The Best Hair Straighteners, Tested by Editors

Table Of Content

• Of The Best Hair Straighteners, Based On A Year’s Worth Of Testing
• Hot Tools Pro Signature SteamStyler
• Most Efficient: BabylissPro Nano Titanium Prima3000 Stainless Steel Straightening Iron
• This Wacky $400 Hair Drying Vacuum (Yes, Vacuum) Gives a Great Blowout
• The 9 Best Hair Straighteners to Buy in 2024
• Best for Styling: Shark SpeedStyle RapidGloss Finisher & High-Velocity Hair Dryer

And with some models coming in at over £200, it's important to research the best hair straighteners to see if they're suitable for your hair type, your hair's needs and your budget. Having tested several hair straighteners, we put the best ones through their paces to bring you the hair straighteners that are truly deserving of your hard-earned money. Scroll ahead to read our honest reviews of hair straighteners from Dyson to GHD and see our before-and-after images.

Of The Best Hair Straighteners, Based On A Year’s Worth Of Testing

Before using each straightener, I started with freshly washed, conditioned and towel-dried hair. While my hair was wet, I first liberally spritzed a heat protectant (I used this Bumble & Bumble oil) throughout. I then blow dried my hair with a round brush so it was dry, but I didn’t take extra time to style it.

Hot Tools Pro Signature SteamStyler

Ahead, read up on how we tested, reviewed, and determined the best hair dryers for seamless drying and styling pleasure. We love items that elevate the everyday - be it a posh, luxuriously-scented shower gel or picking the slightly more expensive butter on the weekly shop. This beautifully designed brush certainly brings a touch of luxury to the chore of brushing your hair. It’s not style over substance either - this brush works brilliantly, detangling with ease and working as an effective scalp massager, which will help stimulate hair growth. The specially-designed bristles will glide through all types of tangles, never tugging or dragging delicate strands. We love the cheering range of colours, which will certainly look stylish on any dressing table or bathroom shelf.

Most Efficient: BabylissPro Nano Titanium Prima3000 Stainless Steel Straightening Iron

Bonus points for the surprisingly quiet motor and the salon-length 3 meter long cable, which means it’s easy to dry from practically any socket in your house. GHD's very best hair-straightening model uses tri-zone technology, ensuring an optimum temperature for all hair types. The lower-cost Conair InfinitiPro Tourmaline Ceramic Flat Iron is very lightweight—0.51 pound—and clamping the plates together doesn’t require a lot of muscle. We tested the 1-inch-wide model with a purple casing, but Conair makes this flat iron in three sizes and seven colors, so it’s easy to find one that suits your needs. Some claim that titanium plates hold heat better than the standard ceramic plates. Three of the models we tested—the CHI Pro G2 Digital, the BabylissPro Nano, and the TS-2 Millennium—featured titanium plates.

An easy-to-use flat iron

Best Flat Irons: 15 Options for Every Hair Type - TIME

Best Flat Irons: 15 Options for Every Hair Type.

Posted: Sun, 31 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

It’s definitely possible — when your hairstylist does it, it looks beautiful, right? It’s not all as easy as it seems, though, and a hairdryer alone won’t straighten your hair. You probably didn’t have one of these growing up, but they’re taking the market by storm. These heated brushes utilize hot bristles and plates that you simply glide through your hair. Ranging from 170°F to 450°F, this flat iron allows you to adapt the heat to what your hair needs the most. Or perhaps you only need some touch-ups, you’ve got bangs or a rather demanding hairstyle that needs a lot of maneuverability.

My first piece of advice when purchasing this straightener would be to take some time to read the instructions, as it isn't like your standard hair straightener. I decided to just give it a go straight away and was a bit confused by all of the attachments such as the water tank and the comb, but after doing some research, I quickly figured out what everything was for. I tested the tool on hair-wash day so my roots and ends were looking a little worse for wear, but this was nothing that a bit of dry shampoo and the Steampod 4.0 couldn't fix.

The 9 Best Hair Straighteners to Buy in 2024

I have long hair that can take extra time to smooth, and I sometimes apply makeup in between styling my hair, so I appreciate the extended charge and not having to rush. This Chi flat iron doesn’t have multiple temperature options, but it does have an under 30-second heat-up time and extra-long (over 10 feet) swivel cord that gives you extra reach while styling. Most importantly, it has gloriously smooth ceramic plates with beveled edges that make it a nimble tool for creating everything from pin-straight styles to polished curves at the ends of hair.

Best for Curling Hair: Drybar The Tress Press Digital Styling Iron

Curls, locks, waves, or perfectly straight, sleek hair — all of that is within reach. While they can smooth out even the most stubborn locks, they’re not too good for you if your hair is damaged. As the temperatures in a titanium iron can reach really high, it’s easy to harm your hair if it’s not very strong. These plates heat up your flat iron evenly and quickly, which results in better heat distribution.

Best for Styling: Shark SpeedStyle RapidGloss Finisher & High-Velocity Hair Dryer

You can also buy the brushes in a bundle if you want the option of creating different shapes - if, for example you have long thick hair but a short fringe. We also love the pointed end, which makes separating hair and moving a parting incredibly precise and easy. Shark is hot on the heels of other technology brands, creating hardworking, high-tech tools often at a fraction of the price of their competitors. Their viral FlexStyle tool scored highly from all the judges, and is also a long-time favourite of the beauty team - all of whom have different hair types and needs.

Not only do the latest and greatest formulas smooth and straighten, but they also offer a host of other benefits too. That’s why we narrowed down the best of the best hair straightening products, which will also protect your luscious locks against heat, lock in moisture, and fight the effects of humidity too. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors—in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon—is essential to reaching that goal. Fittingly, Valles emphasizes how important it is to have multiple settings within one tool.

It does take a fair bit of work, however, and going from super curly to ultra-straight is really hard to do. Secure & gentle tourmaline and ceramic heat up to 410 degrees Fahrenheit. Just one heat setting, so if that is too high for you, we don’t recommend buying this mini straightener. We also like that it works with wet hair (which flat irons do not), but you’ll achieve a faster and better effect if you dry your locks first. Some straightening brushes just don’t cut it when it comes to curly & thick hair, but not this one. From full-on curls to gentle waves, with enough time, you can straighten just about anything.

However, if you only plan to use them occasionally, you may be satisfied with a cheap model. Much like the Revlon One-Step Hot Air Brush, this hair straightener/curler combo is versatile. This is a 2-in-1 that will answer most of your styling needs in just one product.

Additionally, it's not easy to curl your hair with this straightener—we weren't able to achieve curls in any of our tests. A good straightening iron is essential for giving hair that silky smooth, glass-like shine — but you'll need to opt for one that fits your budget and hair type without totally frying your hair in the process. I tested dozens of hair straighteners and found the top models to be from Chi and GHD. One challenge I had with this straightener is that it was difficult to use on short hair around my face—especially baby hairs that have the tendency to curl up. The firm hinge also required slightly more wrist strength than some other hair straighteners.

That, in turn, makes them more effective even on hair that was never anywhere close to straight in the first place. They do not, however, offer the same degree of success as a flat iron. These have the greatest success in straightening your hair out, even if it’s very curly. You can also use them for the opposite, such as styling your hair into gentle waves.

This cordless/corded—you can do both—flat iron uses flexible copper plates that subtly move with your hair to evenly distribute heat across every strand, leaving you with less damage and smoother hair. Finally, nearly all high-temperature flat irons—those reaching 450 °F—advertise this fact as if it’s a good thing. All three of our experts (stylist, cosmetic chemist, and research consultant) agree that going above 400 °F will damage hair, it’s just a matter of degree depending on your hair thickness and texture. Still, as we noted above, using a slightly hotter temperature in favor of being able to work quickly may help minimize damage, versus applying lower amounts of heat for more time. The downside is that a flat iron can damage hair if used incorrectly—or even correctly. (See the How we picked section, where we address the heat-hair conundrum.) If you can straighten your hair to your liking with a less direct heat method, such as using a hair dryer with a separate brush, you may wish to stick with that.