Do you really get what you pay for?

For a long time my answer was yes. You do get what you pay for. One object though has changed my mind. Recently my Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium Flat Iron finally blinked on for the last time, and went out forever. :( I had had that flat iron for three years, and towards the end of it's life it had become very unreliable, sometimes not even turning on when i pressed the on button, or turning on for a fleeting minute only for me to discover in the middle of styling my hair that it had turned off again. It would go from a hot working flat iron to a cold, heatless, non-functioning thing.

When it finally fizzled out for the last time I was heartbroken. I had known for weeks that I had to find a replacement because it was clearly on it's last days. But I didn't have the money to get what I really wanted- a GHD or a KQC flat iron. These irons are both around two hundred dollars. I didn't want me next flat iron after the Babyliss Pro to be a step down after all. However, life happens, and rarely is it convenient. When my flat iron finally died on me, I knew I would just have to get a cheap one until I could afford one I had saved up for and truly wanted. So I dragged myself to Target and picked out one I had seen good reviews on from the Target website. It was $20.99.

I went home and straightened my hair with it. I've never been a girl who can resist playing with the things she's just purchased. Plus I had to know how it worked.

I was surprised.
Very surprised.

The flat iron, the Remington Digital-Heat Ceramic 1" Flat Iron, was very, very good. Although I wasn't a fan of the purple color, I liked the digital display of the temperature and the simple functionality of it. There was an on/off button, an up button and a down button to adjust the heat. It heated up in about a minute, and I began straightening. This was when the surprise came. It straightened my hair in the same amount of time as my previous flat iron. It straightened it just as well as my previous flat iron. The only difference was this: it snagged my hair. I didn't realize hair could even snag really, and when flat iron companies boast that the flat iron passes through hair smoothly without tugging or pulling I didn't understand how that was a benefit because I had never had my hair really snag when using a hot tool. However, now I understood. This flat iron snags my hair, and is not as smooth as my old one. And believe me, snagging can hurt. Not really, but it's an ouch moment. I can't do really small sections with this flat iron because it just doesn't grip very smoothly on small sections and snags way more easily. But other then snagging and pulling, it straightens very nicely.

Allow me to demonstrate...

Before: Look at all that hair! It's sheer volume is astonishing.

Hair out to there, And yes... the damage is awful.

Ready for the after?

!!!!!!

Amazing right? It almost looks too thin compared to the mass I had before haha, but don't worry, it's definitely the straight bangs that make it look so drastic. I don't really keep my bangs like that. I just kept it that way so you could see the difference.

If I do show my bangs, I wear them like this (and I AM growing them out haha)

Or pin them up like this.

Bottom line: Will I still be purchasing an expensive flat iron? In the future, I think if I can afford to, I will. Because it's just nice to get yourself something high quality that looks beautiful and works beautifully too. And getting the best puts your mind at ease permanently because you never have to wonder what else is out there. You pay for the best, and you get the best. But it's definitely more of a nice luxury, then a necessity. In terms of this flat iron, I am happy and do not feel a pressing need to start saving for a new, expensive one. In this case, I got much more then what I paid for. :)