StyleBell’s Top 5 Favorite Flat Irons

People love to corner me and ask me lots of flat iron questions, and I’m always happy to answer them. Being one of the lucky few who gets to test drive almost all of the hair straighteners on the market, I have acquired a lot of street cred in the hair appliance market, and with curly hair like mine, I really put every flat iron to the test.

In the flat iron world, not all flat irons are created equally and everyone’s hair straightening needs differ based on hair type and texture – yep, we’ve written about this before in our Flat Iron Buying Guide 101.

But, if you really want to use the benchmark my friends use – “if this flat iron can straighten your curly mop, it can straighten mine!” – my top five flat iron picks would have to be:

1- GHD MK4 1-inch Flat Iron – pure Ceramic power and technology – this iron gets my hair the straightest it can be and frizz is no longer an ”issue”. It also creates really believable curls if you practice. It’s a little pricey, but I love the bells and whistles: Dual voltage, stronger cable, auto shut off ‘sleep mode’. Everyone knows I rave about the GHD MK4 iron – it’s THAT good. (Read a review)

2- Babyliss Pro Nano-Titanium 1-inch Flat Iron – state of the art technology and a super smoothing surface to kill my curls and add lots of shine – the perfect combo! The Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium is actually longer than most flat irons and you’d think it would be hard to handle, but just the opposite, it smooths faster than ever and the shine is unbeatable. Bonus: It’s at a great price point and offers a killer 4 year warranty. Really, how can you go wrong? You can’t.

3- Maxiglide Flat Iron– Ok, I’ll start by saying this flat iron is not for everyone. It’s larger than any flat iron you are probably used to and has these tiny detangling pins that take some getting used to. That being said, if you have thick, unruly, hard to straighten hair you know that using a flat iron will take some finesse. Once you master the Maxiglide, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. This iron gets my thick massive mop silky. Yep, silky. (Read a review)

4- FHI Platform 1-inch Flat Iron – Another iron on the pricier side, but I think the FHI Platform is worth every penny when you see the results. Sleek with a capital S and the Ceramic Tourmaline and Titanium Technology eliminates toxins in the hair and really brings out the shine. Style sighting: This iron has also been spotted backstage at a lot of fashion shows too.

5- HAI Convertable 1-1/4 inch Flat Iron – My stylist loves this iron – mainly because she can straighten my hair fast and I don’t have to sit there forever! One of the best flat irons for transforming my hair from curly to super straight, the Hai Convertable manufacturers also just increased the warranty to 3 years – SWEET!