I thought I was gonna have to buy an expensive flat iron to get my hair straight and beautiful with movement, but I used my conair on my four inches of 4-something hair, and it worked wonderfully! So, I think it's all about the condition of the hair, the products you use, and the technique you use to straighten....cause i was natural for 17 years before this last bc and i never had these kind of beautiful results....i never knew my hair could get that straight and beautiful, everyone agreed that my straightened natural hair looked way better than my permed hair ever looked----and I just used a 13 dollar conair ceramic iron from walmart!