The 9 Best Hair Straighteners of 2024, Tested and Reviewed
Regardless of your hair type, if you want a super sleek 'do, a straightener gets you there. From transforming curly hair into pin-straight tresses to creating soft waves and curls for an updo, hair straighteners are a must-have hot tool for many styles and looks.
“Ceramic plates heat up from the inside out, for a more insulated heat,” says Lindsay Ryan, a senior stylist at Mirror Mirror. “The heat is distributed evenly across the surface, which helps prevent hot spots and minimizes damage. Titanium plates distribute heat evenly but have a more concentrated intense heat, making them ideal for thick or coarse textured hair that requires higher temperatures for straightening.”
To find the best hair straighteners, we tested 22 hair straighteners in our Lab and real-world conditions, using each tool on multiple hair types for well-rounded insights and selects tailored to you. In addition to Ryan, we tapped Darrius Peace, a master barber, and Terri Rehkopf, a hairstylist at Ippodaro Natural Salon, for their best tips for protecting your hair from the heat.
BaBylissPro Nano Titanium Dual Ionic Flat Iron at Amazon
$160
L’Oreal Professionnel Steampod Flat Iron & Styler at Amazon
$250
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The straightener is lightweight and easy to maneuver.
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It was not fully effective on curly hair in one of our tests.
With five heat settings between 300° F and 450° F, this hair straightener has plenty of flexibility in terms of temperature, and its 1.25-inch titanium plates ensure that heat is evenly distributed. We were particularly impressed by the speed at which the straightener heated up: It took only 20 seconds to reach its highest temperature.
When it came to physically straightening hair, we found the tool to be lightweight and easy to maneuver, and it glided through fine and wavy hair with ease. Fine hair was sleek after a single pass, while wavy hair took two passes to become just as straight.
Where this straightener falls short, however, is on curly hair—while it did straighten curly hair to an extent, the hair was not completely straight. Still, on another curly hair test, we achieved perfectly straight hair with a specific technique. We even retired our usual straightener in favor of this one.
Curling went quite well on all hair types, and we think this device might be one of the most effective straighteners for curling.
Heat Settings: 5 | Temperature Range: 300–450°F | Plate Type: Titanium | Plate Size: 1 ¼ inches | Auto Shut-Off: No
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It works well for all hair types.
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You can't use this device to curl your hair.
This straightener proves that you can find high-quality hot tools on a budget. This electric hot brush also makes styling incredibly easy—all you have to do is run it through your hair like a traditional brush. Though we initially found it tricky to get the hair near the roots, once we got the hang of it, it made achieving shiny, straight locks quick and effective, straightening fine and wavy hair in a single pass and curly hair in just two passes.
If you want to use your straightener to create cu