A hair straightener used to mean hot plates, and now it can mean air or bristles too. Here are four plate irons, the wet-to-dry tools and a smart iron, and four heated brushes, with how to choose between them.
Hair Straightener Guide: Plates, Air and Brushes, From ghd to Dyson
Heated irons for hair go back to around 1872, when the Parisian hairdresser Marcel Grateau made the Marcel wave famous, and Walter Sammons received an American patent for a hot comb in 1920. The modern hair straightener arrived in Leeds in January 2001, when three hairdressers brought a ceramic straightening iron from a South Korean inventor to the UK and called their company ghd, for good hair day. It spread through salons on stylist recommendation, and the Chronos, launched in 2024, is its current flagship flat iron. T3, started by the married couple Dr. Julie Chung and Kent Yu, makes the Lucea, a wider 1.5-inch plate for longer hair. BondiBoost's iron has aloe-infused ceramic plates, and Moroccanoil, which grew out of Carmen Tal discovering argan oil in a Tel Aviv salon after a bad color job, makes a titanium version for straight looks, waves or curls. Use a heat protectant on every pass, and keep the temperature as low as your hair allows.
Air instead of plates
Dyson launched the Airstrait in May 2023 as its first wet-to-dry straightener, using air instead of hot plates, with two narrow slots that shoot blades of air at a 45-degree angle to dry and straighten at once. Shark Beauty, the beauty arm of SharkNinja, makes the SilkiPro, a wet-to-dry straightener that also works as a quick blow dryer. Drybar's Straight Shot combines the structure of a plate iron with a dryer's airflow, from the blowout bar Alli Webb opened in 2010. T3's SinglePass StyleMax matches one of nine heat settings to the hair texture you enter, which is a good idea for anyone who tends to crank it up. The air tools are gentler, but they take longer on thick hair.
Heated brushes, and the skip
Heated brushes give a softer, bendier finish than plates. Drybar's Brush Crush is a paddle brush with heat, and Mane, Jen Atkin's tool brand, makes Get Ur Sleek On for a sleek, frizz-free finish. ghd has two hot brushes: Glide tames and smooths dry hair quickly, and Rise adds lift at the roots. What I would skip is straightening damp hair with a plate iron. The water boils inside the strand, and that is how hair gets fried. Use the wet-to-dry tools for damp hair, and plates only when hair is fully dry. Work a heated brush through small sections, the same way you would a plate iron.
Choosing yours
For very curly or thick hair, a plate iron like the Chronos or Lucea is still the fastest. For fine or damaged hair, try an air tool or a heated brush. Straighten in small sections, one slow pass each. Your hair will thank you for doing it once, properly, instead of three times quickly. Wipe the plates once they cool, since product buildup drags on hair.
