Review by Joeybunny - Hana Professional Flat Iron 1.5" Pink Edition

So today I bring a review for something I honestly never expected to review, ever: A FLAT IRON.

(cue dramatic thunder and lightning sound and visual effects)

Now, I’m sure that the vast majority of you lovely readers are familiar with what my hair looks like. For those who aren’t, I have a legendary and leonine mane - it is extremely curly, it is extremely thick, and it is extremely long (it hits the small of my back).

Annie at Blogdorf Goodman has told me I need a Clairol contract, and some of my other friends have told me they would pay good money for my hair. People stop in the street to ask me if my hair is real, and if they can touch it. There is a contract out in the Bronx for my head should I ever chop off my hair. None of this is an exaggeration. It is beyond me how my hair can cause so much ruckus.

Here’s the thing: I really am known for my curls. In fact, the last time I straightened my hair was for my 19th birthday, which was almost four years ago. My then-boyfriend did not recognize me. There is something about my having straight hair that confuses people. Personally, I am ambivalent towards it. I wore it straight when I was growing it out, and then refused to ever straighten it again. From the age of 16 onwards I had only straightened it twice: for my high school graduation and on my 19th birthday. My refusal to embrace straight hair is due to the fact that it is a true pain in the ass to straighten my hair. My curl pattern is so resilient that the curl will bounce right back after a hair dryer and a brush meet it, and since my hair is so incredibly long, it takes hours to pull and dry it into submission. I just don’t have the time or patience for that crap.

About two weeks ago Elvira was contacted by the good people over at Misikko.com , an on line e-tailer of Hair Straighteners and other hair styling tools, with a proposal: review their Hana Elite 1” flat iron, and they would give one away to one of our readers. For the sake of being as impartial as possible towards the flat iron (which was provided to us by Misikko.com), Elvira and I came to a decision: I would review it, because if the flat iron could straighten my hair, then it was a miraculous product from Heaven and worth being featured on the blog. So last Friday night, I returned home to find a lovely package from Misikko in front of my doorstep.

Now, Elvira had asked the Misikko rep to send me the 1.5” flat iron due to the length and thickness of my hair, but because they could not send me the 1.5” Elite, I was sent the 1.5” Professional (in pink!). I’m not sure what the difference is between the two, but ok. I was also sent a lovely carrying case, a heat case, a silicon mat to rest the iron on, and other goodies including the Hana Shine Shield. I would like to thank the Misikko staff for their generosity; your package made my day!

I’m going to tell you what I thought of this flat iron as truthfully as possible, and here’s what I thought:

HOLY FLIPPIN’ HELL THIS THING ACTUALLY WORKS. MY HAIR WAS STRAIGHT!

For the first time in four years, I had straight hair! I was actually so amazed when I first touched the flat iron to my hair that I called one of my guy friends and asked him to go on video chat with me so that he could see how my hair looked. In typical guy fashion, his only response was “Wow Josie your hair is straight. It’s weird to see you with straight hair, but you look cute.” Thanks, dear (for future reference, never call a tired guy at 1:00am when he has to get up for work at 5:00am, because he will not give a rat's ass about your hair).

In all seriousness, though, the Hana Professional flat iron straightened my hair in one pass. ONE PASS!! And not only that, I was able to straighten my entire head in less than 35 minutes. THIRTY-FIVE MINUTES!! How quick is that? That has never happened with other flat irons I have owned, and the Good Lord knows that has never, ever happened with a blow dryer before. My hair was glossy and pin straight. I sent Elvira hysterical 1:00am emails about it, and the next day at work, my bosses and my clients were both confused and impressed by how straight my hair was (in case you’re curious, I did touch up my hair the next day, but only because I showered and wet the back a little - otherwise, it was still pin straight). As for me? I was in love with my hair. It was soft, shiny, and straight...and totally different for me.

Bottom line: This flat iron is the shit. It works, it works, holy shit it works. Go get one!

Now, here are some of the features that make the Hana flat iron unique, handy, and worth owning:

1. The flat iron is really lightweight, which is great because I never got tired from holding it. This is a huge plus considering how much hair I have!
2. My long-ass hair never snagged on the plates. Speaking of the plates, they’re tourmaline so my hair ended up shiny and frizz-free.
3. The cord swivels, so it never got tangled and I never got tangled in it when I was switching hands to work on the sides of my head and the back of my head. I always trip on cords or somehow end up wrapped up in the cords...I don’t know, I’m a damn klutz.
4. VARIABLE HEAT CONTROL PLUS A SEPARATE ON/OFF BUTTON. Ok, not many irons have this but a variable temperature control is SO important since not all types of hair can handle the same level of heat. For example, my coarse, thick, super curly hair needs the iron to be as hot as possible. However, for touch-ups the iron doesn’t need to be jacked up to 450F. I love that I could pick the temperature that works for me and then I could leave it - all I have to do is hit the on/off switch. In case you’re curious, the temperature ranges from 140-450F.

So basically...if you use a flat iron, you need to pick this one up!

In case you decide to peruse the site, here are some helpful links to navigating the Misikko website:

Misikko homepage: http://www.misikko.com

Chi Flat Iron

Babyliss Flat Iron

Best Flat Iron

And the best part of this?! Elvira and I are going to be giving away one of the Hana flatirons to a lucky reader! Look for entry details in a later post =)