Beauty Beat: Best flat iron ever!

Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium review

The+Babyliss+Pro+Nano+Titanium+flat+iron+gets+5+stars+for+taming+coarse+hair+quickly.

Photo by Faith Owan

The Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium flat iron gets 5 stars for taming coarse hair quickly.

By Faith Owan, New Writer

Finding the perfect hair tools to accommodate my hair has always been a challenge for me, mainly stemming from my middle school years as I learned through trial and error what worked for me, but what I mostly learned was what didn’t.

I’ve gone through my fair share of flat irons, starting with the classic twenty-something dollar one from the drugstore. Needless to say, this turned out to be a bust. Not only was I utterly unaware of how to properly use a straightener, but I had also, by misfortune, come across one that was inadequate for my needs regardless of my inexperience.

My hair type can be filed into the thick and wavy category quite nicely. That being said, any flat iron used on it must be up to a certain standard in order to function properly. That first iron was not. The final product of it, my hair, was frizzy and lacked shine and manageability.

You see, flat irons come in many different brands, with different heat settings, plate sizes, plate materials, and extra features for each one.

Some brands have drugstore versions of their products as well as versions, usually referred to as pros, that they sell in higher-end outlets. These would be ones to steer clear of.

In my opinion, if you can make a good product, then do that. Any brand that’s willing to manufacture a mediocre product to sell for less, when they could sell a quality product at its market value, shouldn’t be eligible to run with the big boys. Who knows what sort of mediocre elements make it into those supposed “higher quality” flat irons?

Anyway, from that disappointing experience, I set my sights on a new product. That fateful product was the Chi (about $100 on amazon.com).

The Chi is a ceramic flat iron with a swivel cord and an automatic heat setting of 350o.  The hair stylist who colored my hair for the first time raved about it. I was thoroughly convinced and begged my parents for it, thinking it would be the God sent tool that would rescue my locks from the depths of despair.

When I received the Chi a few long months later as a Christmas present, I went straight to the nearest mirror to try it out. At the time, I was convinced it was the highest quality flat iron on the market. This remained true for me for a long time.

Although I wasn’t using a heat protectant to prevent damage to my hair, I thought my hair looked better than it ever had before.

The catch was that as my hair grew longer, it began to take me forever to do my hair with the Chi–over an hour each time. On top of that, the sparkle of newness began to wear off. It didn’t seem to work as well as it used to, and I began my search for a new straightener.

I scoured YouTube looking for recommendations and soon came across the popular GHD.

This flat iron comes equipped with ceramic plates, an automatic heat setting that supposedly adjusts to your hair type to a maximum of 350 degrees, a swivel cord, and an automatic shut off. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

The GHD and the Chi have many similar qualities, such as their maximum heat setting and ceramic plates. However, the reviews on YouTube led me to believe the GHD was far more advanced.

People went on about how they had once owned a Chi, but were now happy converts to the GHD. I was sold.

I saved up for a long time, and finally my dad drove me to Sephora to purchase it. My new flat iron cost a whopping $210, a pink diamond edition. I tried to fool myself into believing it was better, and I used it consistently, until I finally couldn’t take it anymore and went back to my first love, the Chi.

Just when I thought there would never be a straightener that could fully cater to my hair needs, I came across the Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium, a flat iron that had 50 heat settings and a scalding maximum of 450 degrees, Nano titanium plates with sizes that ranged from 1-2 inches, and a swivel cord.

I decided to take a final leap of faith after being (once again) convinced that this was the be-all-end-all of hair products. Again I saved up, and from a wide range of Babyliss irons, I decided on a 1-inch special edition that was on sale for a mere $50, compared to the full retail price of $120.

I was immediately impressed. This straightener pressed down my waves in two passes over a one-and-a-half-inch section of hair, compared to my former flat irons that took multiple passes to do the same thing.

It does curls more efficiently as well, despite its slightly boxy shape. It cut my styling time in half.

Now, the Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium is my go-to for styling my hair in terms of straightening and curls when I want them to be defined and spiraled more tightly than when I use a traditional curling iron.

This iron is popular among those with ethnic hair due to its extremely high heat setting of 450 degrees and its use of the technologically advanced material Nano titanium for its plates.

Don’t forget to use a heat protectant like the Tresemme Heat Tamer Leave-In Spray (great product, by the way).

The Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium can range in cost from $80-$150 or higher, depending on the dealer. But beware of knock-offs! There are plenty of phony Babyliss flat irons floating around in cyberspace, so be conscientious about whom you’re buying from.

The Babyliss official website, www.babylissus.com, gives you places where you can buy their authentic products under a section labeled: WHERE TO BUY at the top of the page.

So if you want a good flat iron, I recommend this one — period.