HD Professional 1.25" Advanced Ionic Tourmaline Hybrid Hair Iron - Apple Candy Red

I have thick wavy hair, and this straightener would snag/pull my hair! It was very hot to handle as well.I would not recommend to a friend.

I've had straighteners before, both the professional and inexpensive kind. One day, long ago, my professional straightener died on me and since then, I rarely straighten my hair. I received an inexpensive one as a gift, but felt that it didn't really straighten as well or as quickly so I stopped using it for fear of it damaging my hair. When I got the chance to purchase this in exchange for my honest and unbiased review, I jumped on it. I am so glad I did. This is slightly bigger than the professional 1 inch one I used to have. I was skeptical, but tried it out since other reviews spoke highly of it. To my surprise, it did the job and quickly. It heats up really fast, but be careful not to turn it all the way to the highest setting. You really don't need it that hot unless you have thick coarse hair. I have fine Asian hair and at times it can be frizzy. Especially, if I don't dry it straight. It just looks like I came out from a hurricane. Since I blew dried my hair the night before, my hair was already straight, but I still wanted to try it out. If you look at the photos below, one shows just blow dried, and the second shows with the straightener. You can clearly see how smooth and shiny it makes it. Since then, I've also learned that you can get curls (loose or tight) by using a straightener. I didn't think that was possible, but I did get my hair curled with a blow dryer in Asia, so anything is possible. It seriously gave my limp, fine Asian hair volume and curls that I didn't think were possible, especially since I chopped it from waist to shoulder length. I am in LOVE with this, but I really shouldn't use it so often. I don't want to fry my hair to a crisp. Oh, and as a tip, if you're trying to just straighten your hair, run a comb through it first with the straightener following right after. It will be a lifesaver. Also, don't run it over and over on the same strain of hair. Let it cool and then try again. I've found that method a lot better.

I purchased this iron through Snagshout, which gives customers lower prices in exchange for honest Amazon reviews. I saw this iron and at the price, knew I wanted to try this. The other colors on Amazon were well rated. My daughter has wavy single process lightened hair that gets dry and poufy. I have tried two drugstore irons, one being a hand me down, and found that the plates didn't touch on either of them. I have to squeeze the iron to straighten the hair and even with a comb chase, have to do at least two passes. The HD Professional came beautifully packaged and has a beautiful,high quality appearance. I set the temperature for about 250 degrees (within the recommended range for processed hair) and it hit the correct temperature very quickly. I realized this was more heat than we needed and lowered it a couple of times. It set at those temperatures quickly as well. The hair was still very hot. Immediately, it passed through the hair once and straightened it. I used a comb chase. I tried it without and it would probably work with more passes. My hairdresser uses a comb even when she is ironing blown out straight hair. No big deal. It took me about half an hour, whereas with the other irons, we were looking at about 45 minutes for my daughter's thick, dense long bob. We ran some errands and walked a couple of blocks in the humidity and it held up nicely. With the other irons, her hair probably would have fluffed up by now. My order came within four days and the customer service has been very friendly.