Customer Reviews

Solia Tourmaline Ceramic Ion Flat Iron (1")

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This ceramic flat iron deserves more than 5 stars! Ever since I got it, it has been my best friend every morning. I no longer dread doing my hair in the morning; sometimes I even look forward to doing my hair, because I get to use this wonderful appliance!

Even though I have typical Asian hair (naturally very straight), my hair flips out on one side and flips in on the other side after I wash and blow-dry it. I have tried using a curling iron to fix this, but my curling iron doesn't give me enough control. This ceramic iron, on the other hand, gives me the control that I need. The result that I get is smooth hair that frames my face, nicely flipped in.

One thing that I can't figure out how to do is to curl my hair with this iron. I've seen a professional lady curl a girl's hair at the mall with a similarly looking iron, but my attempts have been futile so far. Any tips?

By the way, I ordered mine from Solia.com on Saturday and received it Tuesday. Speedy service!


*************EDIT*************


After using this hair straightener for a few months, I also want to add that you should purchase a type of styling spray that minimizes heat damage due to frequent uses of heat styling tools. The kind that I use is Tresemme's European Instant Heat Tamer, easily found in most local drugstores. Frequent uses of heat styling (hair straighteners, curling irons, blow dryers) cause split ends and/or damage to the hair, making it harder to achieve a sleek, smooth look.

Also, after much practice, I finally figured out how to curl my hair with this straightener. It's somewhat tricky at first, but you get the hang of it with more practice.

First, take a small section of hair and smooth it out. Then, clamp the straightener where you want the curl to start. As you slowly bring the strightener through your hair, carefully wrap the heated part of the hair around an upper part of the straightener. The trickiest part is wrapping the heated hair around the straightener, because you have to coordinate your hands to alternate as you continue wrapping your heated hair around the straightener. (Hint: If the strand of hair keeps slipping out from the top or the bottom of the heated plates, try clamping near the middle of the two heated plates.) Work diagonally, not up and down, or else the curl will have a tendency to "flop" up--avoid working at a parallel level to the floor, but more of a 45 degree angle to the floor.

If the hair slips out of the straightener halfway (even though you clamped near the middle of the two heated plates), just finish the curl by simply curling the bottom half of hair.

You can control how curly your hair gets by two ways: 1) lowering the temperature will lessen the amount of curl, and raising the temperature will increase the amount of curl. 2) bringing your hair faster through the two heated plates will create more of a body wave, and bringing your hair slower through the two heated plates will create tighter curls.

Curling your hair with this straightener is much easier than curling your hair with a normal curling iron. Plus, there is no need to purchase different barrel sizes, because you can control the amount of curliness you achieve.

Before trying this for the first time on your own hair, I would recommend that you practice on a friend's hair. Once you feel comfortable with this technique, practice A LOT on your own hair.

One more thing--curls look best when they alternate directions, so when you're wrapping the heated hair around the straightener, alternate directions by going clockwise one time and then counter-clockwise the next.

Have fun curling your hair with a straightener!

The Solia is the hair iron that the three bears would have chosen: Neither too hot or too cold, too cheap or too expensive, it's a product that's just right.

These irons can go for as little as $25 or so, and on up to about $150 and more. The cheaper irons can damage your hair, and the more expensive ones can put holes in your hair. As described (very well) in the "features" section here at Amazon.com, the Solia combines ceramic with tourmaline, a gem that creates six times more negative ions than ceramic alone. These ions, combined with the heat (which the user can "dial" to a temperature between 140 and 450 degrees Fahrenheit) give you the capability to change the direction and texture of your hair.


More than just a hair straightener, the lightweight Solia can give you flips, curves (both towards your face and away), and generally shape your hair. It's lightweight and heats up quickly. I don't know exactly how the "patented Dynamic Alignment System®" works; I do know that the iron glides easily and without pain through short and long curly hair. Extra curly, thick hair will conform to the new straight look your stylist gave you, and there's a beautiful sheen due to the hairs' alignment. It comes with an instruction booklet; I'd also recommend the product's website at folica.com. A product that consistently works well at a resonable price make this an excellent value.

I have been straightening my hair with a dryer for years. Someone in a salon used this on me and I was stunned at the silky results. The price turned me off, but then again, I have NEVER gotten results like this with the $20 regular iron from the department store. A friend knew how much I adored this, but didn't want to drop the cash, and got it for me as a gift.

This has now become an indispensible part of my hair regimen. I usually blow dry my mid-back length hair with a dryer, since that's pretty fast, but I can be kind of careless about it because I follow up with this iron. I section my hair and get it super smooth and shiny with this iron. I love the small plate size because I can roll the hair around the edge of the iron and get it to curl under.

This keeps my hair going for days. I can just freshen it up with the iron, no need to dry my hair out by washing and blow drying every single day. If I come in contact with a little rain and get frizzy, I just touch up with the iron. I love this product!

There is no heat-up required with this. I plug it in and it is ready to go in a matter of seconds. The variable heat settings are great. I use a lower one and I've never needed to go to the top end of the range.

Highly recommended for anyone who takes pains to straighten their hair. You'll wonder how you lived without this product!

I have tried many flat irons in the past. (Beware of anything by Advanced Beauty Solutions - they are scamming people with their true ceramic pro flat iron!)

I have tried the cheap walmart bought irons and the very expensive irons. Cheap irons tend to fry hair and pull it out or break it. Some of the expensive ones broke easily and the companies customer service sucked!

I recieved my Solia within a week of ordering, everything looked just as it should and it works great!

My only complaint is that the Solia is 1.5lbs, which can tire you hands easily when you are styling your hair. But honestly...I think even if it is on the heavy side, it works great and I would purchase it all over again.

I have heard some reviews where the Solia has stopped working within a few months of purchase, unfortunately, this is common with any electronical device. The best way to make sure yours does not stop working is: do not leave the iron on for excessive amounts of time. Anytime you are done with the iron, turn it off and unplug it. Make sure it is left in an area where it can cool off easily. This flat iron takes about 20seconds to heat up, so it does not waste your time to unplug and have to reheat.
Also, try to never drop or bang your ceramic iron around. It can easily damage connections inside of the iron!
Keep all of your purchase information and the box that it comes in with the address of the company. As soon as you see any faults call them immediately and demand for it to be addressed!

When using this product, you need to use heat protection products. Some people can use this more often, for example I blowdry and straighten my hair every day and I have very healthy shiny hair. I have very healthy hair to begin with... I have hardly ever colored it and always took great care of it. People who have dry and damaged hair should not use this product as frequently!

I use therma silk products - leave in conditioners that protect against heat styling and I also use Tressumae (sp?) this are good cheap products if you don't want to waste alot of money on hair care products.

I also use moisterizing conditioners and shampoos.

This is my second flat iron, a replacement to a conair 3/4 $15 dollar iron. If you are worried about the cost, DON'T be; it's worth it. My hair has never looked better, and the best part is that it lasts until I wash my hair again. I no longer have to fear drizzle and humidity and rain or going to sleep and waking up with a mess on my head. I don't feel like I'm damaging my hair like with my old conair, and the results are far better. There is no fuzziness to my hair when I'm finished and all it takes is one swipe. When I was using the conair, I would have to go over it with my curling iron and the results would last, if I was lucky and the weather was perfect, two days. And my ends would also looked fried. With my Solia, my hair is straight, light, and shiny and it doesn't frizz or fuzz up. And my ends have yet to looked fried while using the Solia. ^_^ My hair also looks healthier than it ever has before.

I felt queasy buying a hair product for $88, but thought with all the great reviews on folica.com (complete with tons of amazing before and after shots submitted by happy clients) and a money-back guarantee it would be worth a try. I was very happy with the result. My hair is super straight without the dried-out, split-end results. I just use it for a few seconds every day and it makes a big difference. I even used it in Houston (humidity capital of the US) and my hair was similarly straight and manageable. Well worth the investment - beats having to try every gel and leave-in conditioner out there.

I have been wanting a better straightner for a while and so i decided to start looking. my hair is only a midly wavey at the bottom and other then that it's pretty thin, on th ick at the ends. the thing is, since i have such boring hair one of my only options is to wear it straight so i frequently do. with a normal straightner this is very damaging but the ceramic ones are incredible. they keep your hair healthy. so this is what i had heard and why i had wanted on. i didn't need anything so super-duper. i still wished i could purchase the 200 dollar ones because i thought they'd be so amazing, but supprisingly some of them go bad reviews. i found that this straightner had all great reviews and also was not TOO expensive. my parents freaked out when i told them the price still, so i offered to pay half and they thought that would be ok, so that was good. i was very excited to get it. i recieved it very fast too. i immediatly tried it out and was amazed by the results. my hair was incredibly straight, smooth, and shiny. it only took me about ten minutes. it is very easy to manuever and the size is also great. my hair is about three inches below my shoulders so i thought that it might take longer to straighten but it didn't. it also works good on my bangs. i also looooooove that you don't have to wait for it to warm up, there's instant heat! it also worked on my damp hair which is good because it will save time not having to blow dry my hair completely. all in all i think this was a nessacary purchase and i would reccomend it to anyone. =)

hope this helped.

I have crazy curly, thick hair. It usually takes me over 2 hours to blow it out (by myself, so I hardly ever do it). With this iron it took about an hour, and I didnt even blow it out first. I just put in some leave-in conditioner, gloss cream, blow-dried it (cause I dont totally trust the wet to dry feature). And then I ran the iron through. Its the BEST iron I've ever had, and I hope it lasts a long,long time.

This flat iron is wonderful. I have the "not-enough-curly-nor-enough-straight" kind of hair. If I don't blow dry them they are fluffy and I hate this. This iron works like a charm. I have bought a few other irons with metal plates and larger plates, butane or electrical, but nothing compares to this iron. What was taking 1-hour or more to straighten takes now a REAL 10 minutes! The iron is ready to use within 30 secs and you can adjust the heat between 140F to 450F!! Ok, don't touch the ceramic plate because I promise it is HOT. I can easily recommend this product. ONE WARNING: I read other comments about the iron not working: take note that this iron WILL work if you plug it in a wall sucket equiped with a RESET like the ones normally installed in the bathroom since this appliance is equiped with one you might have to press the reset button on the iron for it to work. I don't know anything about electricity but I have noticed this myself when I tried to use it on such sockets. P.S. Still love my iron after 4 years and still works great!!!

Previous to purchasing this item, I did a fair amount of research. On a website of flat iron reviews, this iron was rated number 2. I purchased it because of the damp/dry functionality.

The iron is SOOO easy to use! I'm able to straighten my daughter's long/thick hair in about 15 min. The consistant heat level is very impressive, as is the quick initial heating speed!

I do forward one MAJOR caution. As the iron can be used on damp hair, be careful in placing the iron near the scalp, as the release of steam may burst back toward the scalp.