You may have a love-hate relationship with your hair if you were born with kinky or curly locks. Sure, kinky and curly hair is beautiful and interesting. However, it can also be incredibly temperamental, frizzy, and unpredictable.
If you’d like to remove the curls or kinks from your hair, you have two basic choices in hair straightening appliances: Flat irons and hairbrush straighteners. These appliances use heat to straighten hair by breaking down the hydrogen bonds in the hair shafts that make your hair the way it is.
We’ll take a look at both flat irons and hairbrush straighteners to help you decide which is best for your hair.
Flat Iron Straighteners
The best candidates for flat iron straighteners are people with very thick, curly, frizzy, or African-American hair. A flat iron straightener users more heat than hair brush straighteners, which means it can get through the thickest hair. This type of hair appliance is designed to clamp down tightly on hair using two heated flat plates.
If you were to over-use a flat iron straightener, your hair can become heat-damaged. Heat damaged hair is typically dull, dried-out hair that’s very prone to breakage and split ends.
It’s important to know that a flat iron straightener can’t add volume to your hair like a hairbrush straightener. It can’t add volume to hair because it’s not designed to work that way. A flat iron works by pressing the hair down to remove kinks and curls and doesn’t do anything that adds fullness.
Advantages of Using a Flat Iron Straightener
There are many advantages associated with using a flat iron hair straightener like:
- Does an effective job of flattening thick, frizzy, kinky, and curly hair
- Easy and fast to use
- Long-lasting results that don’t require daily maintenance
Disadvantages of Flat Iron Straighteners
There are a few disadvantages to using a flat iron hair straightener like:
- Heat can damage your hair if you use it incorrectly or too often.
- Hotspots can happen on the iron plates where areas are much hotter than other areas. A hotspot can heat damage your hair and even burn your scalp.
- You cannot add volume using a flat iron straightener which is unfortunate if you have limp hair that needs a volume boost.
Flat irons come in a variety of designs and with many different features. The best way to choose one is to consider what type of hair you have. For instance, if your hair is short and curly and prone to damage, look for a flat iron with thin plates and temperature adjustment options.
Ceramic Plates or Titanium Plates?
When you start shopping for a flat iron, you’ll notice that the plates are typically made either of ceramic or titanium. If you’re unsure which material is best for you, here’s a quick run-down of the two types.
- Flat irons with ceramic plates: These flat irons heat up quickly and can’t produce hotspots as their titanium counterparts can. Flat iron hair straighteners are very affordable and easy to find just about anywhere hair care products are sold.
- Flat irons with titanium plates: If you guessed that flat irons with titanium plates cost more than those with ceramic plates, you’re right. These flat irons are more costly than those with ceramic plates, but you get more bang for your buck.
Flat irons with titanium plates offer the fastest and best results. These plates also use higher temperatures than ceramic plates. This makes them perfect for thick, full hair.
Hair Brush Straighteners
The best candidates for hairbrush straighteners are people with thin, normal and easily-damaged hair. Why? Because hair brush straighteners use less heat than hot irons.
Hairbrush straighteners are wildly popular today. These appliances are best-sellers on sites like Amazon because many people with curly or kinky hair have thin, normal and easily-damaged hair.
If you want to add volume to your thin or medium hair while removing curls and kinks, a hairbrush straightener is right for you. As you’re straightening your locks, the brush portion of the straightener will lift your hair up from the roots to boost volume.
Advantages of Using a Hair Brush Straightener
There are several advantages to using a hairbrush straightener such as:
- Quickly heats up for fast straightening and styling
- Works great on thin, easily-damaged hair due to its low heat
- No hot spots to worry about so no hair damage risk
- Removes static from hair
- Your hair becomes more manageable as you brush and flatten it simultaneously
- Adds volume to thin hair and shine to dull hair
- More gentle on hair and scalp than a flat iron
Disadvantages of Hair Brush Straighteners
Even though there are many advantages to hairbrush straighteners, there are a few disadvantages to be aware of like:
- Not suitable for thick, overly curly or kinky hair
- Can get tangled up in hair to cause breakage
Tips for Choosing a Hair Brush Straightener
You really do get what you pay for when it comes to hairbrush straighteners. If you only want to spend a few dollars, you can’t expect much out of the brush you buy. But if you raise your budget a bit, you can find an excellent hairbrush straightener that works amazingly well at removing unwanted curls and kinks. So, be realistic and plan on spending anywhere from $25 to $50, depending on what features you want.
There are all types of options/features available on hairbrush straighteners like:
- Fast heat-up times
- Multiple heat levels
- Auto-off feature
- LED display options for heat settings
- Dual voltage functionality for worldwide travel
- And many more
Conclusion
Now we’ve straightened out everything by explaining how the two hair straightening appliances compare. There are distinct differences between flat iron hair straighteners and hairbrush straighteners. And both come with their own set of pros and cons.
You decide what type of hair straightener is best for you. Then shop for one that has all the features you want. Before you start shopping, set a budget and stick to it. This will make the shopping experience easier and faster.
In the end, the appliance you choose should do a great job of straightening your type of hair in a convenient and cost-effective manner. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions so you get the most out of your new hair straightener tool!
