Review: Infiniti Conair Straightening Iron

During the summer months in Chicago, the weather is constantly going up and down. In 2010, it's been even more interesting with all the thunderstorms and tornado watches, and this upcoming week, there will be rain and humidity. You can't swim in the rain and it's too hot to be stuck in the house outside of running up your electricity bill, so out you go. Then humidity kicks in to frizz up permed hair even more. So is a straightening comb (commonly called a "flat iron") the answer to humid hair issues?

Infiniti by Conair™ released their ceramic straightener in 2009, and the product is pretty popular in hair aisles of retail stores like Walmart. The heat ranges from 210 to 395 degrees Fahrenheit, is 1.5 inches wide, has a 30-second heating time, a 60-minute auto off safety feature and a removable comb to "keep hair taut."

While looking in Walmart's hair product aisle, flat irons with these removable combs are becoming more and more popular. However, everybody might not be a fan of this added "perk." The Conair® comb easily slides up and off the straightening comb. I'd recommend leaving it off because for thick, black hair like mine, it does more tangling and pulling hair out than it does combing. What's the point of the comb anyway? After you've straightened a small section of hair, you can use your own full-length comb to do the same thing and control the direction that the hair is combed.

Infiniti by Conair flat iron keeps its word about heating up in 30 seconds. Almost as soon as I turned the product on, the ceramic plates started to heat up. The handle is easy to maneuver, and the straightener is not too hot to touch even at its highest temperature. The only problem is the on/off switch is on the bottom so it's easy to accidentally press "off" while straightening your hair. The temperature buttons are sculpted into the product so you have to press inside the straightener to turn the heat up and down, but the on/off buttons are pop-out buttons.

When Infiniti by Conair updates this product, I'd highly recommend making the on/off button the same way the temperature buttons are to avoid constantly having to turn it on. However, using the product will help you get into the swing of how to hold the flat iron.

Using flat irons can be a little tricky depending on your hair type. For thicker hair, you might consider using hair oil before you flat iron it to make it easier to bend and curl. While it sounds like a good idea, the heat mixed with the oil can literally fry and damage your hair. I wouldn't recommend it. Try a heat protectant if you want to make your hair a little easier to flatten and protect, but heat is heat. The thicker the hair, the higher the temperature you'll probably use so it may be counterproductive. Do not flat iron wet hair at all.

Although the instructions for the flat iron say to part hair into one-inch sections and no more than half an inch thick, if you know your hair type is thicker, you may want to use even smaller sections. Otherwise you'll repeatedly be flat ironing the same section and wondering why is it still frizzy or as thick as it was when you first started straightening your hair. I set the temperature at 300 degrees, and the straightener wasn't doing much so I used smaller sections. After you're done flat ironing each small section, you may want to curl your ends by slowly flipping the ends of your hair up.

Is this flat iron ideal for black hair? It's okay. I've had better luck with Gold n' Hot flat irons, but it's also necessary to take into account the weather. I tried using this flat iron when my hair was full of volume, frizzy and had been in a ponytail for some time so it took a little time for it to adjust, especially considering I usually use curling irons instead. Some people prefer smaller flat irons, but with my hair being so long, it takes longer to use the ones with a smaller width. However, even though it takes longer, that means I'm forced to use smaller sections of hair, which has given me a better curl. I'll give this flat iron a few more chances because my hair is clearly more bouncy and less frizzy than when I started.

You may want to use a lightweight hairspray to finish off the style. Avoid using flat irons everyday. Try wrapping your hair at night and letting your hair mold into the style you're going for without constantly adding heat to it.