“Take baby steps to hair straightening perfection”
There was absolutely no way that I was going to get through writing a review for the Rusk RSK732 Professional Str8 Titanium-Infused Ceramic Flat Iron without succumbing to a bit of word play with the word ‘Rusk’ so I’m getting it out of the way early. With a rusk being an iconic baby finger food that was very popular a generation ago, will the Rusk RSK732 Professional Str8 Titanium-Infused Ceramic Flat Iron become a famous straightener of our time, with the next generation reminiscing on just how good it was ‘way back when’?
Smooth Operator
Much is made in the world of Straighteners marketing hype about plates and, of course, as the main attraction, so there should be. The latest buzz is all about titanium, with this Rusk model being ‘infused, with titanium. So should you enthuse about the titanium infuse?
My hair is increasingly dry as I get older and due to damage and breakage, unless I use a straightening iron on it, I literally look like the proverbial bag of spanners. To put it simply, I need a bit of a miracle when it comes to my straighteners.
The Rusk gave me good results. In fact, the first time I used it on a portion of hair at the side that has a habit of flicking it, I had to do a double take. It was amazing. But. When I used it on more layered sections that admittedly need the split ends trimming, it struggled to do anything with the ends – and I am meaning anything. Now I have admitted that my hair needs split ends sorting, but other straighteners have made a better job than these. Maybe for hair that is in a much better state than mind would produce a much better result and indeed, if you check out other reviews, a fair few users truly do enthuse about the infuse, but I’m just left a bit neutral I’m afraid.
Hello Gel-lo
When people think about gel in connection with hair, they instantly think of the styling product, and if you’re of a more mature age, may even think of cheap plastic pots filled with transparent green slime. But the Rusk RSK732 Professional Str8 Titanium-Infused Ceramic Flat Iron is having none of that 1980’s stuff, as gel here refers to sol-gel technology. But what actually is sol-gel technology? Well to put it bluntly, I have absolutely no idea, but what I do know is that the idea is that it makes it easier for your hair to pull through the straightening plates.
Now call me a cynic, but as we have come so far in terms of technological advancements in straightening irons that actually I now expect any pair of straighteners to come with this as standard. In fact, I don’t expect it to be touted as a feature that I should be getting excited about. It’s as if unless it is listed as a feature, I should expect my hair to get tangled in the straightener as if that’s the norm. Let’s be honest, when we are ironing clothes do we expect the iron to get a little stuck and create a burn mark as if that’s just how it is? NO!!! That being said, yes, my hair did go through the plates smoothly – as it should – it’s a straightening iron.
Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy
I am a girl who appreciates the simpler things in life (you should meet my husband) and electronic gadgets that are easy to use please me. Not only am I busy, very busy, but also my mind has been a little frazzled from years of strong meds. This isn’t an excuse for my lack of ability to work out complicated things, but just a fact. So I like my straightening irons to be easy to use and deliver superlative results. For me, this is where the Rusk RSK732 starts to impress.
The buttons are easy to use and the super, duper digital display means you know what temperature you’re at – I’m a real fan of a digital display as it makes me feel all hi-tech so I’m loving this element of the Rusk. Other people have moaned about the fact that the temperature resets each time you switch it on but I expect this. When I get in my car I don’t expect it to turn left as I turned left into my drive. When I put my oven on I put the temperature on again. I just don’t see the problem.
Could a pair of straighteners cause you to have a meltdown?
Well hopefully not, but the Rusk RSK732’s have no automatic shut-off – dramatic pause – I can actually hear a stony silence from the readers of this review. Yes, we all now kinda expect straighteners to come with this feature, and even though we are highly unlikely to need it, the fact that it isn’t there does make me feel a little nervous. In fact, it’s one of those things that I will be worrying so much about leaving the straighteners on, that I will accidentally leave them on even though usually I am meticulous about these kind of things. It’s a bizarre fact, but then I do think it is bizarre in this age of technology for a manufacturer to leave this feature out. It annoys me – deeply.
So you will probably now be able to confidently guess what one of the cons of these straighteners is, but here’s the rest too.
PROS – nice looking straighteners with a professional vibe, digital display is a hi-tech winner for me, hair glides through the plates really well
CONS – NO AUTO SHUT-OFF!!! & Average straightening results on damaged hair
So do I actually like the Rusk RSK732 Professional Str8 Titanium-Infused Ceramic Flat Iron? Well actually yes – the review probably makes things sound a bit more negative than they were when using the straighteners. But I wouldn’t buy them – sorry, they just weren’t for me.
