Finding the perfect flat iron (Part II): KeratinPerfect PerfectLight Deluxe

KeratinPerfect PerfectLight Deluxe · $175 @ Sephora 

After my not so great experience with the GHD my search for a new straightener continued and lead me to this glorious tool. I admit I had been looking into Keratin straighteners since my stylist used a Keratin Complex iron on my hair in which lead to awesome results — you can only buy them online which isn't a total drawback, but I just wanted something that would be easy to return if I didn't like it. Luckily when I returned my GHD at Sephora, I found this little guy.

Once again, I came home and was (seriously) impatient to try out what I had just bought. All I can say is oh my god this thing is wondrous. It's easy to hold, heats up fast, and overall gets the job done without burning my hair. The end result was soft, manageable locks and it literally made me look like I had just walked out of the salon. The buttons and digital display make it really easy to use, it's light, and the plates are titanium which seem to help in making my hair shinier. The PerfectLight goes up to a whopping 450º which makes it one of the hottest irons on the market today (it's lowest temp is 280º and I use it around 350-380º). While they say you should use this with the KeratinPerfect product line you definitely don't need to, and I don't; it still works perfectly and yields incredible results all on its own.

I would definitely recommend this to everyone and anyone — especially those with coarse, thick, or curly hair. I imagine it will work really great for straight haired ladies as well.

Goodbye 9 year old CHI, it was nice knowing you <3.

Finding the perfect flat iron (Part I): GHD Purple Peacock

 GHD Gold Series Purple Peacock · $225 @ Sephora 

I've had my CHI Turbo for since 2003 — it still works perfectly but I'm afraid that it'll die on me any day now and I won't have a backup. My hair is sooo thick and curly and sometimes wearing it natural just isn't an option.

While at Sephora I spotted this little beauty which happened to be the last one and really wanted to give it a try. I've heard nothing but good reviews so I figured why not (also Sephora's return policy is amazing).

I was immediately impressed with how fast it heated up; it took less than a minute!  Once I started to straighten I noticed that my hair was definitely very straight but also very dry (and not soft at all!). After doing a semi-big section + my bangs I just had to stop — my ends felt like straw and I didn't want to do any more damage than I already had. I was honestly soooo upset because I had read so many amazing reviews but this iron was just not working with my hair AT ALL. I do think main reason was that I didn't have control over the temperature and with hair like mine, I've got to have that control.

I wasn't about to risk the health of my hair for this gorgeous straightener, so I took it back to Sephora today and exchanged it for a few other things (I mean, this is only part 1) ;)

All in all, while the GHDs seem to get great reviews I'm not sure they're the right tool me and my hair temperamental hair type. However, this does seem like a tool that would be great for straight/wavy haired girls who don't really need the all the extra settings. What do you guys think of GHDs?