Hair Styling Tools

Flat irons, curling irons and the hot-air brush:

each does a different job with heat. A flat iron presses hair between two heated plates and is the tool for straight and smooth. A curling iron has a clamp that holds the end of the strand against a heated barrel. A wand has no clamp: the hair is wrapped by hand for looser waves. The hot-air brush that Revlon made famous dries and lifts in the same pass. A heavier dryer with an AC motor is what salons use, and it outlasts a light travel dryer by years. A diffuser on the end spreads the airflow for curly hair instead of blasting the curl apart. Shampoo, masks and heat-protection sprays sit under hair care, and nail lamps, make-up brushes and barbers’ clippers with the wider beauty tools and accessories.

Titanium or ceramic plates, and the size of the barrel:

decide most of what a tool will do to your hair. Ceramic heats evenly and more gently, which suits fine or coloured hair. Titanium heats faster and holds a higher temperature, which suits thick, coarse hair and scorches fine hair in a hurry. Either way, an adjustable temperature matters more than the plate material: an iron with only on and off runs at one heat for everyone. On curling tools the barrel sets the curl, thin for tight ringlets and wide for loose waves.

A mall Remington against a Dyson:

the distance between the two is the whole price story. A flat iron with ceramic or titanium plates from a brand like Remington or Conair costs around Q500 to Q750 new, and a used one should go for Q250 to Q350 if the plates are clean and the cord is sound, since those are the parts that wear. A Dyson dryer or Airwrap costs several times that and keeps more of its value second-hand, as long as the serial checks out, which is exactly why copies of them are made.

Plates, cords and the rating label on a used styling tool:

tell you most of its history. Open a flat iron under good light and run a fingertip along both plates: on cheaper irons the ceramic is a coating over metal, and once it chips or peels the bare edge snags and burns hair. The plates should close flat along their whole length with no gap at the tip. Then follow the cord to the handle. Irons and dryers that were wrapped tight for storage break inside the cord right where it enters the body, and a tool that cuts out when you bend it there is on its way out. On a dryer, pull the filter cap off the back. Lint packed into it makes a dryer overheat and switch itself off, and a burnt smell on the hot setting means it has been running that way. Read the rating label too. Tools bought in the United States match the current and plugs here; ones bought in Spain or elsewhere in Europe are built for a higher voltage and a round-pin plug, and a Dyson is engineered for the voltage of the country it was sold in. A genuine Dyson carries its serial number on the label on the cable near the plug, and it should match the one on the box and the manual.

Listing a dryer or flat iron with its label in the photos:

saves a round of questions, because the sticker on the cable shows a buyer that the tool runs on local current and, for a Dyson, carries the serial they will want to check. Add a short video of it heating up or blowing on each setting. Say how often you used it, and include the diffuser and the box if you kept them. A buyer travelling in from Mazatenango for a Dyson will want to plug it in and run it before any money changes hands, so meet somewhere with a socket.