disalarming | Hair Straightener Shopping

I went to my hair salon to get my hair cut last week, and after my stylist finished cutting my hair, she used this fantastic straightener to straight my hair as she was blow drying it. This was honestly the best straightener I’ve ever seen in my life. It heated up quickly, straightened my hair beautifully, gave my hair a glossy shine, and allowed my stylist to finish styling my hair swiftly and efficiently. Basically, in the few minutes it took for my stylist to turn my hair from tousled waves¹ to a straight style, I fell in love with this straightener.

This magical straightener is iTech’s Wet-&-Dry Ceramic Tourmaline Flatiron. I asked my stylist how much that straightener cost, as I noticed she had a few new, unopened ones stacked in the display window. That was when I was jolted back to reality after experiencing hair straightener nirvana: this particular straightener sells for around $200USD retail!

Obviously, I can’t afford to shell out that much for a hair straightener, even if it is one that borderline has magical powers. I don’t straighten my hair every day, so I wouldn’t be getting my money’s worth for that straightener, even if it does last me for years and years. I do, however, need a new straightener as my current one is a cheap, crappy straightener that gives my hair more frizz and split ends than straight hair. I don’t know where to start looking, though². I don’t know what good companies are for straighteners, what particular models are good, or what a ballpark price is for a straightener that’ll give me my money’s worth. So, this leads me to ask:

Question of the Week: What are some good hair straighteners you have used/would recommend? What useful knowledge do you have about companies, models, and price ranges?

My hair, right after drying, is generally wavy, but straightens out and gets kinda poofy after I brush it out. [↩]
I probably should have asked my stylist for some recommendations and/or cheaper models, but I was so surprised by the high price of the iTech straightener that I forgot to ask her about other straighteners! [↩]

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.