As you look around local markets like Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Target you may not find felt plates on a straightener. That is because these types of flat irons aren’t as common as the ceramic. They have been known to be very popular in the past, but as technology keeps heating up and creations for ceramic and titanium straighteners are becoming more advanced, the felt straighteners haven’t had as much to offer as the other two. It is very rare to find these tools on the market in regular stores such as Wal-Mart. More common places to find them would be online, at a specific salon or at a beauty supply store.

Although these straighteners aren’t as common to find, they do have some benefits to them. When you think of felt rubbing up against your hair, you might think of static and frizz. However, when you add heat into the mix you get a very smooth look in hair. The combination of the soft fabric and the heat of the plates makes it that much easier for you to get a great look each time you straighten. Also, because these plates are covered in felt, they even provide a little extra protection for your hair against heat damage.

The fact that ceramic plates have a higher risk of damaging your ends can be scary when you style with a straightener daily. The excessive heat can begin to dry your hair and make it look more dull the more you straighten your hair. The felt fabric plates serve as a coating for the ceramic plates and protect your hair from being damaged after the use of heat repeatedly. When you use the felt straighteners, you can reduce the heat damage and increase the shine. Felt plates glide easier through the hair and help retain moisture in the hair. Preserve your hair today with a great felt plated straightener.

You may not have known that doing a daily routine could damage your hair so much, but it really does make a difference when you repeat a harmful process everyday. Some straighteners can reach up to 500 degrees in their heat settings, which is hotter than the temperature required to cook a pizza. If your settings are turned all the way up to 500 degrees, you are seriously damaging the ends of your hair. Taking the following steps when straightening your hair daily will help control heat damage, frizzy ends, and can even save you some time.

A clean set of strands is always a good way to begin your styling process. Always remember to brush your hair not too much. As odd as it may sound, it is a proven fact that when women brush their hair too often, they are creating split ends. To prevent this from happening, limit yourself to two brush-throughs everyday. The best way to do this is to brush your hair once before you begin straightening to remove all tangles and brush it once after you straighten so that your hair looks polished and not stringy.

Once you have cleared all tangles from your ends, plug in the straightener. If you plug it in too soon, you’re giving it too much time to heat up. The longer heat-up time the tool has, the harder it must work to stay heated. If you plug in the flat iron just one or two minutes before you’ll be using it, you will be better off. Letting your iron heat up for a couple minutes also saves you time because you can do other things as you wait.

A great way to spend those two minutes is to prep your hair for the heat it’s about to face. When your hair is going straight into contact with heat, you must use a heat protectant spray to at least cut down on the the damage, if not completely prevent it. This part of the process is advised to be completed during the heat up of the iron because your hair should not be wet while you straighten. Spray it thoroughly but allow it those full couple of minutes to dry completely. If your hair is wet when you begin the process, you are basically frying your hair and causing more damage than you ever would if it were dry.

Oddly, the straightening part is the easiest part of the entire process. There is only one thing to remember and that is, as you begin to straighten your dry hair, be sure you don’t hold the iron on one section of hair for too long. Applying too much heat to a certain area automatically causes breakage in the ends. Split your hair into sections so that you can concentrate on straightening each part of your head thoroughly. As long as you pay attention to which strands you’ve already straightened, your heat damage will be kept to a minimum by splitting it up.

Straightening your hair doesn’t really take much thought. As long as you think about whether your process may be damaging, you can keep your hair healthy no matter what. Straightening your hair everyday doesn’t have to be bad, it only becomes bad when you do it without any kind of protection. As long as you have your essential tool – the heat protectant spray – and your tips for preventing breakage, your hair can be healthy and stylish all year round.

Of course no one knows a hairdresser’s tools better than the hairdresser herself. That is why reading reviews is helpful but can also be deceiving to a stylist. On a review for a pair of hair scissors, someone might say, “I love these and use them everyday, they never fail!” While someone else may have a negative opinion and say something like, “I will never buy another of these shears, they do not cut hair the way the company promises.” Although someone might say this out of pure honesty, that could be their opinion. Maybe they did not cut their clients’ hair with the techniques they were taught or maybe they just had one bad turn out and decided to blog about one single haircut.

At the same time, a hair straightener could be slightly different. Someone who complains about a particular flat iron by saying, “This tool did not work when I plugged it in. I tried multiple outlets and nothing worked,”  is one example of a great review. This is because that customer is simply stating a fact about the tool that was purchased and was not satisfying. Saying that something burnt your hair or made your roots smell bad does not necessarily mean it was the straightener’s fault. Anyone can easily burn their hair on a flat iron if they don’t pay attention to the temperature of the plates or if they don’t use thermal protectant.

Today in America, there is much confusion on the difference between stating a fact and stating an opinion. You decide which is more of an opinion and which is more of a fact: saying a straightener will not turn on when plugged in or saying a particular pair of hair scissors doesn’t cut right. It may or may not seem obvious, but the complaint about the straightener is a fact and the complaint about the scissors is an opinion. Hairstylists must keep an eye out for feedback like this because one comment that is meant to be an opinion can be taken as a fact and can change the mind of the buyer.

Advice to all hairstylists is to, yes, read reviews like you have been. Reviews are great resources in buying a new product whether it be hairspray, scissors, a straightener, etc. However, choose wisely and consider the fact that you have control of what the tool can and can’t do for you in the end. Everyone has their own opinion and not always will you share the same opinion as the other people on a review.

Beginning with the Chi Digital, you can expect most of the same features that you would see in the the original Chi. One of those features would be the ceramic plates that won over so many stylists. What’s so great about these plates is that they know how to give you great results without frying your strands. The way they do this is by absorbing all humidity in your hair and then release all frizz from your hair, leaving only the natural moisture. Chi stands by their word by providing Chi 44 Ceramic Technology. This system of technology works by guaranteeing that no matter how often you style with a flat iron, your hair will always be protected. Another great feature is its ability to heat up to 390 degrees maximum in less than ten seconds because of its digital technology. The speedy heat up is due to the fast flash infrared heating.

A couple main differences in the Original Chi and the Nano Chi are the technologies that are used and the kind of plates used. While the Original uses ceramic plates, the Nano uses silver plates. Not only are the plates silver but the technology is called Nano Silver Technology, designed to create a germ-free zone when your hands come in contact with the grip of the straightener. This is great for those looking to keep a healthy touch to styling each day. It is applied to the body of the Chi and kills germs living on your straightener. This particular iron was created mainly for its prevention of germs and protection from bad bacteria you could come in contact with. However, it was designed very similar to the Original Chi. It uses the same 360 degree swivel cord to prevent strain on the wrist and uses infrared technology to create a faster styling session.

The Tri Angle Chi features a great new feature that will make it easy for anyone to straighten hair. This straightener differs from the Original Chi in the way that it was designed with adjustable plates to make taming hair much easier. All those spots that you once found hard to straighten in the back or underneath the bulk now seems like less of a job to complete. The head of this iron rotates in angled positions so that the user can easily reach hard spots and do so quickly!

These types of straighteners are not always thought of when people mention the name Chi hair straightener. After realizing what great features each iron has to offer, it’s hard not to want one. These innovative designs keep stylists wanting more with each tool they purchase.

First, to curl your hair with a flat iron, you will obviously need a flat iron. Investing in a quality flat iron such as a Chi hair straightener will give you better results. Comb or brush your hair free of all tangles, part it however you would like and section it off.   The size of your sections will depend on your hair type and the type of curls you want.

Next, start on the underside of all of your hair. Grasp a  piece of hair and clamp the hair straightener close to the roots, just as you would if you were going to straighten the hair.   When you begin to pull the flat iron down, turn it about 60 to 90 degrees, like you are twirling the hair around the flat iron, but do not twirl it all the way around (this would make it impossible to pull through).  Pull the flat iron slowly through your hair, keeping it at an angle – the slower the better to get the curl you want.

When you release the hair, before it is completely cooled, twist it around your fingers to solidify your shape. Allow the hair to cool before moving, it will have a very tight look, but it will fall later. You may want to spritz the section with a light, volumizing hair spray for better hold.

Repeat these steps for all the sections of hair on your head. After you’ve moved through all of your hair and have the amount of curls you want, gently comb through them with your fingers or pull apart the tightest curls to achieve the most natural look.

Curling your hair with a flat iron is easy and provides silky, shiny, fizz free curls all with one, versatile tool.

· Shampoo: Use together to keep hair clean and healthy. The type of shampoo you use, like most hair products, will depend on the type of hair you have.

· Conditioner: Helps keep hair healthy and repairs it from the daily damage we do it on a daily basis, such as brushing or even by being in the sun. The more you use heated tools (like a flat iron) and styling products, the more your need for conditioner will grow.

· Hairspray: Determining the best kind of hairspray comes from what kind of results you are looking for.  If you need to keep a hairstyle in place, use something with extra hold. If you need volume, use something lighter.

· Gel: A little bit of hair gel will go a long way to help your hair hold styles created by hair dryers, curling or flat irons. Hair gel is more heavy duty than mousse or hairspray and is not always appropriate for day to day use.

· Thermal Spray: Should be used before any direct heat is applied to your hair and it protects hair from the heat of hair dryers, curling and flat irons.

· Paste or Wax: Gives hair a piecey, messy look. It’s easy to accidentally make your hair look greasy with Pastes and Waxes so be sure to use only a little at a time until you determine how much works for you.

· Flat Iron: Gives hair a straight, silky look and can also double as a curling iron. Again, this tool uses heat, so do not leave on hair for an extended period of time to avoid damage and always try to use thermal spray. This tool can help style nearly every single type of hair.  Depending on how thick or curly your hair is, you may need to adjust the heat setting.

To section off your hair, you will need to start at the bottom, or the underside. To do this, pull all of your hair except for a small portion up and secure it with a rubber band or clip. This may cause your hair to crease or have a funny kink in it, but you can get rid of that later. Once your hair is up, you can proceed to style the exposed section with a blow dryer and round brush, curling iron or flat iron. After you have passed through the first section with your styling tool, let down a little more of your hair, or another section. Repeat the styling on this section.

Sectioning off your hair may seem like a lot of work and time consuming, however, it could save you time in the end. By creating smaller sections of hair to work with, your flat iron, curling iron or blow dryer will be able to work with your hair in less time and this will save you time and do less damage to your hair than repeatedly running the same styling tool through your locks over and over again.

Hair straighteners today come with dual voltage, digital thermometers, floating plates and even Fahrenheit/Celsius conversion.  CHI does not.  Although it was once the best in the industry, the CHI hair straightener can no longer compete.  The company sat idly by as other brands researched and improved their product and met the needs of the market.  Oddly enough, CHI flat irons continue to be relatively popular among consumers.  Not necessarily just the CHI original, but the other versions as well.  People are paying for the name, not the product.  The high prices attached to these hair straighteners is only possible because people still think that CHI is as omniscient as it once was.

Before purchasing your next hair straightener, do a little looking online for a product that will actually meet your needs.  Don’t automatically purchase a product because you know the brand name.  Read customer reviews and visit ranking websites to find the flat iron that’s best for you.  With a short warranty and limited features, the CHI hair straightener is probably not it.

But many of these straightener obsessed consumers do not even realize the extensive capabilities of a straightener. They use it to calm the frizz or eliminate curls, but this versatile tool can also spiral curl hair, curls ends under or out and add volume.

To straighten the hair, a user can use her flat iron in the traditional manner.  Clamp a section of hair between the plates and move it slowly down the shaft of the hair.

To flip the hair under or out, she would follow a similar procedure but add another step to the end.  Clamp a piece of hair, close the to the roots, between the plates and more the iron down the shaft.  When she reaches the end, she should gently begin to twist the hair straightener a half turn away from her head to achieve a “flipped out” look.   To flip the hair under, follow the above directions but instead of making a half turn away from the head, she should make a half turn toward the hair about 1” from the tips of the hair.

To add volume, without look poofy, is very easy for a girl to do.  As she clamps each section of hair at the roots, instead of pulling the flat iron down, pull the straightener out or up to create a nice voluminous look.

The final capability of a traditional hair straightener is spiral curling.  This will work best with medium to long hair and a 1” plated flat iron on a high heat setting.  To do this, grab a small square section of hair, approximately 1” by 1”.  Clamp the hair about an inch from the roots to prevent burning the scalp.  Take the tail of hair hanging from the iron and wrap it forward around the straightener.  Then twist the hair straightener one full turn away from the head until the tail is once again sticking straight out from the iron.  Pull the tool gently downward, straight away from the head until the hair is naturally release.  Gently retwist the curl and spray it with hairspray to maintain the curl.  Continue this process, section by section, around the head until the style is complete.  This style takes a little bit of practice but will look great if you put in the effort.

Don’t sell your straightener short!  There are so many options and capabilities beyond just what the name implies.