-29-2005, 02:21 PM

That's a good price if you can replace it for free.
I'm glad I don't have to blow all my money on straightening irons though.

hanelo4

09-03-2005, 07:45 AM

Hi! Wow, I am super impressed! I cannot believe that you haven't had any damage to your hair from bleaching and coloring - especially when you've been doing it for a long time!! That is so awesome!! You said that you use deep conditioners every 2 weeks......can you tell me what kind you use? Do you use protein treatments as well? If so, what kind? Gawd, I used to bleach and color my hair ALL THE TIME back in the day when I was a teeny bop, and I trashed my hair.....salons also ruined my hair.....so I can't imagine not having damage from having chemicals like that applied to your hair. So obviously you're doing something VERY right!! Good for you!

Antoinette :)

Hi there:)

I think it makes a big difference on the hair stylist you go to. I've been going to mine for about 8 years now and she's always believed in deep conditioners, etc. I'm sorry to say though that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the deep conditioner I use. It comes in a green jar. I am out and have to get some more, but I will write back and let you know. I think it is by Regis. I feel so dumb, I'm sorry I can't remember:(

I also use Pantene Pro V conditioner for daily use and I also let that sit in my hair for about 10 minutes when I wash. I have to say though that I did notice a little dryness at the tips of my hair since I've colored it. It's not bad though.

When I used to bleach my hair, I always used one with conditioner in it. I think it made a big difference too.

Chantel