The different hair straightener that is available in the market today has a different and interesting history behind. The evolution of this hair straightening devices over the years from the heating irons to the present day straighteners is highly interesting. Today we take for granted our hair straightener but it is sure to create goose bumps after knowing what ladies had to do years ago to keep their hair straight. Earlier it was done so easily and often there had been a case of burnt scalp and fried hair.

Iron that we use to iron clothes was used earlier to straighten hair which is contrary to belief. There were also other quite a few methods of hair straightening, earlier that involved abrasive chemicals that were incredibly harmful to the scalp and hair both. But today, it is still possible to chemically straighten the hair, which is considered better that what was found in the past. But with the advent of modern hair straightening implements, the process of hair straightening has become easy and it is really not necessary to go to such an extreme. With this new hair straightening tools there is no commitment, no need to apply potentially harmful chemicals to your scalp every few months to keep your hair permanently straight and also that there is minimal possibility of damage to your hair.

Looking few years back the evolution of hair straightener started with the straightening comb. There is some confusion with the actual inventor of hair straightener but it is true that Madam C.J Walker in the early 1900s who made a record as America’s first black woman millionaire to make fortune with the invention of hair care products specifically tailored to black women popularized the use of hair straightener among the black women. That which we are thinking as a modern invention is actually a modification of an old invention by adding modern technology. Through time there had been many methods devised to curl hair and to keep the curl in place and people who are said to bring in the revolution in the world of fashion were- Charles L. Nessler, a German hairdresser, Eugene Sutter, Gaston Boudou who brought little modification to Sutter’s work, Rambaud, a Paris beautician, who had perfected a system of curling and drying permed hair for softer, looser curls by using an electric hot-air dryer, French chemist Eugene Schueller of L'Oréal laboratories who combined the action of thioglycolic acid with hydrogen peroxide to produce the first cold permanent wave and many more.

So there was gradual shifting from one hair styling tools to more advanced implements and in the mist of time the original inventor got overlooked. However the credit for the straightening hair still goes to the French hairdresser, Marcel Grateau, of late 19th century, who invented the curling iron, the permanent wave and later the Gillette safety razor. It could be seen that curling iron has remained a favored tool from the beginning and with time we have traveled a long distance and left behind the use of metal rods that were too risky as they were heated by inserting into hot coals or heating on gas or electric stoves and had no temperature control. So was then several accidents like burnt scalp, damage hair and burnt fingers. Modern day hair straighteners have more control and flexibility and are safe to use. Manufacturers have not stopped themselves from updating their product. In the near future we will come across different implement with different hi-tech features making our work easier than ever.