Hair devices have develop into more and more fashionable over the past decade. Hair dryers, curlers, steamers — you identify it, there’s most likely a TikTokker shilling for the newest hair gadget that may completely revolutionize a hair routine. Even so, I used to be excited to get a demo of L’Oréal’s Mild Straight at CES 2026.
It’s an extension of the tech that L’Oréal launched at CES 2024 with the Airlight Pro hairdryer. In a nutshell, most typical hair styling instruments depend on heated coils and motors. The Airlight Professional hairdryer launched infrared gentle to assist pace up drying whereas decreasing the general warmth required. (I’ve been performing some long-term testing of the high-tech hair dryer versus a regular one over the previous 12 months, and I can affirm that it is a lot quicker.)
The Mild Straight makes use of the identical tech, however in a flat iron kind. The proposed profit is the flexibility to straighten or curl hair with one cross, utilizing much less warmth. Typical hair styling instruments can exceed 400 levels Fahrenheit, however the Mild Straight gained’t transcend 320 levels. Altogether, the corporate says that ought to translate to a few instances quicker styling and hair that’s two instances smoother. Contemplating that styling can take perpetually — and result in some crispy strands — saving time whereas additionally decreasing injury is a compelling pitch.
I didn’t get to attempt it by myself hair for hygienic causes. I did, nevertheless, get to deal with the gadget and see a robotic arm curl and straighten a check strand of hair. The flat iron is comparatively light-weight to carry and heats up rapidly. Within the demo, I used to be in a position to see the robotic curl after which straighten hair with a single cross — however the ensuing hair wasn’t too sizzling to the contact. It was a powerful demo, although we’ll need to see how the gadget performs on completely different hair varieties. L’Oréal advised me that the gadget ought to work on most hair varieties, nevertheless it’s not going to vary the truth that flat irons are simpler to make use of on sure hair varieties over others.
The Mild Straight is slated to reach someday in 2027, so we don’t but understand how a lot it’ll price. Additional down the road, L’Oréal says it’s eager to increase this infrared gentle tech to multi-styler instruments like hairdryer/curler brush combos.
