Flat Iron Recommendations

[TIERAsta]

i'm saving up to get a corioliss ceramic straightener (comes in pink & black, 1" and 1 1/2"). i saw it & tried it at one of the kiosks at the mall & it worked great... glad i got to try it before i shell out $$$ for it (almost $200 i think, i heard it was more than chi). i'll have to check out folica though, see if there are any deals on this brand.

[Dreamergirl3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAC_BABE

I've been selling ceramic hair irons for 3 years now and I can deffinately say I love my her styler. You can find them at your malls and even bargain them for as low as 80 bucks. We sell them for 120 but we go lower sometimes. They also have really cute and fun colors.



I've straightened EVERY SINGLE type of hair you can imagine and this works PERFECT for everyone. I promise.

I have the purple on and it's really grown on me. Very durable, and it outlasted my HAI which ended up breaking after 2 years

[Rushch6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calliestar

So I am in DIRE need of a new straightening iron...mine is old and rather ineffective. it also pulls slightly. I recently tried out a chi straightener and I thought it was awesome, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to shell out that much for a straightener. Does anyone know of any cheaper brands that compare at all? I definately want a ceramic one. Would buying a Chi off of ebay be the best choice, or are there other (cheaper) brands that compare? If anyone has any advice, I'd LOVE to hear it!

I bought my CHI of Ebay brand new. It's a 2 inch and it was $90.00, you just have to find which ones the best deal.

[thelilprincess]

i my 1 inch CHI flat iron. i got it off ebay about 2 years ago for ~$80 and it was so worth it. my hairdresser uses this one on me - she's so good, that even though she moved to Florida, i book an appt with here when she comes back to CA every 3 months. she even taught me how to use the CHI to make slight waves in my hair.

back to the flat iron, even at the Ulta stores, the people recommend the original CHI instead of the CHI Turbo (it has like red felt on the outside of the tool)

i used a j'ilberre one that cost me $40 and after a year or so, it started to make this burning smell as i flat ironed my hair (and it never made my hair as silky smooth as the CHI does). i called the CS to also point our the ceramic looked like it was coming off - the CS rep told me that it's only ceramic plated - not ceramic throughout. no wonder the darn thind was scorching my hair. so you see.....if i had to replace this one, what a waste of $40.

i say invest in a really good flat iron (hold onto the receipt just in case b/c there's usually a 1 yr warrenty). but if you buy off ebay (i took the risk and did) make sure the seller has good feedback.

i've been told HAI are good, too, but i've never tried it. I asked about WIGO, but have been told to stick with the CHI.

[girloflowers]

i would sell um... ALL of my makeup for a GHD. honest to god.
They're the most awesome things in creation, my current straightener is crap, my hair goes curly again within like, 2 hours. le sigh.

[Bybs]

I couldn't live without my GHD

[lara]

GHD all the way.

Do they have GHDs in the US? Every person in this thread who is raving about the GHD irons are from the Commonwealth

[Essjica]

My vote goes for the Sedu. I used to have a J'ibere and it was okay... but nothing compared to my Sedu. I gave my J'ibere to my friend with wavy hair and it works good for her. It really depends on what type of hair you have on how much you should spend on a straightener. The curlier your hair, the more you should spend. And I have extremely curly hair and the Sedu is the only thing that works for me. The Chi didn't even work for me. But I've never heard of a GHD and since I've heard so many raves about it, I'm curious and I want to look it up.

[TIERAsta]

i use CARIOLISS. it comes in pink/black and 1" and 1 1/2" it is a bit pricey, i was lucky to get mine during the holiday season at a kiosk at my local mall. but i've seen them on www.folica.com it works great. i can even let my hair air dry, and it works just the same. and i can even use it similar to a curling iron to make cute ringlets and waves. definitely worth it!!

[thelilprincess]

oh, i just saw that they have the CHI flat iron at my local Target. close to $130.

[nibjet]

I've been using my CHI iron at work for almost two years now, and recently bought another one for use at home so I didn't have to drag mine back and forth. I love the CHI, I think it's definitely worth the money.

[chameleonmary]

ive tried a million, but nothing works like a GHD... and a muster - yes an old-skool muster stainless steel plated thing!

i kept my muster for emergencies - and today i pulled it out, dusted it off, and worked like a charm. it truly was one of the best of its time (despite the damage factor)

[natasha]

well i use straighteners since 4 years..ive tried several brands from the really cheap ones till the most expensive....well in greece we dont have chi or folica so i stopped using the babyliss irons which really sucked and since then im using one from imetec...this one...its great it makes my hair soo shiny.......
http://www.apothema.gr/default.asp?p...51&itmId=3000#

[dizzygal]

The only thing that keeps my unruly hair sleek and straight are my GHDs I have tried various but GHDs are the best

[jennzy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TIERAsta

i'm saving up to get a corioliss ceramic straightener (comes in pink & black, 1" and 1 1/2"). i saw it & tried it at one of the kiosks at the mall & it worked great... glad i got to try it before i shell out $$$ for it (almost $200 i think, i heard it was more than chi). i'll have to check out folica though, see if there are any deals on this brand.

i have corioliss... which i bought from a mall kiosk. it works fine had it for a year and now my mom decided she needs to iron her bangs so she told me i can buy any flat iron i want. i'm looking at metropolis its got 10 year warranty.
anyways at corioliss kiosk, they kind of pressure u to buy it, telling you that the sale will end tomorrow. but it doesn't. they've had the $149 or something for over a year now. so if ur thinking one but ur unsure, dont buy it because sale is going to end tomorrow because it won't. but its a great iron though :P

[Another Janice!]

I just bought my CHI on Amazon.com for $87.95 and super saver shipping!! I had $40 worth of Amazon gift cards for doing online surveys for companies, so I paid $47.95 out of pocket!!!

It arrived today...and right after tearing open the amazon box, I went to work on my hair.

OMG. The Hot Tools ceramic iron that just died on me does not hold a freaking candle to the CHI. Took me all of 10 minutes and stayed that way through the humidity. Best $47.95 I have spent in a long time.

[tannny]

ISO irons are good, Ghd, and Hai, chis arent that great, invest in a good iron instead of buying a new one every so often, thats what i did. look for them on ebay!

[MAC_Pixie04]

I'm proud to say that Sephora is now the exclusive US retailer for GHD products and tools (for now anyway) but they only get up to 374 degrees, and my T3 gets up to 410 and styles my hair while it's wet.

I 've gone through 2 CHIs, I loved them both but they kept breaking. Their blowdryer is amazing though.

[mello]

I've got a T3 iron and I love it. Paid 140$ for it, bought it off of my cousin. She's a hairstylist so she got it for me from a supply place.

[BloodMittens]

I have a BedHead Tourmaline straightener and a Remington Straightener. Personally, I love my BedHead but I've have my Remington for a year and I have never once had any problems with it. It still straightens nice but the BedHead is better.

I've never tried any other straighteners. Lol. So I'm not sure what else is out there and I don't have the money to throw around.

[natalie75]

Quote:

Originally Posted by girloflowers

i would sell um... ALL of my makeup for a GHD. honest to god.
They're the most awesome things in creation, my current straightener is crap, my hair goes curly again within like, 2 hours. le sigh.

I'd have to, OMG they are EXPENSIVE

[MissChievous]

I'm thinking of buying the Sedu 220V European version one. Does anyone have the Sedu one? Is it ceramic plated, or just coated? The website isn't so clear on it. The reviews on folica.com make it really sound amazing, the before & after pics are great.

Also, I have long hair so for that the 1 1/2" is recommended, but I also want to use it for curling, so should I get the 1"?

[CantAffordMAC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissChievous

I'm thinking of buying the Sedu 220V European version one. Does anyone have the Sedu one? Is it ceramic plated, or just coated? The website isn't so clear on it. The reviews on folica.com make it really sound amazing, the before & after pics are great.

Also, I have long hair so for that the 1 1/2" is recommended, but I also want to use it for curling, so should I get the 1"?

On folica.com it says its true ceramic/tourmaline. I also found this link for tips on curling hair with the 1-1/2 inch.
http://www.folica.com/Sedu_Ionic_Cera_d1560b.html

I'm very interested in buying the same iron, as you can tell lol.

[Dizzy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissChievous

I'm thinking of buying the Sedu 220V European version one. Does anyone have the Sedu one? Is it ceramic plated, or just coated? The website isn't so clear on it. The reviews on folica.com make it really sound amazing, the before & after pics are great.

Also, I have long hair so for that the 1 1/2" is recommended, but I also want to use it for curling, so should I get the 1"?

Sedu is fully ceramic, I've had the opportunity to play with one before at a different salon. They're quite nice imo, if I didn't already have a CHI and a Paul Mitchell I'd get it.

As far as the size, it really depends on preference. In my experience, you can never go wrong with a 1"; it might take you longer to do your hair, but I feel the end result is much nicer. You don't run the risk of "missing" spots because the iron has too much hair between the plates, or over-styling/damaging certain pieces because the plates are too big (2 most common complaints in my salon).

I've found that most 1" flat irons will come with a bit of a lip between the plate and the edge of the iron, which is wonderful because I've burned myself and a few other people with flat irons that had plates flush to the edge. This can also vary depending on the brand, I've tried mostly professional appliances so I can't say much about the consumer-marketed ones.

Also, with irons that are larger, some people can't get it close enough to their head, so they end up with a noticeable 'crimp' around the crown of their head. It doesn't happen to everyone, but that also depends on the training and experience someone has with hair.

If you want to curl or make waves with it, the most important thing is to make sure it has rounded edges. Without those, you'll end up with a "crimp" in the middle of the curl that will make it more "squarish" than round. It's still doable, but the curl comes out much better with rounded edges.

Just for reference, my hair is about an inch away from my waist, very thick and naturally curly, and I use a 1" flat iron for everything. I have 3 curling irons that are gathering dust because the irons are simply easier to use because of their versatility. Using a 1" with rounded edges, I can usually either straighten my hair in about 20 minutes if already dry, and I can do curls in about 45 minutes.

Hoped that helped some!

[CantAffordMAC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dizzy

Sedu is fully ceramic, I've had the opportunity to play with one before at a different salon. They're quite nice imo, if I didn't already have a CHI and a Paul Mitchell I'd get it.

As far as the size, it really depends on preference. In my experience, you can never go wrong with a 1"; it might take you longer to do your hair, but I feel the end result is much nicer. You don't run the risk of "missing" spots because the iron has too much hair between the plates, or over-styling/damaging certain pieces because the plates are too big (2 most common complaints in my salon).

I've found that most 1" flat irons will come with a bit of a lip between the plate and the edge of the iron, which is wonderful because I've burned myself and a few other people with flat irons that had plates flush to the edge. This can also vary depending on the brand, I've tried mostly professional appliances so I can't say much about the consumer-marketed ones.

Also, with irons that are larger, some people can't get it close enough to their head, so they end up with a noticeable 'crimp' around the crown of their head. It doesn't happen to everyone, but that also depends on the training and experience someone has with hair.

If you want to curl or make waves with it, the most important thing is to make sure it has rounded edges. Without those, you'll end up with a "crimp" in the middle of the curl that will make it more "squarish" than round. It's still doable, but the curl comes out much better with rounded edges.

Just for reference, my hair is about an inch away from my waist, very thick and naturally curly, and I use a 1" flat iron for everything. I have 3 curling irons that are gathering dust because the irons are simply easier to use because of their versatility. Using a 1" with rounded edges, I can usually either straighten my hair in about 20 minutes if already dry, and I can do curls in about 45 minutes.

Hoped that helped some!

wait...what???? LoL your hair is that long and you can straighten it with a 1" flat iron? In 20 minutes? Wooow. I was going to ask if you blew it dry first but I guess you don't? I've just started blowing my hair out before using the flat iron (I dunno why...just to try something different I guess. before I was just letting my hair air dry then flat ironing the curls) I was going to go with the 1-1/2" sedu but maybe I won't now...I know what you mean about that crimp near the roots.

I've used 1" irons maybe like 2 or 3 times in the past, and I've just noticed that they snag my hair more than a bigger one. Maybe thats my imagination. I used a wigo and a cricket 1".