Customer Reviews

Farouk CHI GF1539 Turbo Big 2 Inch Ceramic Flat Iron Hair Straightener

5 star:		(136)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

CHI manufactures this 2" size, and 1" and 0.7" widths in the same line also. My first inclination was to buy the 2" size - that would make the process faster, right? Well, I was advised and found out to be true that bigger is not better in this situation, for reasons stated below. So while I highly recommend the CHI Turbo straightener, I would recommend the smaller widths unless you know for a fact that you prefer the larger plates. The following section is my review for the 0.7" (which is mistakenly advertised as 0.07"), which I think is helpful even if you decide on the 2" model, so forgive my copy-and-paste.

I was suspect of the need for "ceramic ions" and "far infrared technology", but this iron was highly recommended by salon personnel, so I decided to dish out the money and try it. You don't need to believe the hype to realize that this is a top quality product. This was a case of "you get what you pay for"! It is lightweight and ergonomic, heats up almost immediately, has a slider bar for varying heat from 176-356F (80-180C), and velvety felt that protects you from burns (also allows me to get closer to my ears and scalp without getting burned). The latter feature is worth the money to me alone, and the the ceramic feels much gentler to my hair (I have baby fine hair very prone to breakage). Two other things to keep in mind when choosing a straightener:

1) size matters - smaller size is better - it's more maneuverable, and doing smaller sections at a time will produce better results.

2) not all ceramic is created equal - there are solid ceramic plates or plates COATED with ceramic that are cheaper. the ceramic layer on the coated plates can peel off and is supposedly damaging to your hair (not to mention your product is ruined).

So yes, this iron is more expensive, but hopefully it will last for years of top-notch straightening.

I have long hair (about three inches below my shoulders) and I debated as to whether I should get the 1" or 2" CHI and whether I should purchase the original or turbo.

I finally ended up ordering the 2" Turbo CHI and I'm glad I did. The "Turbo" CHI allows you to adjust the heat temperature, while the original CHI does not---the original has a standard heat setting. The 2" CHI is easy to maneuver and straightens my hair in bigger batches. The 1" CHI would have taken much longer to pass through all of my hair.

This one's a keeper.

I have been battling with my hair for years. It is VERY thick and wavy an never seems to cooperate. In previous years I had bought a Conair and a Revlon flat iron, which basically did nothing for me. It would look as if I hadn't even attempted to straighten it. So, I literally went for years wearing nothing but a pony tail. The initial shock of the cost of the Chi flat iron made me put off buying it for a year, but I realized that I was just wasting money buying these cheaper products and that I should invest in something that would actually work (believe me that was a big deal because I am literally the cheapest person I know). My hairdresser had used the iron on my hair before so I was positive it would work.

As soon as I decided to buy this product there was a nationwide backorder and no web site I could find had any in stock. This was the only place that had any or was receiving any in a reasonable amount of time. Overall I was extremely satisfied with the product and the supplier. It arrived in a orderly fashion and the very first time I used the iron I had salon perfect hair.

I recommend this product to ANYONE with rebellious hair. It works and it is worth the money. Don't waste you time on cheaper products. Life's short and you should be happy with the way you look

Before buying this item, everyone should realize that Farouk's return policy states that returns and/or refunds will only be made if the flat iron was bought at a salon. They specify that internet sales will not be refunded. Initially, I was happy with this product. However, this morning, it just stopped working. Completely. I've only had it for about three and a half months and I did not even use it daily. I've taken very good care of it and it has never been plugged in for more than fifteen minutes at a time. Right now I am in the process of trying to find out whether or not Amazon can or will do anything. If I had known about this return policy, I definately would have not bought it.

People, don't even bother wasting your money on Conair, Vidal Sasson or any kind of cheap irons that you can get at Target or Walmart. CHI works like a charm. It heats up fast, and your hair stay straight a day long (unlike the cheap ones, my hair won't stay straight for a whole day) -- I live in San Francisco, theres tends to be alot of moist in my area, but my hair would still stay straight without having to straighten over and over...Also, the time it takes to straighten your hair with CHI is way faster than the cheap iron. I already went through 3 cheap irons, before I decided to get CHI (since it was pricey) But after I got the CHI, I am glad I made that decision. I totally recommend this product to anyone.

I enjoyed using the CHI Turbo 2 inch flat iron. I have long curly hair and it worked great. But....it stopped working 4-5 months after I received it! It doesn't turn on. With the amount of money that is spent for this flat iron, it should work more than 4 months! Worse yet is their customer service fails to return messages. Terrible company and product. I am moving my business elsewhere and suggest you looking elsewhere.

I don't really have difficult hair to deal with. My hair is soft and pretty smooth (it was perfectly straight until I was maybe 12 and then it started getting curly), and will usually stay very healthy for at least a year without getting cut. My big problem with my hair is it will hold a ton of moisture, so I can blow dry it and it feels dry but I know there is still moisture in it and it may start to get wavy... This iron solves that issue. Some people complain about the 2 inch not being maneuverable, but I didn't really see that as an issue. My hair is probably slightly thinner than normal thickness but not 'thin' by any means, but it's kind of long so the extra thick iron kind of helps. The only thing about it (which isn't the iron's fault) is because it's big sometimes my hand kind of hurts by the end of ironing it from holding it for so long, but that's not really a problem with the iron and I'm also building a tolerance to it so my hand is getting less and less sore every time I use it. My boyfriend's sister has one of the one inch chi irons without temp control (please note her hair is much less cooperative than mine, so It's really good for lots of different types of hair). I tried hers once and LOVED it. In 2 mins all the excess moisture I couldn't get out with blow drying (my hair felt like It had fully dried but I knew better, that's why I asked her to borrow her iron) came up in clouds in under 5 mins, and my hair was as god intended: looking like a Pantene commercial. Within 2 days of stealing her iron to straighten my hair I went onto amazon and found this little beauty. I ordered it like a week before christmas and it arrived in 3 days - probably the fastest shipped item I've ever received from anyone on this site. I didn't want to get an iron without temp control because not everybody's hair needs that much heat to come out perfect, and why stress your hair any more than you need to? I usually set mine between the medium and the hi setting and it comes out great. I don't think I would get an iron without that type of flexibility. Also the red felt really does help keep the outside of the iron from getting hot.

Keep in mind you always want to take good care of the iron. Don't leave it in the bathroom when you shower, it's not meant to be in a moist environment - it can damage the felt and the inner workings of the iron. I keep my iron in my bedroom and unplug it when not in use. I usually do a quick blow dry of my whole head just to get almost all the moisture out (don't even use a brush), then iron it in 3-4 (starting underneath and working my way to the top of my hair) sections and I'm done with the whole ordeal in about 20 mins. For this price, it's a steal.

The Farouk CHI products are wonderful as long as they don't malfuction!!! I used mine 5 times and it worked great, then the 6th time it would not turn on at all.

I contacted the company, since it had been pruchased from amazon more than 30 days, and they said to send it in.

I recieved the flat iron back from Chi with letter saying it did not honor any Warantys if the product was purchased online. What a bummer :(

I did reread the enclosed packaging and it says in fine print that it will not honor their waranty if purchased on the internet or anywhere other than a porfessional salon.

I love my CHI! My hair is so thick and curly, but it only takes about 45 mintues to do all of it. It straightens so fast and humidity doesn't even make it frizzy or anything. The only thing that bothers me is sometimes the setting button will move while I'm straightening and it'll have to heat up again. Other than that, totally worth the money!

I have three teenage daughters, a blonde, brunette and red head. I now own 2 of the Chi Turbo straighteners and we all love them. I have a 1" and a 2". Originally I purchased these for my daughters and I was going to just use the cheap $20 one I still have. NO WAY!! I have borrowed the 2" twice and I am now going to purchase our 3rd Chi Turbo for myself. It really makes that much of a difference in the damage and amount of time I have in the morning to get ready. I also love that the velvet keeps me from burning myself when I am in a rush (which I always am). Aside from my girls I also work full time and go to nursing school so I cannot be spending hours trying to fix my hair and I cried at the thought of cutting it all off so this is my simple solution.

This is also the best gift for any teenage girl. Two of my daughters practically ran to the shower Christmas morning so they could use their straighteners right away!!