Ceramic Flat Iron Key Terms

Getting a grasp on key terms associated with ceramic flat irons

By Kim Finn

One of the latest trends in hair styling involves the use of ceramic flat irons. If you own a beauty shop, salon or hair care products store and need to purchase or plan to use ceramic flat irons, it pays to understand the terminology related to them first.

This guide focuses on terms dealing with types of flat irons and the technology behind them. Flat iron types define include ceramic, tourmaline flat iron, titanium, hydrogen bonds, ion and nano.

Ceramic flat iron

A ceramic flat iron is a hair styling tool that typically contains two metal plates with layers of ceramic baked onto them and operates with a ceramic heater. Some high-end ceramic flat irons incorporate pure ceramic plates. The flat iron uses negative ions and far infrared heat to straighten hair.
Try: Visit the Misikko website to learn more about ceramic flat irons, how to properly use one and view instructional video tutorials. Folica.com has some "before" and "after" pictures that demonstrate what a ceramic flat iron can create.

Tourmaline flat iron

Tourmaline, a semi-precious gemstone, is infused into a flat iron's ceramic plates after being ground into a very fine powder. Similar to a ceramic flat iron, tourmaline flat irons put out many more negative ions than ceramic flat irons. They work to strengthen hair and make it feel and look even smoother and shinier. Tourmaline flat irons are considered more advanced than ceramic flat irons.
Try: For more information on tourmaline flat irons, read the article at the StyleBell website.

Titanium flat iron

Titanium is a strong, light-weight and corrosion-resistant metallic element with high heat conductivity used in many applications, including flat irons. Titanium flat irons are considered the next advancement in flat iron technology after ceramic and tourmaline flat irons. Flat irons with titanium include those with pure titanium plates and those with plates coated in titanium. Additionally, many flat irons have titanium plates coated with ceramic.
Try: Read more about titanium flat irons and view different products at the Flat Iron Experts website.

Hydrogen bonds

A hydrogen bond is a weak bond that's formed by the force of attraction between oppositely-charged regions (positive to negative and negative to positive) of water molecules in close proximity to each other. With regard to ceramic flat irons, hydrogen bonds in the cortex of hair cause bends in the hair, that result in curly hair. Flat irons break those hydrogen bonds, and the hair then loses its curl.
Try: Get more details on how hydrogen bonds give hair its shape in the section titled "How hair gets its shape" from the article at the P&G Hair Care Research Center website.

Ion

An ion is an atom (or atoms grouped together) that has either a positive or negative electrical charge through losing or gaining at least one valence electron. While all ceramic flat irons produce negative ions, tourmaline flat irons produce many more, resulting in even more shine and a silkier feeling than with a regular ceramic flat iron.
Try: Read more about the ions in tourmaline flat irons at The Beauty Brains website.

Nano

A nano is one billionth of one specified unit; in other words, it's very small. When it comes to ceramic flat irons, though, nano can be either good or bad, so you need to know what you're looking for.
Try: Scroll down to the fourth myth labeled "Nano technology" in the Misikko article about flat irons to learn when the word "nano" on a ceramic flat iron package is reason to buy or to keep looking.

Ceramic Flat Iron Key Terms

Getting a grasp on key terms associated with ceramic flat irons