There have been man innovations in flat iron technology; ceramic plates, tourmaline plates and flash heating. The latest innovation is wet to dry flat irons. Wet to dry flat irons are becoming more and more popular because they avoid the need to first blow-dry your hair and produce straighter, shinier hair for those with particularly curly of difficult to manage hair.

Applying any heat to your hair damages it. Therefore when you first blow-dry your hair and then use a flat iron to straighten it, you're subjecting your hair to high temperatures not once but twice! You can apply hair serums to your hair to help protect the damage of heat, but if you use a flat iron often you can cause your hair follicles to dry out, which in turn causes frizziness and split-ends.

Manufacturers have realised that first drying your hair before using a flat iron to straighten it puts your hair at twice the risk from heat damage. The answer has been the development of wet to dry flat irons. Using a wet to dry flat iron doesn't eliminate heat damage but it means you can avoid the high temperatures involved in blow-drying your hair. The follow is a review of three of the best wet to dry flat irons on the market today.

Corioliss Tourmaline Ceramic Wet to Dry Flat Iron comes highly recommended. This flat iron from Corioliss comes with 1.75" tourmaline plates. Tourmaline plates produce many times the number of negative ions than do ordinary ceramic plates. Negative ions close the cuticle layer to create a smooth, silky hair surface and seal in the hair's natural moisture. Corioliss wet to dry hair straighteners also come with a Ceramic Far Infrared Heating System.

The Maxiglide MX-597 One Step Hair Straightening Iron is cheaper than the Corioliss and it also comes with steam burst technology. This Maxiglide flat iron comes with two sets of ceramic plates; the first set is the usual smooth ceramic plates found on most flat irons, and the second set of plates has small teeth like a comb, which help to detangle hair and brush it as the same time. Maxiglide claim that, just as you use bursts of steam when ironing out creases in your clothes, so too you use steam to straighten out stubborn curly hair. This sounds great but there are some minus points with the Maxiglide wet to dry flat iron. First off, the appliance has a water reservoir for the steam, which means that the unit is a little heaver and bulky making it difficult for some to use. Also, the plates are 4 inches wide making it a little unwieldy. Finally, some have complained that the detangling pins of the ceramic plates, far from helping to straighten hair, but actually make the task harder to accomplish. But despite these complaints, many find the Maxiglide MX-597 One Step flat iron an excellent hair straightener.

The Remington Wet 2 Straight flat iron is the cheapest of the three wet to dry flat iron. Its cheapness probably reflects the lack of features offered by the other two, but the Remington flat iron is excellent value for money. Unlike the Maxiglide, the Remington Wet 2 Straight does not come with steam and but, like the Maxiglide, it also doesn't have tourmaline plates like the Corioliss wet to dry flat iron. The Remington flat iron does come with dual voltage, so you can use it all over the world. Also it comes with a generous 2-year warranty: both Maxiglide and Corioliss offer only a one year warranty.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a cheap wet to dry flat iron, then the Remington Wet 2 Straight flat iron is an excellent product. If you have hair that just doesn't seem to straighten - and you've used other flat irons - you could give the steam burst flat iron from Maxiglide a try. If money is no problem and you want the best wet to dry flat iron, then the Corioliss Tourmaline Ceramic Wet to Dry Flat Iron is the one to go for.