Hair Struggle?
It seems like I’ve fought with my hair for a very long time. My sisters and I were lucky enough to inherit my mom’s fiercly thick and coarse hair, that of course has some natural curl. Though I am grateful to have a thick head of hair, it hasn’t always been easy to deal with. My sister went through beauty school when I was in 7th grade, introduced me to  flat irons, and I’ve never been the same. Of course, since she is a licensed cosmetologist, she hooked me up with great flat irons that had a lot of heat and got the job done. Sadly enough, my last flat iron bit the dust after three years just over a month ago. After doing some research, I decided that I wanted to try one of two brands; a hana or chi hair straightener.  Misikko, a website that has a great variety of professional flat irons, curling irons, and blow dryers sent me a black Hana 1″ flat iron to try out. Did it tame the frizz? Keep reading to find out.

Pros: If you’ve read reviews from me in the past, you know that packaging and presentation are important. Misikko and Hana did not disappoint. As soon as I opened the box, I found this nice array.

In the box, there was a heat mat, pouch to hold the flat iron from hana, a pouch from Misikko, a collector’s tin and a 2 year warranty. Nice.

I’ve had 4 different professional flat irons in the past 14 years so I think I have a pretty good idea of what I like and don’t like in an iron. My last iron was 1 1/2″ and right off I liked the smaller 1″ iron. It is easier to flip my hair out, curl it under, or just get that straight look.
The temperature is the next big thing. Since my hair is coarse and curly, I need a flat iron with a high heat. The hana flat iron has an adjustable temperature setting which ranges from 140 – 450 degrees. I keep mine at 450 degrees and it does an awesome job of straightening.
The no slip grip on the iron does it’s job, and the cord swivels a full 360 degrees, meaning the cord doesn’t tangle and get annoying.
This iron does glide through my hair much faster than my last, and the ceramic plates protect colored hair against fading. This was important to me as my dark locks are colored every 3-4 months. My natural color is a mousy brown, so I prefer to color it. It’s disappointing when styling tools and products fade your hair color, so I’m glad to see this iron made with ceramic to protect against that.  It does a nice job as you can see in my before and after pictures below.

Cons: I felt that the iron took a bit longer to heat up than the last flat iron I had. I’m impatient when it comes to getting my hair done, and I find that it does a better job if I wait about 2 minutes for it to heat up before I start ironing.
The iron is also supposed to be snag free when it goes through your hair. I sometimes had this problem of snagging though. I straighten my hair in sections, make sure it is combed out and I still found that the part where the plate meets the plastic snagged my hair occasionally.
This iron does have an independent turn on/off button, but I would like to see it automatically turn off after a certain period of time, maybe 45 minutes or so. There have been times that I have forgotten to turn my flat iron off and have left the house. I think it would be a nice safety feature to have a timer that includes an auto off.

My overall impression was a good one, and I would say that it is the best flat iron I’ve owned to date.  If you browse through Misikko’s website, you will also see other great categories and products, like the Babyliss flat iron, or best flat iron page.

Helping Haiti
One last thing that I wanted to touch on was the generosity of Hana. Included in my packaging was a blank check for $25 from the owner of Hana. He encouraged that the check go to a charitable cause, such as the recent disaster in Haiti. It says a lot for a company when they are willing to reach out and help others like this, and definitely leaves a lasting impression. It’s things like this that cause me to recommend a product to a friend or family member. Icing on the cake.

Price: $119.99

Where to Buy: Misikko

Win It
One Babes and Kids reader will win a  1″ Hana flat iron from Misikko

Here’s How to Enter: (This entry is mandatory)

  • Head on over to Misikko and tell me another product that interests you.

Additional Entries

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Please leave each entry as a separate comment. Contest is open to US residents and will end at 11:59 MST on March 2nd. Winner will be drawn via random.org and has 48 hours to respond to winning e-mail or prize will be forfeited and given away in a live giveaway.

The product reviewed in this article was a sample provided to me by Misikko.  They also provided product for giveaway.  These views and opinions are my own and I was not compensated by this review.

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