I’ve been on a bit of a hair binge lately tweaking my already established routines and finding new tricks to try out. Recently, the folks over at Misikko kindly offered to send me one of their top flat irons to try out which gave me a new excuse to refine my straightening routine. I confess – I have not bought a new flat iron since the dawn of the Chi in high school. I don’t know how, but somehow it has survived and still does the trick when I feel like straightening my hair. I was excited at the prospect of trying something new because I really haven’t had any other experience with straighteners. After giving their Hana professional 1.5″ iron a whirl, I will say that I am sold! It has heat settings which gives you a little more control and when used properly, it doesn’t take but one swipe over a section of hair to get that sleek & straight look. It also comes with a heat proof travel pouch and additional case, which I really appreciate since I’m traveling all of the time still. I always use heat proof pouches for my styling tools when traveling because typically I’m running out the door and don’t want my curling iron/straightener to still be heating anything in my bag! They also send a ton of other little goodies and small products to go along with your iron :).

So to go along with this post I thought I would include my “straightening best practices.” For whatever reason I’ve been really focused on taking care of things and being more proactive than reactive. My skincare routine has amped up, I’m more careful of how often I’m putting heat on my hair, and I’ve been giving my face a makeup break at least one day a week. I have had friends who have damaged their hair badly by making a few simple mistakes, so I figured it would be worthwhile to share some easy tips that can keep you from making their same mistakes.

Hana professional 1.5″

Straightening Best Practices

1. Section of small sections of hair before you clamp – when you try to straighten bigger sections not all of the hair gets the right amount of heat to do the trick and you’ll end up running over that section again doing twice the damage.
2. Use a brush as you straighten or brush the section of hair right before you straighten it. Straightening over tangles will cause breakage and will definitely do some damage to your tresses.
3. Never, ever, ever straighten damp or wet hair! It will do mah-jor damage and you will regret it, no matter how big of a hurry you’re in.
4. Give your hair a break! If you’re a habitual straightener invest in some dry shampoo so that you can make your styling last an extra day. Imagine if you had two burning hot plates squeezing you everyday – even one day would be a relief :)
5. If you have just blow-dried your hair turn it to the “cool” setting and just go over your whole head cooling off the hair shafts. It helps to close the cuticle (or something similar) and will be better for your hair if you’re about to put more heat on it.

Do you have any tips that you swear by? Do share! :)