First Impressions | Redken Steam Infusion Iron

It's been a little while since I first shared my heartache after loosing my beloved Babyliss steam flat iron. As a person with an extensive flat iron collection, I thought they were all pretty much the same. But of all the options I've owned, the Babyliss stood out as exceptional. The steam function seemed to take my flat ironing process to a whole new level. So you can imagine my dismay when the iron no longer could produce it's amazing steam. I did what anyone else in my situation would do. I sought to replace my Babyliss as soon as I could. Since my exact iron was no longer in production, I tried my best to find a suitable alternative. Little did I know that I'd find an even better option. Redken jumped into the steam flat iron game and decided to go "all in" with a professional level product made for stylists. Luckily for us, this professional tool is available online.

I tried to hold out as long as I could but, honestly, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Steam Infusion.  So far, I've tried it twice.  Since this tool requires a pretty decent investment, I'd like to share my honest opinion on what I love and what I don't like about the iron based on my first impressions.  

First, impressions are that this iron is built like a professional level product.  It's body is sleek and somewhat bulky at the same time.  I think the best term to describe the Steam Infusion would be sturdy.  Out of everything I love about this iron, thee one feature that makes it worth it's it weight in gold.  Is the water holding tank.  Unlike my Babyliss which had this tiny little reservoir that would require refilling every 15 minutes or so, this lovely iron has a standalone holding tank.  It's smaller than my hand but big enough to hold quite a bit of water.  And.....according to it's instructions, you don't have to use purified water.  YOU CAN POUR TAP WATER INTO THE RESERVOIR.  I have owned over 1dozen steaming tools in my lifetime.  This is the very first one that didn't require me to use purified water. For that I am grateful!  To be honest, I still used purified water out of pure habit

I also want to make a really big deal about what happened the last time I used it.  Flat ironing my hair can take me a multitude of hours to complete.  I'm parting my hair, detangling it, adding product, and so on.  With my old iron, I would be rudely interrupted by a steam less iron that required constant refilling.  This wonderful piece of machinery lasted several hours proving steam with each pass of the iron.  I almost cried with happiness.

Not having to use purified water is a huge selling point.  Not to mention how blown away I was to have the ability to iron my entire head with out running out of steam.  Seems like this iron could do no wrong.  Right? Well....there's one thing I wish was different.  If you take a look at the pic below, you'll notice a row of small circles along the edge of the iron.  This, I suspects is where the steam escapes.  To me, it seems like the steam should come out closer to the plate. That would be my preference.  But, in all honestly, this iron provides amazing results just the way it is.

The Redken Steam fusion straightened my hair easily with just one pass on lower heat settings.  I noticed that my hair didn't feel distressed by the heat.  Meaning it was soft and healthy looking when everything was all said and done.  Overall, I'm extremely happy with my purchase.  It's probably one of the best investments I've made in a while.  Yes, I'm sad that I lost my Babyliss but, if I were to have a choice, I would prefer to have the Steam Fusion (over the Babyliss) on my healthy hair team.