The Anatomy of a Flat Iron: Ceramic Plates

If you are even remotely interested in hair styling tools and flat irons (which I assume you are), then you have indeed heard the word ceramic used in conjunction with them. So what exactly is the big deal about this ceramic material that seemingly 95% (totally made that up) of all flat irons mention it somewhere in its description?

Here is the “science” behind ceramic flat irons. Your hair naturally produces positive ions and the ceramic material produces negative ions and when they collide they create all sorts of benefits like:

Obviously these are all incredible benefits for your hair. However (you knew there was a catch right?), not all ceramic flat irons are created equally. I’m sure you probably knew this but do you know why they aren’t all equal or why some cost more than others? While there are many reasons why some flat irons cost more than others, the reason why all ceramic flat irons aren’t equal is based on how thick the layers of ceramic coating are.

For example, have you ever gotten one of those $20 flat irons and after about 6 months of use, the plates start to chip? That’s because those less expensive flat irons only have a thin coating of ceramic. See, the plates are not ceramic but ceramic coated aluminum plates which are the worst material flat irons can be made of.

The more expensive the iron, the thicker the layers of ceramic coating should be. There are even a few flat irons that claim to have solid ceramic plates, like:

If you notice I said claim to have solid ceramic plates. That’s because ceramic is a nonmetallic, inorganic clay type material and there is controversy that a flat iron plate could truly be made of 100% ceramic because the material would be too soft to be effective for hair straightening. Personally, I don’t have a clue which one is true. This is what I do know. The more layers of ceramic the flat iron has, the less damage your hair will incur.

The next part in the Anatomy of a Flat Iron  series will be about Tourmaline Plates so be sure to check back because it is important to know about the different features of a flat iron so that you can make the right decisions when you buy one.

Thanks for reading!