Product Review: Kiss Silicone Protexion Flat Iron

Week to week, we receive a number of review items here at Chronique; they're mostly books, some skin care products, and the occasional wearable object, such as last week's Fliptogs. Small appliances, not so much. So a few weeks ago, I was surprised to open a large box containing a Kiss Silicone Protexion flat iron.

Well-timed, since I had been going through my own consumer odyssey with straightening irons. A decade ago I paid about $120 for a terrific Chi, a new must-have at the time due to innovative glazed plates that prevent scorchage and breakage. It was a reliable steed for years, that is until inevitably put to rest by a stepdaughter, which is another story. When I finally needed another iron, I selected from among the brands usually found at Walgreen's.

Bummer No. 1: The first candidate's power plug literally fell into pieces coming out of the box. The replacement held itself together, but had little heat control.

Bummer No. 2: Next up, that trusty Conair. I've been using their blow dryers since tweenhood. Well, like Southwest Airlines, you are still free to use them, but they'll be pulling your hair out strand by strand soon enough. Since the plates aren't flush together anyway, it didn't really matter.

So it was a nice surprise to receive the new Kiss solution. I took it for a road test, since I was leaving for a climate that hates my hair, and in a deja-vu gadget moment, it was just like the old Chi (which still retails for about $119), but will only set you back $49. A "conditioning silicone bar" is embedded on each ceramic plate that aims to minimize direct contact with heat, and preserve the hair shaft. It must work, because forgetting any kind of serum the first time I used the iron, I was glad to see smooth results. That is, until the next afternoon, when during a vain attempt to restore some volume with hairspray, I kept spraying and spraying, but nothing happened, and it didn't smell right. I must have forgotten to light a smoke, I was so busy working at it with somewhat flammable nail enamel-drying spray. So much of said mop has been lost to roller disasters and drunken stylists this year, though, that it didn't really matter.