Best Flat Iron For Curly Hair [Review] in 2022

With so many ways to care for our curls and techniques in the Curly Girl Method, sometimes we want to do something different with our hair. Don’t get me wrong, you should embrace those curls, but it’s good to have a change from time to time.

Using a flat iron with advanced technology is ideal for straightening hair, especially curly hair. Curly hair is the most fragile hair type, along with the driest, so they are most prone to damage.

A professional hair straightener tends to come with ceramic plates, heat sensor technology, and ionic technology. But ionic plates heat up quickly, so why would you want that?

Actually, ceramic plates are often infused with ions that add a negative charge to the hair. This helps seal the cuticle and prevent heat damage to your hair. So spending a little extra on ceramic flat irons will go a long way, especially for textured hair.

You’ll also want heat sensor technology like HSI or GHDs; this checks the temperature multiple times a second to ensure even heat distribution and to prevent having to straighten your hair more than once.

Now I’ve shown you the best flat irons for curly hair; I’m going to show you my top tips for straightening curly hair without frizz, along with anything else you need to know.

Since curly hair is the top culprit of frizz, it can be quite a challenge to straighten this hair type using flat irons. It’s all about prepping your hair with the right products for your hair beforehand and using the right technique for minimal damage.

Here’s how you do it!

Step One: Apply A Treatment Mask Beforehand:

The first thing you’ll want to do is prep your hair for straightening, so hop on into the shower and shampoo and condition your hair. You’ll want to do a shampoo over co-washing your hair when using a flat iron as you want all the excess oils to be washed away.

But since you are straightening hair with high temperatures, I recommend doing a deep conditioning treatment mask beforehand.

So hop in the shower, give your hair a rinse and a good message under the running water for a minute or two, turn off the shower and squeeze out any excess water. Then apply your hair mask all over your hair and leave it on for 20-30 minutes.

You can wrap up your hair in a microfiber towel that’s specific for treatments, so the mask really penetrates those curly tresses. This will help add a protective barrier from the flat iron heat.

Step Two: Shampoo & Condition:

Next up is to wash your hair using your loo-poo sulfate-free shampoo. When choosing a sulfate-free shampoo for your curly hair, make sure you choose one that is right for your hair porosity and curl type— it actually makes a world of difference.

If you’re not sure why you should switch to a sulfate-free shampoo with curly hair, it is because sulfates can be very stripping to the hair, stripping the hair of its natural oils. While this may be brilliant for those with oily scalps, since curly hair is already the driest hair type, this can make curls more prone to damage.

Use a moisturizing sulfate-free shampoo and hydrating conditioner; we want to retain as much moisture as possible as your hair is more likely to get damaged when it is dry.

Apply your conditioner and leave it on for a minute or two while you wash your body and shave whatever you have left in the shower. I personally prefer to start detangling with my fingers while the conditioner is on too, this helps with the detangling afterward.

If you have high porosity hair, I would also recommend doing a cool rinse at the end; this should help seal the cuticle– high porosity hair is most prone to heat damage as the cuticle is not lying flat.

Step Three: Apply Leave-In Conditioner & Heat Protectant:

While your hair is still dripping wet in the shower, this is when you should apply your leave-in conditioner. Leave in conditioners to create a seal over your hair strand and help create a barrier over the cuticle to lock in moisture.

The leave-in conditioner will help moisturize and smooth your hair strands, and the heat protectant will protect your hair while styling.

They work best when your hair is soaking wet as they soak up all the water particles to help retain moisture in the ends of your hair; if you’re not using a leave-in conditioner every time you wash your curly hair, you absolutely should be.

Once you’ve applied the leave-in conditioner, start to detangle your strands using a wide-tooth comb or a detangling wet brush— whatever detangling tool that works on detangling your curly hair without snagging or pulling.

You can towel dry the ends of your hair so your hair isn’t dripping and applies your heat protectant. Whatever you do, never apply heat or use a flat iron on curly hair without a heat protectant; it will just cause damage and breakage.

Your heat protectant is the most crucial thing you should remember, especially when using flat irons. Our hair strands are very similar to our skin; while we cannot feel it burning our strands, it does equally as much damage over time. 

All the other steps are irrelevant if you don’t use a heat protectant. If you don’t use a heat protectant, your hair will become very dry, brittle, and prone to damage and breakage, along with frizz and tangling. 

Also, remember to apply a heat protectant that can protect your hair up to the heat of your flat iron temperature; some heat protectants only protect hair against blow dryer heat rather than flat iron heat.

I would also recommend that you use a microfiber towel or cotton t-shirt over your regular cotton or terry cloth towel. Your cotton towel can actually cause a lot of damage to your natural hair as well as cause frizz.

Step Four: Let your hair naturally dry 50%

Blow-drying soaking wet hair actually causes the most damage as the wetter the hair strand, the more fragile it is. If you have some time on your hands, it’s best to let your hair air dry for half an hour to an hour before going in with your blow dryer.

You can either leave hair drying for a little while or just rough blow-dry your hair on a cool setting using a back and forth technique until your hair is 80% dry and leave it to naturally dry for the last 20%.

Especially with curly hair, you want the least amount of damage on your hair as possible, so you can either wrap your hair up in a microfiber towel for 30 mins to an hour and then blow-dry.

Tip: Choose The Right Brush:

The brush you use may actually be the culprit for frizz and damage when you use a flat iron if you don’t have naturally straight hair anyway.

It is recommended that you use boar bristles with nylon as the boar bristles help to smooth and polish, while the nylon helps to detangle and separate your hair as you work through knots.

It will run over the texture of your hair easily, without snagging, pulling, or disrupting the hair cuticle– which is key when trying to smooth curly hair.

Step Five: Blow Dry In Sections:

So once you’ve left your hair to naturally dry for a little while, use your paddle brush or round brush to try and blow dry those curls as smooth as possible. You may need a medium/high heat to do this but try to keep the temperature as low as possible when drying.

The best way to smooth out curly hair is to work in sections; starting underneath, use 2-inch sections, or even smaller if you have very thick, coarse curls. Combination bristles are brilliant for creating tension and smoothing the cuticle without the frizz.

Be patient for this step, as the smoother your hair is before you use a flat iron, the better.

Tip: Only Style Bone Dry Hair:

We’ve all straightened our hair while it was slightly wet and heard the horrible sound of the straighteners sizzling as they hit the hair; if you do this, you’re guaranteed to have damaged your hair.

Your hair should be bone dry before you straighten, and if your hair has a greasy residue, then you might want to evaluate the products you are using.

The straightener will also boil the product into the hair follicle, which can be particularly damaging, especially if it contains alcohol which can strip moisture from your strand.

If you have quite thick, coarse hair, you can also apply a little extra heat protectant after blow-drying your hair for that added protection; it will be likely that the heat protectant will be absorbed into your hair and may need a top-up after drying, especially if you have high porosity hair.

That being said, if you have high porosity hair, make sure you apply your gels, creams, serums, or oils to the ends of your hair along with the heat protectant before drying to help smooth the cuticle and help close the cuticle.

Tip: Go For A Straightener With Customizable Heat Settings:

Having a flat iron with customizable heat settings is brilliant as you can lower the heat if you have quite damaged hair for less damage. GHD’s are set at 365ºf, ideal for normal hair but may not be ideal for fine, damaged hair. 

For extra thick curly hair, the ideal temperature is between 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the ideal temperature to smooth your hair and straighten coarse curls– don’t forget your heat protectant!

Step Six: Section Your Hair:

Now you’ve blow-dried your curls straight, they may be looking a little bit poofy, but if you use the right products, your hair should still be manageable. The smaller the sections, the better, as it saves running over the same section multiple times.

Sectioning your hair is hair straightening 101; it will leave you time and cause less damage in the long run as you’re not scorching the strands.

Split your hair in the middle at the back and bring it forward; starting underneath, use a tail comb to section your hair into one-inch sections.

The number of sections you do will all depend on the thickness of your hair; if you have quite fine hair, then working with 2-inch sections will be better, but if you have quite thick, unruly curls, then 1-inch sections will be better.

Pin or clip up all the sections you’re not using and straighten each section; either pin your hair on top of your dead or behind your shoulders.

Step Seven: Clamp the Straightener, Using A Comb To Guide Through:

For minimal damage, you want to be sure that the straightener glides over your hair rather than snagging or pulling. I like to run the comb through each section before, and when running the straightener over, this ensures each section is smooth. 

Start as close to your root as possible, and while I would only recommend running the straightener over each section, I know this isn’t realistic, so try to stick to 2-3 times. 

Smaller sections will mean that you won’t need to run it over with the flat iron as much. Try to be gentle and not snag or pull on strands; you should try to glide the plates over your hair rather than drag it. 

Since curly hair is quite textured, by working in small sections, you can help glide the flat iron over the ends of your hair using the comb; this will prevent disrupting the hair strand and causing frizz.

Step Eight: Apply Serum Or Oil:

Once you’ve gone over every section with the flat iron, make sure you apply a hydrating serum or oil to the ends, this will help restore hydration to the ends, along with providing a protective barrier to help keep your hair straighter for longer and not frizzy from the humidity. 

This step is super important on curly hair as, without it, your hair will start to curl back up the next day, and the hour or two spent using the flat iron will be wasted.

Apply a couple of pumps of oil or serum and rub it in between your fingers for a couple of sections and gently comb it through the mid-lengths and ends; this should leave your ends looking shiny and luscious. 

For a little extra hold, you can also apply hair spray afterward, spraying from a distance, so it doesn’t leave a greasy residue.

How do you straighten curly hair faster?

The best way to straighten curly hair faster using a flat iron is to dry it as smoothly as possible beforehand. Using either a round brush or paddle brush with your blow dryer to smooth.

Using the right products is also extremely important before using a flat iron. Some products can help smooth the cuticle and create a protective barrier over the hair strands, making it easier to smooth curls.

Also by working in sections will help smooth sections of curls much easier; trying to blow-dry your curls all at once will result in afro-looking frizz– which is the last thing we want, so remember to section your hair before using blow dryers or flat irons.

Check out my full guide on how to straighten curly hair here.

How do you straighten curly hair without damaging it?

Any heat applied using a flat iron will result in some damage, but excessive heat will permanently damage hair and ruin the curl pattern, so straightening once in a while using a flat iron won’t do any harm.

Whenever you use hair straighteners, remember to apply a heat protectant beforehand and prep your hair with moisturizing products, such as doing a hair mask beforehand and applying a leave-in conditioner.

This will help create a barrier over your hair strand and protect it against damage.

How do you straighten curly hair permanently?

You can go to the salon and get your hair professionally treated with a keratin treatment. It is a cosmetic product used to straighten hair and makes naturally curly or wavy hair appear straighter and smoother.

It also works to smooth frizz, so your hair becomes naturally more manageable and straighter. It doesn’t damage the hair as it adds keratin to the hair, which is responsible for the structure of the hair strands.

There are some ways you can straighten curly hair naturally, without using a flat iron. You can give some of these techniques a go if you want straighter hair without heat damage. 

How do you straighten men’s curly hair?

There are a few ways to straighten men’s curly hair easily, whether that is with a flat iron, blow dryer, or natural remedies to relax the curl and promote straight hair. Check out my full guide for the full rundown. 

So there you have everything you need to know when using a flat iron on curly hair. Whether you fancy a change or debating whether or not to have your hair permanently straightened, the right prep goes a long way.

Since curly hair is the most fragile hair type, they all take extra care before using a flat iron; moisturizing and applying heat protectant beforehand will create a barrier over the ends of your hair.

Choose any flat irons I have selected for you today, whether it is an affordable flat iron or a more expensive styling iron. But if you take it from me, the quality flat irons prevent more heat damage and are definitely worth the investment.

Which one will you go for?