How to Use a Hair Straightening Iron

Straightening irons today are safe and gentle on your hair and can be used not only to straighten, but also to make quick curls and flips. Like any tool, the key is in knowing how to use it.

• Shampoo the hair and condition it as normal.

• Your hair will still show curls and waves.

• Whilst your hair is wet, use a thermal spray or heat treatment. Using it on wet hair is allows it to distribute evenly and soften hair as it dries. The treatment will protect your hair, and increase the life of your hair style.

• Apply the heat treatment of your choice in your hair, smoothing the hair along its length.

• Use a hair dryer and paddle brush and start drying the hair encouraging straightness by brushing through the hair as you dry. Dry your hair completely and set the hairdryer temperature to medium until hair is dry.

• Unless you are using a wet-to-dry straightening iron, make sure your hair is clean and completely dry before styling. Any moisture could cause your hair to frizz. If your hair feels cool to the touch, it's probably still damp.

• Hair will show signs of straightening but will be still frizzy and dry and lack shine.

• I highly recommend a ceramic iron which is gentler on your hair, seals hair follicles to preserve moisture and ultimately conditions hair for added shine and health.

• Straightening irons with plates 1" - 1.5" wide are fine for most hair types, as long as your hair is short-medium length. For finer hair, a narrower plate is adequate. In general these smaller irons are lighter and easier to control.

• Straightening irons with 2" plates or larger are great if you have long hair and a smaller iron would just make your styling harder work.

• You can also use larger iron plates for thicker, curlier hair and they might save some time, but you'll sacrifice easy movement - which might not be worth it if you use your iron frequently.

• Irons with rounded edges are superior for curls and flips - and won't leave any "dents" in your hair.

• You don't want to use more heat than necessary when styling your hair. If your iron has variable temperature settings, you have more styling flexibility and control.

• Do not begin with the highest heat setting on your straightening iron. It might be true that curly, thick or ethnic hair requires high heat to retain style, but work up from a lower setting and stop when your hair looks good. Most people will never need a really high temperature to see professional results. If your hair is fine, damaged or chemically treated, work up from as low a heat as possible and resist going for the maximum heat setting.

• With medium or long hair use clips to separate hair so that you can concentrate on one section at a time.

• Starting at the front with a small section of hair use your hair straightening iron down the length in a swift smooth motion.

• Repeat this step on the next section and continue using small sections right round the head.

• Always run the hair straightening iron from the top, down the hairs length and continue until the straightening iron runs off the hair at the end and hair falls away. Do not stop at any point and keep the sweep even and consistent.

• On large sections you may need to repeat the run with the straightening iron 2-3 times.

• Once the majority of your hair has been straightened finish styling by blending at the ends. Without clips run the straightening iron close to the ends and off the ends of your hair. This will stop separation that might occur when using sectioning clips.

• You should be left with sleek shiny frizz-free straight hair which should last a long time.

• Take good care of your straightening iron. It's a valuable piece of equipment and not exactly cheap to replace, so store it in a heat proof pouch this will help you protect your iron and keep using it for a long time. You can also put your iron down on a heat proof mat during styling to protect counters from possible heat damage.

• Clean your straightening iron frequently if you use leave-in conditioners or heat serums. Build-up on the plates can cause your hair to snag and shorten the life of the plates themselves. Heat your straightening iron and then wipe it down with a non-abrasive cloth - use a flat iron cleaner if you use leave-in treatments frequently, but avoid chemical solvents not meant for cleaning your iron.

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