Guest Author - Kaaronica Evans-Ware

As many of you know, I'm partial to CHI products for any hair straightening needs. I've been on the hunt, however, for something new and fresh that will give ethnic women some variety in their hair care routine.

This is why I decided to give Sedu Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Straightener Flat Iron a try. It's a top rated flat iron in many non-ethnic magazines. So, what about us? I had to find out.

The flat iron isn't as attractive as the CHI but as far as I'm concerned, that's not enough reason to pass by on this great little iron. It's light and compact. At 72 watts I was able to flat iron my hair in the car on a road trip to Utah and while on vacation in Senegal. Which by the way is very handy since the voltage is 220 volts to our 110 volts. I didn't have to worry about a converter, which isn't always reliable or financially wise. You could easily damage your hair appliance as I�ve done several times in past years.

Once you plug and turn on the flat iron, you'll see a solid green light that informs you it's working and warming up. Once the green light blinks, you can begin flat ironing your hair. This is a neat feature since the flat iron comes with a adjustable temperature gauge. When you change it, the light turns solid green again until the plates reach the desired temperature. It heats up really quick and the heat it consistent throughout the entire plate.

As I mentioned before the plates get really hot but not so hot that it smells like something is burning. Be careful to not touch the iron near the plates as it gets very hot and will burn your fingers. I found this out by accident as I put the iron on a section of hair and glided it through. It didn�t clamp down hard on the hair like the other irons I�m used to.

Still, I was amazed with how slick and smooth the iron glided along my hair. My hair was shiny and very full, not flat. I didn�t come away with the impression that I just fried my hair.

The Sedu iron did a great job straightening my hair as well. I found that I could section off larger amounts of hair and get it straight and achieve great volume. This is an awesome feature as it cuts styling time in half. I later tried it on a model with really thick hair. Even though, I used smaller sections, styling time was cut in half. It works great as a curling iron as well. I still prefer a regular ceramic curling iron for those needs but if you�re on a budget and would like to get one multi-purpose hair appliance, the Sedu iron is great choice.

I felt secure using this iron every day. I would not do that with other irons. The price is comparable to other flat irons on the market so it�s a great contender!

Sedu also makes a lightweight heat protector. A little certainly goes a long way so be sure to think �mist� when you use it. Just about anything weighs down my thin hair and this did after three days. This was fine since I wash my hair twice a week.

I also tried the iron cleaner. This stuff works! It gets all the gunk off and quick. Whatever you do, be sure to never clean your iron while it�s hot. A good rule of thumb is to clean it before you use it. It�s a good practice anyway since you will avoid depositing any dirt on your hair from the iron.

Lastly, I give this iron four and a quarter stars. I would give it a solid five but I singed the pads of my fingers trying to press down on the plates. I didn�t need to do that since the iron was very efficient in getting the job done and done right.