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• Plate material: Ceramic
• Variable temperature control: Yes
• Corded/cordless: Corded
• Cable length: 2.7m
• Weight: 283g

Design

The styler leaves out the bells and whistles that some other tools feature and looks pretty unassuming when taken out of the box with a black matte coating, simple plus and minus buttons to control the heat settings and a digital screen that shows you the temperature as it warms up. But, what it lacks in style, it certainly makes up for in substance.

What sets this flat iron apart from the others is its innovative plates, which vibrate and are infused with natural volcanic rock. But why? We hear you ask. Well, while this might seem like beauty jargon, both features actually serve a valuable purpose.

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The natural volcanic rock works alongside Bio:Ionic’s unique mineral complex to deliver, what it claims, is a moisturising heat that protects the hair and quickly seals the cuticle leaving you with sleek and frizz-free locks. As for the vibrations, the brand says that this function provides an extra smoothing action that not only polishes each strand for added shine but also helps spread the heat evenly, subsequently helping to cut down styling time.

Other interesting features worth noting include the ability to control the temperature of the tool in 10C intervals, with 140C being the lowest temperature and 230C the highest, and an automatic shut off that kicks in after one hour, meaning you won’t find yourself in a panic about whether or not you left them switched on.

Performance

We really enjoyed using this tool, as its modest design provided some benefits we weren’t expecting – it felt nice and light, and the matte finish on the outside meant it was easier to grip when styling the back of the head or using it as a multitasking tool for wavy styles. The absence of fancy touch screens didn’t impact its performance either and we actually appreciated the straightforward “on” and temperature control buttons that meant we could get to work with just the touch of two buttons.

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Tailoring the heat settings is easily done using the aforementioned plus and minus buttons and we really liked that you could do so to the smallest degree. There’s 11 temperatures to choose from, meaning all hair types, from fragile to coarse, are catered to.

So, what about the results? While the sensation of the vibrating plates feels a little strange at first we quickly got used to it. Even after just one use, we were convinced they were responsible for improving the appearance of our hair, which looked noticeably more smooth and shiny after just one sweep of the plates.

We also experienced no dragging on the hair, didn’t have to go over sections more than once, which cut down on styling time, and found that the soft-touch outer and rounded tips of the tool made it easier to reach right to the root area and create tousled waves.

The verdict: Bio:Ionic volcanic MX 10 pro styler

Bio:Ionic’s MX 10 pro styler is a great multitasking tool that gave our hair a brilliantly glossy finish and, while we can’t say for certain that this was down to the brand using vibrating plates infused with volcanic rock, it certainly delivered.

Our only niggle was that there’s a slight gap between the plates, which made it tricky to grip the hair properly unless you applied a lot of pressure, but we’re willing to let that slide.