T3 Lucea is fast and furious, but still gentle when it comes to hair styling
Price: $170
Available sizes: 1”, 1.5”
Best for: all hair types and lengths
What we like: versatile hair tool fitting different hair types and styling needs, great material quality
What we don’t like: overheats, buttons get pressed accidentally
How it stands out: recovers its heat very fast and comes with a great tool kit to support your session
Rating: 4.3/5.0
T3 Lucia Flat Iron is a very strong and fast tool. Its durable material stands out and it has a technology called Heat IQ that helps it recover its heat as fast as possible. It’s unusual for a ceramic flat iron to provide such a speedy session, but T3 was a pleasant surprise for us. It comes with 9 variable heat settings from 260F to 410F, and one of them will for sure fit you. But watch out, it does have a tendency to overheat and our tests revealed that it actually heats up till 440F, which is too high if you don’t have very thick strands. It’s a luxury flat iron which has all the fancy digital displays that is there to offer, and it’s really comfortable to hold. One thing worth mentioning about its design though, is that it’s too easy to accidentally press buttons and change settings. But other than that, it’s an ergonomically designed tool. It comes with two plate width options. The 1” one is the most commonly found size as the most versatile one that fits most. The 1.5” one on the other hand, is for the longer strands which need larger surfaces to be tamed fast. It’s a simpler tool than the T3 Smooth ID or Singlepass Stylemax, which both have heat customization settings. But it also is more affordable with the same material quality. Another aspect that we appreciate a lot about this tool is that it comes with a tool kit including a brush as well as clips and pins to section your strands. Below we share our experiences with “T3 Lucia Flat Iron”.
Table Of Contents
- Shape And Size
- Heat And Variable Settings
- Material And Performance
- Features
- Ergonomics
- Price And Guarantee
- Competition
Shape And Size
T3 Lucia has a classic shape with straight plates which successfully straighten the strands. The plates have rounded edges to prevent the hair from snagging, as well as easing the process of curling the hair. But since it’s not very round on the outside, it doesn’t do a great job as a curler. Its multidirectional plates allow it to keep contact with the hair much better which helps with its speed.
It comes with two different plate widths; 1” and 1.5”. The 1” one is preferred by the ones that prioritise versatility, as this size fits almost all hair lengths. This is the size to go for if your hair is shoulder length or shorter. The 1.5” one on the other hand, is way better if your strands are long. Since it’s very large, it can cover a larger area at one pass and style your hair much more efficiently. But it’s good to be aware of the fact that this size also heats more than the smaller ones. Length of its plates are slightly shorter than average with 3.75”,and its conveniently compact.
When we look at the length of the tool, which is 10.5” we can say that it’s travel friendly and medium sized.
Heat And Variable Settings
T3 Lucea comes with 9 different heat settings and the heat range is quite wide. Its minimum heat is 260F and is perfectly gentle for fine hair. Its maximum temperature is claimed to be 410F, but in reality, when we measure it reaches till 440F. So, it does overheat if you use the maximum heat setting and while this is great for unruly strands, it may cause heat damage to more fragile hair types. Overall, it’s a highly versatile tool in terms of heat.
It has a technology keeps the back of its place cool while using the tool. The back of its plates’ heat is maximum 105F and its cool tip 96F. So, its handle and cool tip is very comfortable to hold, and completely safe from burning your hands.
Material And Performance
As a flat iron with ceramic plates, it seems like this tool prioritizes the gentleness over performance. Ceramic is usually a material that heats up slower and less, but in reality, this tool is super fast. It has a technology that regulates its heat and retains its temperature quickly. Don’t get us wrong, it still is a gentle tool, if you use the low heat settings and this tool manages to have the perfect balance between gentleness and speed.
We’re impressed by how efficient it is, considering how fast it is. Its material quality is also at a luxury level. It’s sturdy to hold and as much as it’s an investment, its price vs performance is really high.
Features
This is a tool with many little features and they all make differences in its performance.
First of all, it has Rapid Heat IQ which helps to recover its temperature. We really noticed the difference and this tool is seriously fast.
It has thermatouch technology that keeps the outside of its plates cool. This is a great feature as some tools get way too hot to hold.
It comes with a 60-minute auto shut off technology which is what we usually find in flat irons, and this feature keeps your tool safe from fire.
Dual voltage is another feature that flat irons usually offer and this tool doesn’t miss out on it. This means that you can use it anywhere in the world, and combined with its fairly compact design, we think that this tool is travel friendly.
Ergonomics
It’s a tool with an average weight which is 9.7oz. We measure this to find out if it may cause your arms and fatigue which is a very common problem. T3 Lucea is most likely not going to cause this problem, if you don’t use it for too long.
It has a quite thick handle which is 4.9oz. It will fit most hands but it’s something to consider if they’re very small.
It has an 8ft swivel cord and we can say that it’s comfortably long, and easy to manoeuvre.
It has digital display, as well as temperature control, and it’s a tool which is very straight forward to use.
Price And Guarantee
T3 Lucea may not the most budget friendly product with $170, but compared to the other T3 flat irons, it actually is the most affordable one. It’s a luxury product and the quality of its material reflects that. It has a very ergonomic design and it’s also strong in the performance department with its high speed capacity. It also comes with a 2 year warranty which is the average number in the market. Considering all this, we think it has great value and if you can afford it, we recommend to invest on it.
Competition
If you’re after the latest in T3 technology, take a look at the T3 Smooth ID. Its smart algorithm adjusts heat according to your hair’s texture, length, and color treatments. It’s perfect for beginners.
T3 Lucea has plates measuring 3.75″, which is below average. If you have long hair, the main drawback of the Lucea will be its shorter plates. A fantastic alternative for dense and longer strands is the Babylisspro Nano Titanium Ultra-thin Straightener. It boasts 4.74″ long plates, one of the longest on our list. Babyliss also offers a wide heat range between 240 to 450 degrees with titanium plates.
