Before I owned a straightener, I would get down on the floor and drape my long hair over my ironing board and beg my friends to iron out my waves. Then, when I turned 14, I bought a very cheap straightener that fried my strands and made them extremely frizzy. When I turned 15, I bought another straightener that was so small, it would take me hours to make my thick hair stick straight. Finally, when I turned 16, I bit the bullet, invested in a $200 hair straightener and never looked back -- or had to buy another one since. Suffice it to say, I'm a bit of an expert on the subject.
Over the years, I've moved away from pin straight locks and I've come to perfect the "straight-hair-that-doesn't-look-straightened" 'do. Unbeknownst to many of my friends and co-workers, I use my straightener at least once or twice a week to achieve the slightly-straight but still slightly-wavy bed head look I love.
So when I was presented with a new straightener to try, the Ferrum Professional Styler by Ladies & Gents, I was hesitant, to say the least. After all, I hadn't tried a new hot tool in years.
Ladies & Gents Ferrum Professional Styler, $180, Ferrumiron.com
What did excite me about the Ferrum Professional Styler was the fact that it was marketed as a straightener that didn't make your hair stick straight, rather it gave you "healthy, shiny hair with Blow-Out volume." It does so with special clamps: While one side is made of the typical ceramic, the other side has a fabric surface.
When I first tried the straightener, I immediately loved the adjustable heat setting. It spans from 140 to 450 degrees, which is great for my coarse hair. Though it took a while to heat up, it did get very hot. But it took me a little longer than usual to straighten my hair because of the fabric half of the straightener, plus the fact that the entire tool was rather thin. While the fabric surface is supposed to limit the damage to your hair, it ultimately is a bit of a time suck.
The Ferrum Styler did exactly what it promised: It straightened my hair, but gave it volume. It looked like it was professionally done, which isn't my taste, though I can acknowledge that many people, working women especially, would love the outcome.
Rating: 4 out of 5. The straightener was a tad on the thin side, so it took me a while to straighten my extremely thick hair. I also wasn't wild about how "done" it ended up looking. That said, the Ferrum Styler got extremely hot and the next day my hair looked perfectly imperfect, just how I like it.
Looks like these stars could benefit from a straightener:
Worst Celebrity Hair Ever
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