THRILLED!

after what seemed like an eternity (but was actually only 8 days), my Babyliss PRO Nano Titanium 1-1/4" Straightening Iron arrived at my doorstep this afternoon! i have been so insanely excited to get it that when i actually saw the package sitting at my doorstep, i was overcome with a gut-wrenching terror that i had chosen the wrong iron, it would suck and i would really hate it which would then result in me spending even more money to send it back in and wait another decade (or 8 days) for a new iron. but...turns out i was wrong!

i ran upstairs, plugged it in, selected my heat setting of 375 degrees (one great quality about the PRO Nano Titanium is that it has five heat settings ranging from 300-450 degrees, so you choose the one that's hot enough for your hair, and don't have to use a temperature that's too high and potentially damaging to your hair type) and was amazed at how insanely quickly it heated up! now i've had other high-end flat irons, and they also heated up pretty quickly, but it seemed like the moment i pressed the ON/OFF button, the Babyliss was already hot! this is a wonderful thing for those times when you're rushing around like a scalded flea, trying desperately to get out of the house because you're running late. do you remember the days of waiting for 20 minutes for your flat iron to heat up? i used to get so mad at my friend Tara when we were getting ready to go out and she'd sneak into the bathroom and used my iron when it was at the peak of it's hotness! the next time Tara comes to visit me, there'll be no fighting over the flat iron and waiting around for it to heat up, because this Babyliss is white hot in seconds!

after the iron got hot, i took a small section of hair and, mentally crossing my fingers, slid the iron down the locks. what i noticed immediately was how smooooothly the iron glided down my hair, there was no skipping or tugging required, and not ONE hair snagged in the irons plates. this was a huge annoyance to me when using the CHI, because unless you had your hair perfectly centered on the plates, it would snag and rip out strands of your hair. not only was this painful and annoying, but extremely damaging to my hair! after straightening my whole head of hair with the PRO Nano Titanium, there wasn't one strand snagged. so far, so good!

as far as the actual straightening goes, i was majorly impressed with the results i achieved! although i consider myself a hair-straightening guru, i have NEVER gotten my hair straighter than i did using the PNT. even my ends, which are rightfully fried after 6 months without a trim, are pin straight. that is quite a feat at this particular time because my hair is at that weird, in-between short and medium length where it's just skimming my shoulders, and it's impossible to keep it straight when it's constantly being pushed up by my shoulders (does that make sense to anyone?). although it got my hair completely straight, the PNT didn't make it feel dry or fuzzy like some irons can. it left it very smooth and shiny! although some people skip using products altogether when straightening their hair, i think it's extremely important to use something that protects your hair from the heat and also makes it soft and silky. my pick for a straightening styling product is Kiehl's Heat Protective Straightening Cream, $15, which i've reviewed before. it's an amazing product, and currently the only thing i have to use to keep my hair looking great!

so far, the Babyliss PRO Nano Titanium 1-1/4" Straightening Iron gets a 9/10 from the Kitty. the reason for one point being subtracted is the price, which is very expensive! although it is extremely pricey, it is a quality product and it does come with a 4 year warranty, something unheard of for a hair appliance! (the CHI only has a ONE year warranty) if you consider that you'll get atleast 4 years of use out of the Babyliss iron, the $130 pricetag doesn't seem as bad. all in all, it seems that i picked the perfect model for my straightening needs! this Kitty is one very happy cat! meow!

We Have a Winner!

after much back breaking research over the Great Flat Iron Debate 2008 (haha!), the one i settled on and ordered was this gorgeous icy blue number, the Babyliss PRO Nano Titanium 1-1/4" Straightening Iron, $129.99! although i'm still in sticker shock over the heinous price, i'm very, VERY excited about the arrival of this couture flat iron. it has longer plates than normal to make straightening easier and comes with a 4 year warranty, which i think says a lot about the quality of the product because if it wasn't well made and fairly durable, they wouldn't give you a warranty that lasted that long! it also has amazingly positive reviews on both Folica and MUA, so that gives me great hope that it will be a match made in hair straightening heaven. since i ordered s&h free from Folica.com, the price wasn't as bad as it could have been if i'd purchased from a salon or highend haircare store, so let's just hope it was worth the loot. it should be arriving within a few days, and i'll be reviewing it immediately if not sooner. wish me luck!!!

CHI Goes Kaput!

there are few things in life that i truly consider myself an expert on, but flat irons and hair straightening is one of them. i've been straightening my hair in some form since the tender age of 13 and have learned quite a few lessons, tips, tricks and NO-NO's over the years, thereby earning the expert status in my opinion. i was the first one of my friends to own a flat iron and i'll never forget the exciting results i achieved with that magical Helen Of Troy tool!

over the years i moved up in the world of flat irons, eventually going from ones bought at Sally Beauty Supply and Target to the CHI iron which i've been using faithfully for the past 6 years. YES! you read it correctly, six long years. i've read many reviews where people say that they hate CHI irons because they die so quickly but with mine this was not the case. this flat iron lasted me six long years of daily use and so let's just say i wasn't exactly surprised yesterday when it up and died on me, the little red light giving one sad flicker before going permanently dark. this was a death i had been long expecting, and instead of being upset, i'm actually very excited that i now get to pick out a new flat iron! today i'll be giving you my recommendations on some of the models i've used and also asking for your help picking out a new one. so please readers, use that comment feature and give me some feedback!!!

if you're just now contemplating purchasing a flat iron and aren't sure you'll use it all the time, i would recommend buying an inexpensive one to play around with. if you find you don't really like it or only use it on special occasions, it would be kind of silly to spend over a hundred dollars on it, right? there are several very good flat irons out there that won't cost you an arm and a leg, and i especially like Conair's Professional 2-1/2 Inch Ceramic Straightener, $52.99. it has nice, wide plates that work well on long or short hair, heats up in 60 seconds, has 25 heat settings, is comfortable to handle and straightens hair quickly. this is an iron i used for a while when i was bored with my CHI, and i now keep it on hand as a back-up for times like right now!

another inexpensive option is the Helen of Troy line of flat irons i previously mentioned that are sold at Sally Beauty Supply (and can also be found online and many other retailers). for a starter iron, these get the job done without massacring your wallet. they have a wide variety of sizes and features, and usually last atleast a year or two before burning out. if you decide you really love sleek, straight hair and want to upgrade, you can always splurge on a more expensive iron, like...

one of the models i'm trying to decide between. although the CHI served me well, i have brand ADD and would really like to try another type of flat iron. so far the candidates for purchase are...

1. the Sedu Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron, $115.95 (and free S&H at Folica.com!). clocking in at 1-1/2 inches, this iron is the model rated #1 by all the customer reviewers at Folica, and that's something i take very seriously. who better to trust about the integrity of a product than the actual people who have bought and used it? and when 3,145 reviewers give a flat iron a 5 star rating, that makes this Kitty stop and take notice. the only problem is, from all my QVC watching i've been slightly seduced by...

2. the T3 Narrow Tourmaline 1" Flat Iron, $129.95 (also free S&H at Folica!). this sleek, slim black iron seemed to work wonders on the super curly hair of the QVC model, but we all know how television can skew the realities of certain things (heLLLLLO, Tarte EmphasEYES eyeliner!). for some reason i feel that T3 makes the Rolls Royces of flat irons, but the reviews on MUA are throwing me off...is it worth the money? $130 is a LOT of money for a person like me, and i don't mind making the initial investment if the iron is going to work wonders and last a long time. i mean, there are just some things that you need to spend some money on to get the best, and flat irons are one of them, in my opinion. if it's not going to be the T3, then my next option is...

3. the HAI Convertable Ceramic Flat Iron, $70.95 (free s&h at Folica). this iron also gets amazing reviews on Folica, but for some reason the lower price is throwing me off and making me think that it won't be as high quality as the others (stupid, i know!). it seems to get really great reviews on MUA, and like i said before, i put a lot of faith into those people's opinions. the most important qualities i look for in a flat iron are that it doesn't snag and rip out strands of my hair (an annoying fault of my CHI), it straightens and flattens my hair completely, it seals the 'straight' into my hair and helps to maintain the style all day, and it's comfortable and easy to use. so this is where i need your help!

what is your favorite flat iron? if you've used any of the three i've mentioned above, which one do you like the best? what's the worst flat iron you've ever wasted your hard earned money on? let me know in the comments!