Many say it’s a blessing, but after years of dealing with it, I tend to lean towards curse more. Yes, naturally curly hair, something me and both my sisters are stuck with (thanks dad!). Mine, however, is about twice as thick as my sisters. In high school, I used to keep it long so I could at least put it back when it annoyed me. But, that also meant a headache after a few hours of it being back. Once in college, I perfected getting control of it with gel to get more of the Nicole Kidman look. I’ve always wanted to try straightening it, but nothing seemed to work in Florida’s humidity. The hairbrush/blow-dry routine lasted about…well until I got outside. The cheap ConAir straightening iron, forget it, I watched it not work for my sisters. Looking at it in Target, I swear I could hear my hair laughing. So I just accepted that I would never have straight hair.
I recently switched hairdressers as I try a new shoulder length look with foiled highlights. After going on and on about how lucky (yeah right) I was to have natural curls, she asks if I’ve ever straightened it. I told her that nothing works on my stubborn hair. But, she told me about these new ceramic Chi straightening irons they just got and how they work for up to 3 days. I was very skeptical, but she insisted she would straighten my hair with it to see if I liked it. So she put this really expensive oily glop in my hair and used the iron to straighten it taking about 10 minutes and said that it would last three days as long as I did not wash my hair. I have a problem with that because I have the bad habit of washing my hair every day. With curly hair, after sleeping on it, many times the only way to get control is to wash it. Anyways, she told me if I was interested, they have two left. When I asked the price, she stalled and said $150! I nearly spewed my complimentary Pepsi and quietly said I’d think about it.
My hair looked great that day, very soft and it flowed totally different, I could actually run my fingers through it without them getting stuck. But I was sure that it would be a mess when I woke up the next morning. Surprise, it was not a mess, in fact, I didn’t even need to brush it, and it stayed very manageable all day, even though it was very windy. Whoa! So, I saved time by not washing it in my routine shower. The day after, the same thing, it actually lasted 3 ½ days, I pushed it a little to fit my morning shower schedule. Needless to say, I was sold on this concept of being able to spend about 15 minutes straightening my hair and having it last 3 trouble free days. But $150?
So I hit eBay and found a few selling the Chi model new. After watching a few auctions, I bid and won one at the average going price of $89 (plus shipping, of course). A few days later, I got it and immediately tried it out. After plugging it in, I switched it on and it heated in about 15 seconds. The iron itself does not look like anything special, black exterior with beige/yellow pads and the iron is 1 inch thick, making it easier to run through shorter hair from many angles. It has a 10 foot swivel cord preventing the annoying twisted phone cord look. After playing with it, I was able to get my hair straight in about 10 minutes and it was still straight the next morning, and very soft.
Why is ceramic better? From what I’ve read, it’s supposed to distribute the heat better, not getting the hot spots metal irons gets, and have some affect on ions in your hair…I’m not entirely sure. But, I can say it’s the fastest and easiest way to straighten my hair while still leaving body to it and so manageable that it’s fun. This is an iron that I would’ve bought years ago…if I knew about it. And, because of the awesome results on my hair, a co-worker has already bought one and is very happy with it, the poor girl has long, tight curly hair and was brushing and blow drying it straight nearly every morning…not anymore! With the Chi, I think it’s easier and quicker to me to straighten my hair than it is for those with straight hair to curl theirs. It’s kind of cool to be able to switch back and forth between straight and curly so easily. Because my hair has heavy highlights, I guess you could consider it color treated. But, it does not feel dry at all after using the Chi.
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
Farouk CHI Flat Iron Original 1" inch iron The Farouk Chi Flat Iron is a revolutionary flat iron that uses the power of positive ions to help repe...More at Amazon Marketplace
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