Common Mistakes When You Use The Flat Iron

You Skip Heat-Protectant Spray
If you're not putting a heat-protectant spray on your hair before you use your flat iron, it's like asking for damage. (This goes for any heat-styling tool.) On clean, damp hair, spray on a heat protectant to shield your hair from hot-tool harm.

You Use The Lowest Heat Setting
You might think, "If heat damages my hair, I'll keep my flat iron on the lowest heat setting possible!" Counterintuitive as it may seem, a medium to high temperature—lower if your hair is fine, higher if your hair is thick—is better. Why? On a low heat setting, you'll have to go over your hair multiple times to smooth it out. A higher temperature means a better chance that a single pass can do the trick.

You Pull Your Iron Down As You Straighten
This technique can make your hair fall flat. Instead, get as close to your root as possible, and flat iron each section of hair, pulling the hair up as you go (instead of pulling it straight down). This will give you a boost of volume at the crown, so you'll have straight hair with body.

You Don't Use a Brush
Before you hit it each section with heat, brush out the hair to get any knots out of the way. This will make the straightening process go much more smoothly, so you won't need to go back over certain areas multiple times.

You Don't Let Your Hair Cool
While heat styles hair, cool air sets the style. So instead of immediately putting straightened hair into a ponytail or clip, allow your hair to cool after you iron it.

You Never Clean Your Iron
Heat-protectant spray and other styling products you apply to your hair can—and will—build up on your flat iron. To prevent the residue from snagging your hair, clean your flat iron regularly.