We Found the 14 Best Hair Straighteners For Pin-Straight, Frizz-Free Strands

We straightened, styled, and even curled our hair to find the best of the best.

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InStyle / Jhett Thompson

In a time when heatless curls and moisturizing hair masks are all over TikTok, your old straightener from high school may be gathering dust. But while you may cringe at the core memory of your hair literally smoking as you used the hair straightener, the classic hair tool is far from a relic of the past. In fact, the best flat irons today have innovative features and use high-quality materials to better protect your hair from heat damage while giving you that sleek, frizz-free polish.

However, these inventive new features mean you’ve got a lot more to consider when buying a new hair straightener. Some flat irons are ideal for reducing frizz, while other hair straighteners are meant for curly hair. With the help of professional hair stylists, we tested 22 of the best hair straighteners from Dyson, Kristin Ess, Chi, and more. Here’s how each one performed.

Our Top Picks
Best Hair Straightener Overall:
Kristin Ess 3-in-One Flat Iron at Amazon ($81)
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Best Budget:
ion Magnesium Flat Iron at Amazon ($80)
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Best Flat Iron for Thick Hair:
Hot Tools Pro Signature SteamStyler at Amazon ($49)
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Best for Curly Hair:
Hot Tools Pro Artist Black Gold Flat Iron at Ulta ($130)
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Best Flat Iron for Natural Hair:
Tymo Ring Plus at Amazon ($56)
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Best for Curling Hair:
BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Dual Ionic Flat Iron at Amazon ($160)
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Best Luxury:
Dyson Corrale at Nordstrom ($500)
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Best for Frizz:
Drybar Reserve Styling Iron at Amazon ($134)
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Best for Short Hair:
L'ange Le Duo at Amazon ($89)
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Best for Damaged Hair:
L'Oreal Professionnel Steampod Flat Iron & Styler at Amazon ($250)
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Best Hair Straightener Overall

Kristin Ess 3-in-One Flat Iron

Kristin Ess Hair 3-In-One

Amazon

View On Amazon $81 View On CVS $110 View On Asos $90
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.5/5
  • Value
    5/5
  • Straightening Ability
    5/5

What We Love: With smooth titanium plates, a curved-edge design, and negative ion technology to reduce frizz, this versatile tool imparts shine and creates styles faster.

What We Don’t Love: The temperature settings are a little confusing.

An excellent flat iron can straighten hair quickly, but this one goes a couple of steps further. Its use of negative ion technology to combat frizz, along with its non-slip dual-titanium plates to keep hair in place while styling and overall lightweight feel earned it our title of best hair straightener.

We partially credit our healthier-looking hair to the lack of pressure we needed to use while moving the iron through our strands. Each pass from root to end was smooth sailing, which led to zero crimping, and the wider plates meant that we could work in larger sections to straighten and curl our hair in just one pass, reducing the amount of time we used heat. Meanwhile, the smooth curved edges glided through our hair as we curled it.

Though the gorgeous white finish and gold accents give this tool an elevated, luxurious appearance,the design was uncomplicated — no learning curve needed; we could get right to it. The entire process was so straightforward, we could see this being a great tool for someone unfamiliar with curling their hair using a hair straightener.

Plus, one button controls all four heat settings, which may sound tricky, but the clear LED screen on the handle flashed the settings as we changed them until we landed on our desired heat. 

As a bonus, the device stayed true to its description and truly shut off automatically after 30 minutes of inactivity  — leaving us worry-free if we did forget to unplug it. 

Plate Width: 1.25-inch | Plate Material: Titanium | Heat Settings: 4 | Temperature: 280—440 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best Budget

ion Magnesium Flat Iron

Sally Beauty ion Magnesium Flat Iron 1"

Sally Beauty

View On Amazon $80 View On Sallybeauty.com $82
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.9/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.5/5
  • Value
    5/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.4/5

What We Love: The hair straightener glides through hair seamlessly and its silicone grip and swivel cord make it easy to maneuver and achieve any style.

What We Don’t Love: The clamp is a little loose.

When we wanted to exert the least amount of effort and see the highest payoff, the ion Magnesium Flat Iron gave us the best results. At an affordable price point, its design included everything we wanted from a hassle-free hot tool: It automatically turned off after 45 minutes, beeped when it reached our desired temperature, and thoughtful placement of the heat setting buttons, which are placed on the inside of the tool to avoid accidentally bumping the wrong one while we used it. 

For the most part, we were able to run it through our hair without tangling in our strands, though we did notice minimal shedding when we used it on fine hair. However, across hair types 1C to 4B, the ceramic tourmaline plate evenly distributed heat to prevent a fried, crunchy look.

These features, along with a swivel cord, that enabled us to easily reach all the way around our head, were especially beneficial when we used the narrow plates to work in small sections and create curls. A tighter clamp may have led us to see more defined curls on fine hair, but we were glad that it was loose enough to avoid clamp marks.

The tool also felt comfortable in our hands, courtesy of a slim design and silicone-textured handle, to give us a firm grip and it prevented our hands from burning on the hot iron. 

Plate Width: 1-inch | Plate Material: Ceramic tourmaline | Heat Settings: 4 | Temperature: 210—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best Flat Iron for Thick Hair

Hot Tools Pro Signature SteamStyler

Target Hot Tools Pro Signature SteamStyler

Target

View On Amazon $49 View On Target $77 View On Walmart $58
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.3/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.8/5
  • Value
    5/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.7/5

What We Love: The steam function helps prevent heat damage, managing to straighten even the curliest hair without causing harm.

What We Don’t Love: The design is a little bulky. 

Far be it from us to complain about having thick hair, but it can be a pain to style. Luckily, this Hot Tools flat iron gave us sleek, shiny tresses faster — and all while subjecting our hair to less heat than other hot tools. The steamer function styled our hair easily without leaving it with a fried, crunchy look. We were able to control the steam by placing it on a high or low setting, or turning it off when we just wanted to use one of the six heat settings without the addition of steam.

Though the slim rectangular water reservoir means this design is a bit bulky, because it's located in the handle of the flat iron, it didn’t interfere with our styling or give our arms too much of a workout. Notably, we only had to fill the reservoir one time throughout the testing period, and we can imagine it will be a while before we need to do it again. To refill it, we unsnapped the reservoir from the hair straightener by pushing on a lever toward the end of the handle. Next, we turned it over, peeled back the rubber cap covering a large hole, and used the small included bottle to squeeze water (note that the brand recommends using distilled or spring water to prevent build-up) into it. 

Its 1.5-inch plates provided ample space for us to place large sections of our hair between the clamps and move from root to tip quickly — we only needed to run the iron through one or two times to see smooth strands for an overall fast styling session. One thing we noted is that we spent a little more time styling finer hair as it was more likely to slip through the plates.

Plate Width: 1.5-inch  | Plate Material: Ceramic | Heat Settings: 6 | Temperature: 300—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best for Curly Hair

Hot Tools Pro Artist Black Gold Flat Iron

Ulta Hot Tools Pro Artist Black Gold Dual Plate Flat Iron

Ulta

View On Ulta $130 View On Sallybeauty.com $130 View On Hottools.com
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.1/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.1/5
  • Value
    3.8/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.3/5

What We Love: With four plates, a wide range of heat settings, and a curved design, this tool is a master at straightening curly hair.

What We Don’t Love: Using the dual-plated design requires a bit of a learning curve.

Since curly hair can be more prone to frizz and, let’s face it, generally requires some extra maintenance to keep it in top shape, we sought a flat iron that would be gentle on our delicate coils while still giving us the straight look we want. This Hot Tools iron gets the job done: The smooth plates and curved edges seemed like they were designed just for our hair as the rounded surfaces made for bouncy curls, rather than sharp crimps we sometimes see in more rectangular options, and they swiftly tamed those pesky baby flyways close to our faces.

And because our coils are so delicate, we appreciated the ability to adjust the temperature settings on each individual plate to mitigate how much heat we were applying. We found the most success by setting one plate at a lower degree than the other, so that we could prime the hair with just a little heat before the hotter second plate sealed in the style. Whether you have fine, medium, or thick hair, there’s a heat setting, 30, to be exact, to guide you toward your desired look.

This technique isn’t totally intuitive — occasionally the dual plates creased our hair when we left it on a strand for too long.

Plate Width: 0.5-inch | Plate Material: Gold plated | Heat Settings: 30 | Temperature: 300—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best Flat Iron for Natural Hair

Tymo Ring Plus

TYMO Ring Plus

TYMO

View On Amazon $56 View On Tymobeauty.com $70 View On Target $60
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.9/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.1/5
  • Value
    5/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.6/5

What We Love: The flat iron gets hair straight in one pass without applying much heat. 

What We Don’t Love: It doesn’t have any curling capabilities. 

The TYMO Ring Plus has a lot going for it: With an ergonomic design and cord that swiveled with our movements, we could get every one of our strands pin straight, even when we started on very wavy, curly hair. At first, we questioned whether this would be possible, since the highest heat setting is 410 degrees (many irons go up to 450 degrees), but the tool quickly proved us wrong as we saw sleek styles without ever needing to crank it way up.

It’s powered with nine heat options that we could easily modify by hitting the plus or minus buttons.

We loved that the interior of the clamp had comb-like teeth to mimic the effect of a hot brush. This feature allowed us to easily straighten and untangle our hair without catching strands. Although this design feature wasn’t conducive for curling hair — at most we saw a soft wave — we were so pleased with its straightening ability and affordability that we didn’t give it much more thought. 

In addition to hairpins, a glove, a travel bag, and a detangling brush, the tool comes with a straightening comb if we ever wanted to use the chase method — a technique where you simultaneously brush and flat iron each section — while straightening our natural hair. 

Plate Width: 1.25-inch | Plate Material: Titanium | Heat Settings: 9 | Temperature: 250—410 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best for Curling Hair

BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Dual Ionic Flat Iron

BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Dual Ionic Flat Iron

BaBylissPRO

View On Amazon $160 View On Ulta $160 View On Babylisspro.com
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.8/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.9/5
  • Value
    4.9/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.9/5

What We Love: The design of this iron is easy to maneuver, so you can take as much time as you’d like to create an array of curly and wavy styles without your arm getting tired.

What We Don’t Love: It doesn’t shut off automatically.

A hair straightener usually isn’t our first choice for curling hair, but the lightweight BabylissPRO made creating everything from beachy waves to tighter ringlets so easy that we considered ditching our other hot tools. We barely had to move a muscle as we worked with the swivel cord from our bangs to the back of our heads. Plus, we didn’t notice any hair catching in the plates — an impressive feat since curling required us to wrap and pull each section through the tool. 

Regardless whether we fancied straightening or curling our hair that day, we were blown away by how we didn’t have to crank the iron up to the highest heat setting to see results that lasted all day. Additionally, we believe the ion technology truly did give us softer, shinier strands. 

With our hair woes solved, our one wish is an automatic shut off, but given all of its other great features we can let this con slide.

Plate Width: 1.25-inch | Plate Material: Titanium | Heat Settings: 5 | Temperature: 300—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: No

Best Luxury

Dyson Corrale

Dyson Corrale Straightener Styling Iron

Dyson

View On Nordstrom $500 View On Sephora View On Ulta $500
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.1/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.4/5
  • Value
    3.9/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.4/5

What We Love: The flat iron gave us super straight hair in one swipe while its cordless design made for easier styling.

What We Don’t Love: The tool’s thick plates have small indentations along the sides to better control heat, but our hair sometimes got stuck.

In true Dyson form, this straightener comes with all the bells and whistles that earned it luxury status. Whether we were curling, straightening, or creating waves, the patented flexing plates seemed to mold around our strands so we could create a variety of styles in record time. The plates work exactly like they sound: They’re made of flexible materials so that when our hair is placed within the plates, they gather around it to better hold the strands in place and give us more control so we only have to make one pass over the hair. 

We also feel that using this tool had a direct impact on the lack of static around our scalp — a good thing considering it helped us avoid frizzy hairs getting occasionally caught in the plates.

The cordless design was a total game changer as it meant we could speedily work around our heads without being tethered to a cord. And the iron automatically adjusted to the thickness and length of our hair, too, so we never worried about overheating our strands. 

While we love an innovative design, we applauded the less flashy features as well, like the clear dinging sound to let us know when it reached our set temperature and a five-minute automatic shut off. 

The straighter doesn’t travel solo either: It comes with a charging dock, a heat-resistant travel case, a beautiful storage box, and a magnetic charging cable. There’s even a safety lock so you can stow it away when it's still warm.

Plate Width: 1.6-inch | Plate Material: Copper alloy | Heat Settings: 3 | Temperature: 330—410 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best for Frizz

Drybar Reserve Styling Iron

Ulta Drybar Reserve Dual-Plate Styling Iron

Ulta

View On Amazon $134 View On Nordstrom $190 View On Ulta $190
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.8/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.4/5
  • Value
    4.5/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.7/5

What We Love: The hair straightener taps ionic technology and negative ions to vanquish frizz and give us an ultra smooth, sleek look. 

What We Don’t Love: You have to work in small sections to ensure hair doesn’t slip out of the plates.

We blame frizz and flyaways on bad weather and high humidity, but sometimes it starts with what tool we’re using — and Drybar just came to the rescue with their new innovation. The titanium plates on its styling iron slid through our hair like butter and took no stragglers in the process. The results? Hair so soft and smooth we couldn’t stop touching it. 

We took advantage of its slightly curved edges to target the flyaways around our faces — a feat we weren’t able to accomplish with the bulky, rectangular designs of traditional flat irons. It also features Drybar's signature Ionic Technology, which releases negative ions to seal the cuticle to lock in the style and prevent frizz.

When we followed the brand’s suggested temperature settings for our hair type, we were able to style our hair quickly. We ran out of time, however, when we tried to rush the process and squish large sections of hair into the thin 0.5-inch plates. However, working in small sections prevented slippage and actually allowed us to create more defined curls and rewarded us with styles that lasted all day.

Plate Width: 0.5-inch |  Plate Material: Titanium | Heat Settings: 5 | Temperature: 250—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best for Short Hair

L'ange Le Duo

Amazon L'ange Le Duo 360 Airflow Styler

Amazon

View On Amazon $89 View On Ulta $89 View On Walmart $89
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.6/5
  • Glide Performance
    3.5/5
  • Value
    4.4/5
  • Straightening Ability
    3.7/5

What We Love: The short barrel fits in our hands nicely and is the perfect size for styling short hair. 

What We Don’t Love: It tugs at the hair if you try to iron large sections at a time.

Weighing under a pound and designed with smoothing plates and an overall adorable look, there’s a lot we love about this mini pink tool. We were particularly over the moon about its compact, rounded tip design, ideal for styling short hair. Unlike traditional flat irons with an elongated shape, this one held our shoulder length strands in place, courtesy of the miniature size of the plates, and we never saw any dents from too much pressure.

The ceramic plates very rarely tugged at our strands. In fact, we really only noticed it when we clamped down too hard after we got greedy and tried to straighten too much hair at once with the 1-inch plate. 

Its uncomplicated design is a great introduction for beginners: It heated up fast, fit perfectly in our hands, and only had one button to cycle through the five heat settings. Plus, it has a cooling function that kicks on once the tool reaches the set temperature to set styles in place.

Plate Width: 1-inch | Plate Material: Titanium | Heat Settings: 5 | Temperature: 280—430 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best for Damaged Hair

L'Oreal Professionnel Steampod Flat Iron & Styler

L'Oreal Professionnel Steampod Flat Iron & Styler

Sephora

View On Amazon $250 View On Sephora $250
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.8/5
  • Glide Performance
    4/5
  • Value
    4.8/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.6/5

What We Love: The steaming feature allows you to achieve your desired style with less heat to avoid further damage to already vulnerable hair. 

What We Don’t Love: The comb attachment tugs a little. 

It’s a daunting thought to consider applying more heat to already brittle, damaged hair, but the L’Oreal steam function on the Flair Iron & Styler straightened our strands just as efficiently as traditional high heat options. Although the practice isn’t a totally new concept, styling tools use  steam to boost moisture, condition hair, and cleanse scalps.

Frankly put, our hair looked incredible after using the tool’s steaming feature. Think: Shinier, glossier, and healthier hair, and it wasn’t even a painstaking process to see these results. As steam tools were new to some of us, we appreciated that there were downward facing arrows on the tool that we used to guide us through the straightening process and ensure we were holding it correctly. We also like that we only had to press one button to toggle between the three different temperatures as we straightened our hair. 

Plus, the flat iron came with a detachable comb that we used on days we craved big, beachy waves.It helped hold our hair in place as we styled, although, the comb prongs are a little close together, meaning we had to work through our hair slowly to avoid tugging. 

Plate Width: 1.25-inch | Plate Material: Ceramic | Heat Settings: 3 | Temperature: 350—410 F | Automatic Shut Off: No

Best Ceramic

Chi Lava 4D Hairstyling Iron

CHI Lava 4D Hairstyling Iron

Ulta

View On Ulta $230 View On Chi.com View On Walmart $226
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.6/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.8/5
  • Value
    4.4/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.8/5

What We Love: With smooth plates and an ergonomic design, this iron cut our styling time in half and created long-lasting looks. 

What We Don’t Love: Its lowest heat setting is still very hot. 

Chi has long been a leader in styling hot tools (and no stranger to TikTok fame) for a good reason. Case in point: The Lava 4D Hairstyling Iron, which offers ceramic plates infused with a thick mineral lava coating that tamed our pesky flyaways and frizz with just one pass. Not to mention, it glided through our super coarse hair like it was nothing. Designed with long, curved arms, and 1-inch plates, the flat iron is a versatile option, and we were able to master all the styles we could dream of, flipping small sections into spiral waves or smoothly running the iron through our hair for a blown-out look. Plus, it heated up faster than any of the other irons we tested in about 15 seconds, 

However, we should note that we were initially concerned that this hot tool would be, ironically, too hot for us (especially on fine or damaged hair), as 370 degrees is the lowest heat setting available, which is far higher than your average straightener. Fortunately, we didn’t have to clamp down on our hair for more than a few seconds, so the heat isn’t applied for very long, and Chi also happens to make a top-notch heat protectant.

It took about an hour before the iron automatically shut off, and as added security, we liked that there was a locking mechanism to prevent the hot plates from touching other items while it cooled off. 

Plate Width: 1-inch | Plate Material: Ceramic | Heat Settings: 5 | Temperature: 370—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best Flat Iron for Fine Hair

T3 Smooth ID

Ulta T3 Smooth ID Smart Straightening & Styling Iron

Ulta

View On Amazon $208 View On Nordstrom $249 View On Dermstore $249
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.5/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.8/5
  • Value
    3.9/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.5/5

What We Love: With advanced heat technology and non-snagging ceramic plates, this iron protects fine hair as it straightens. 

What We Don’t Love: It takes time to learn how to curl hair using the flat iron’s extended rounded edges.

Styling fine, thin hair can feel frustrating. Applying too much heat weakens already delicate strands. Not to mention, it’s disheartening when our hard-earned curls fall flat in an instant. Enter: The beautifully designed T3 Smooth ID Flat Iron, our pick for the best flat iron for fine hair. It gave our fine hair body, left us with long-lasting styles, and helped us maintain healthy hair.

It does a couple of things to achieve this. First, it harnesses an ion generator and patented CeraGloss-coated ceramic plates to boost shine and reduce frizz. (And unlike with other designs, we rarely saw our fine hair slip from the tool as we twisted and twirled it between the plates.) Next, the arms’ edges were slightly longer than the hot plates themselves, meaning our fingers had a place to safely rest (versus burning our fingertips, like other options) while we straightened our hair. However, they did cause a few pain points when we tried to curl our hair — the arms were so long that sometimes our hair wasn’t sitting on the hot part of the iron.

Overall, the pièce de résistance of this smart tool was the technology — after evaluating our specific hair type and texture (including whether we colored our hair or not), it selected and heated to the perfect temperature to style our strands for a totally custom experience. From there, we never needed to re-enter our information — the iron remembered our unique settings and automatically heated up to that temperature with every use. 

However when we did find ourselves wanting to adjust the temperature ourselves, it was simple to unlock the screen and go back to the manual mode, where we could choose one of the nine temperature settings.

Plate Width: 1-inch | Plate Material: Ceramic | Heat Settings: 9 | Temperature: 260—410 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best Hybrid Hair Straightener

Dyson Airstrait Straightener

Ulta Dyson Airstrait Straightener

Ulta

View On Amazon $499 View On Nordstrom $500 View On Ulta $500
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    4.3/5
  • Glide Performance
    5/5
  • Value
    2.8/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.4/5

What We Love: The Air Strait glided over different hair types with ease and fluidity — no tugging whatsoever.

What We Don’t Love: The cord is big, bulky, and heavy, with the power center right in the middle.

One of the newest innovations in hair styling technology comes courtesy of Dyson (naturally). The Air Strait isn’t a traditional hair straightener, per se, but it takes your hair from wet to dry by skipping the hot plates and using directed hair flow to dry and straighten simultaneously.

The Air Strait has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a luxury Dyson flat iron-style tool: a bright LED screen, pre-set temperatures for wet and dry styling, and zero wait time for the tool to heat up. One of the highlights for us was noticing the pre-set wet styling temperatures (175 degrees, 230 degrees, and 285 degrees) were significantly lower than the temps for dry styling (250 degrees, 285 degrees, and Boost —  which goes up to 320 degrees and is recommended only for touch-ups). We appreciated the preemptive defense against heat damage, and the settings were easy to adjust.

We loved how easily the Air Strait slid over our hair; without any hot plates, there was virtually no tugging or pulling, further reducing the risk of hair damage. Even when we used the clamps to press down on our hair, there was no chance of our hair getting stuck in the hair straightener. Thanks to that fluidity, we found it incredibly easy to successfully straighten hair (although thicker hair needed a few more passes).

Like many Dyson products, we were less than impressed with the bulky cord that ultimately weighed down the Air Strait. It was heavy, and our editor with Type 3B/3C hair had to take a break to give her arms a rest mid-way through using. We also imagine the thicker cord will make it hard to store this in space-constrained areas.

Plate Width: 1.6-inch | Plate Material: Copper alloy | Heat Settings: 3 | Temperature: Up to 320 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Best for Beginners

FHI Heat Platform Tourmaline Flat Iron

Amazon FHI HEAT Platform Tourmaline Ceramic Professional Styling Flat Iron

Amazon

View On Amazon $140 View On Fhiheat.com $150 View On Target $150
Our Ratings
  • Ease of Use
    5/5
  • Glide Performance
    4.6/5
  • Value
    3.4/5
  • Straightening Ability
    4.1/5

What We Love: It’s a no-frills hair straightener that’s easy to use, thanks to its light weight and simple features.

What We Don’t Love: The temperature can only be adjusted by dial, and it was often unclear what temperature we were on.

If you’re new to using hair straighteners or other hot tools, you won’t be intimidated by the FHI HEAT Platform flat iron we tested. The simple, intuitive tool didn’t require us to watch hours of tutorials or practice on an old Barbie before we were able to straighten our hair with ease.

The hair straightener heated up in about 30 seconds and had five easily adjustable heat settings to choose from (140 degrees, 230 degrees, 300 degrees, 370 degrees, and 450 degrees). It slid through all hair types easily while straightening (although we felt a little tug while curling). The swivel cord was super long — up to 12 feet — and when purchasing this flat iron, you can choose from a few different width options to achieve your ideal look.

This hair straightener did fall short for us with the temperature adjusting. The FHI flat iron uses a dial, and the designated markings are every 70 degrees. So, if you wanted to hit a 350-degree temperature, you’d have to make your best guess between 300 degrees and 370 degrees. If you’re comfortable with imprecise temps, this may not bother you as much.

Plate Width: 1.25-inch | Plate Material: Ceramic | Heat Settings: 5 | Temperature: 140—450 F | Automatic Shut Off: Yes

Our Hair Straightener Testing Process

To find the best hair straightener around, we spent dozens of hours carefully selecting the most popular flat irons to test. We first conducted a test in our New York City-based Lab under the guidance of expert hairstylists with decades of experience. Next, each InStyle editor took a hair straightener home to integrate into their routine over the next four weeks, rating the tool on how easy it was to use, as well as it's design features, like an automatic shut-off or innovative heat-detecting technology, We also noted the length of time it took to style our hair and how long the final result lasted. The flat irons that earned our top scores are featured on this list.

What to Keep in Mind

Hair Type 

Since everyone’s hair is different, there’s no one universal hair straightener temperature that works best for all hair types and textures. In general, LA-based hair stylist Laurabeth Cabott says that to preserve the health of your hair, all hair types should try to keep their hot tools below 365 degrees,Although she adds that for anyone with color-treated hair, stick to an even lower temp. “Anything over 360 degrees can strip your hair color, she says.”

For anyone with fine hair, celebrity hairstylist and founder of Deeper Than Hair Annagjid Kee Taylor recommends using a low setting between 250-300 degrees. “Fine hair is delicate and can be damaged easily, especially by heat, so using a lower heat will help prevent breakage over time,” she explains.

If you have especially thick or heavy-bodied hair, celebrity hair artist Kieron Justin says you may need to bump it up to 450 degrees to see that pin-straight style. But Kee warns against going much higher, as “it will damage your strands and natural curl pattern.”

All of our experts agree before applying any heat you should always use a heat protectant first. And even better,“limit the use of the tool weekly, especially on colored hair,” adds Justin.

Plate Material 

Ceramic, titanium, and tourmaline are the three main plate types in hair straighteners. The most common is ceramic. “It distributes heat evenly, reducing ‘hot spots’ which leads to damage,” says Kee. Always double check that your flat irons are fully ceramic, says Justin. “Ifthey are not, they can snag hair, causing split ends and dry or damaged hair,” he says.

Meanwhile, titanium plates are strong, protective, and typically made from“lightweight metal. This material“heats up very quickly and maintains a consistent temperature,” says Kee. As titanium can withstand extremely high heat, she tells us they’re a great choice for those more skilled at using hot tools or someone with curly or coarse hair. 

If you plan on using your iron every day or have fine or thin hair, tourmaline plates might be the best option as they are the most gentle, thanks to their semi-precious stone coating. Tourmaline“emits negative ions once it heats up,” says Kee, which prevents static and frizz, while increasing shine.

Styling Goals

One of the best parts about flat irons is their incredible versatility. When we say the sky is the limit for how many styles you can create with an iron, we actually mean it.  For example, by holding the hair straightener horizontally, you can build your hair’s body by adding waves. And with a little practice, you can take it to the next level to fully curl too — just twist small sections of your strands between the plates as you pull it down. Due to its maneuverable features and lightweight design, we found the BabylissPRO Nano Titanium Dual Ionic Flat Iron did an exceptional job at curling our hair.

Your Questions, Answered

How do you curl hair with a flat iron?

After applying a heat protectant and curl cream, Justin tells us to separate the hair into manageable sections, and Kee adds that it’s best to start with the bottom layers of hair first, going from the base of the head to the tip of the strand.

To create the curl, “run the irons from the root to the end, twisting the iron at 180 or 360 degrees slowly away from the face with the iron vertical until you reach the tips of the hair,” says Justin. Repeat this method around your head, changing the direction of how you curl the hair to add depth and dimension.

If you want a more natural look, Kee suggests allowing the curls to cool before combing through with your fingers and  giving your hair a good tousle. 

What type of flat iron is the least damaging?

“Ceramic is going to be your best bet if you are looking to straighten without compromising the integrity of your hair,” says Cabott. 

Kee agrees, adding that because these plates distribute heat evenly and use far-infrared heat to heat the hair from the inside out, “you’re reducing the amount of time you need to expose your hair to heat.”

Ceramic material also slides through hair seamlessly without pulling on strands. Just be sure to watch how often you’re ironing the same section of hair, says Kee, since these plates tend to heat up quickly and can disrupt your hair’s integrity when it lingers on hair or you’ve done one too many passes.

How do you clean a flat iron?

Cleaning your flat at least once a week keeps it in top-notch condition. Without a regular wipe down, build-up from heat protectants and other styling products can impact the amount of heat that is transferred from the plates to your hair, meaning that even with a high temperature, you’ll need to do more passes to get the same result. 

Before cleaning, ensure the iron is turned off and has completely cooled down. Then, Kee recommends using a damp cloth with a bit of rubbing alcohol and carefully wiping down the plates to remove any debris. She also likes to dip a cotton swab into rubbing alcohol to clean the iron’s edges and crevices.

“Don’t use any harsh or abrasive cleaning products as this can tarnish or damage the plates,” she says. For the most stubborn build-up, wipe the plates down with a damp, hot cloth, says Justin. “Just make sure it’s not drenched with water.”

Meanwhile Cabott opts for a microfiber cloth. “If you’re consistently seeing a lot of build-up, you may need to rethink your shampoo, conditioner or other products you are using.”

Once you’re done cleaning it, allow it to fully dry to avoid it rusting before storing it away.  

What Is InStyle Picks?

Did you notice the InStyle Picks seal of approval at the top of this story? That means our team of testers has reviewed every product on this list using a unique methodology to ensure it's really worth your time, money, and attention. We may get samples for free to try but we never promise positive (or any!) coverage in exchange. Put simply: InStyle Picks are products we love, and we've put them to the test to be sure you will too.

Why Shop with Us

Irene Richardson is a writer covering fashion and beauty trends. For this story, she compiled insights from our in-house testers, read dozens of online reviews, and rounded up our top picks. She also spoke with hair experts Annagjid Kee Taylor,  Kieron Justin, and Laurabeth Cabott. 

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