Hair Straighteners A Brief History

You won't be able to pass a professional hair or beauty salon nowadays without seeing a stylist using hair straighteners on a client's hair. Hair straighteners as we recognise them today are a modern day innovation but hair straightening techniques have been practised for over a 100 years.

Hair Straighteners - What would you do without them?
Well up until recent times, men and women had been attempting to perfect hair straightening for over a century. A popular method was using specialized combs that were heated to high temperatures and moved gently through the hair in order to permanently change the hair structure, preventing it from curling.


Hair Straighteners - How it all started in the 19th Century
Heated tongs were invented by Parisian Marcel Grateau to straighten and style hair and these quickly became known as the 'curling iron'. Later, in 1872, Marcel began to use heated metal rods to straighten hair and these were famously known at the time as the 'Marcel Wave'. In 1909 Isaac Shero patented a hair straightening tool that comprised of two flat irons that were heated and then pressed together, however hair straighteners as we know them today were born in 1912 when Scottish Heiress Lady Jennifer Bell Schofield refined and combined previous efforts to create a new, hinged and two plated iron.

Hair Straighteners - What the future holds
The technology used in hair straighteners is an ongoing process and there are sure to be many more major breakthroughs in the years to come. They are one of the most popular accessories in the hair and beauty world and it isn't difficult to see why as they yield excellent results in terms of straightening, styling and protecting hair.