Tourmaline vs. Ceramic Hot Irons
Should you buy regular ceramic hot irons and blow dryers or spend more for tourmaline? Is it really worth the extra expense and what it can do for your hair.
Tourmaline and ceramic is the product used to line hot irons to help distribute heat and prevent hair from burning. It used to be that hot irons were just made of metal and caused a lot of hair heating damage because metal would heat up too fast. Nearly all hot irons today are lined with ceramic on the part that makes direct contact with the hair because ceramic is just so useful.
What ceramic does is absorb heat slowly and release heat slowly in a more even way, lessening the risks of burning the hair. You can still burn your hair of course if you leave the iron on your hair too long. But not as badly as before when hot irons were just metal clamps.
What is Ceramic?
Ceramic is just that, clay. The same ceramic used we use for plates and tiles. Nothing special about it. Tourmaline however is more expensive. It is ground up semi-precious silicate stone that is mixed in with the ceramic.
What is tourmaline supposed to do for you?
Tourmaline is a high ionic substance, which is why tourmaline hot irons are also called “ionic” hot irons. The advertising says that having ions will deodorize your hair by absorbing bad smells. It will also reduce frizzy by cancelling out static electricity in the hair.
It is true that ions will deodorize and reduce static. However, if you need to deodorize your hair you should probably just wash it. Will it reduce static? Yes, if you live in a very dry environment where static is a problem. But otherwise, that feature is useless for you. What really gets to me though about false advertising on tourmaline is that tourmaline will supposedly open your cuticle layer and allow the hair to absorb moisture. This is just plain wrong. Heat will open your cuticle layer but you will be loosing moisture rather than absorbing. This is why heat styling gradually damages hair.
So which should you buy?
Tourmaline ionic or plain ceramic? It does not make a lot of difference. And you will be wasting your money adding extra for a tourmaline hot iron. What you should be doing is finding a quality hot iron that will last longer. All hot irons break down after a certain number of uses, so find a product that will last and get more for your money.
Also see
Best Hair Conditioner for Dry Hair
Liked it
March 9th, 2011 at 2:53 am
wahh, you’ll probably think this is weird but im typically wash and wear. hehe
March 9th, 2011 at 2:56 am
well written great work
March 9th, 2011 at 8:03 am
great info. thanks for sharing!