Don’t be fooled by the Fhi

After going through about fourteen $20 hair straighteners, I finally broke down and bought a Chi. That was in 2004 and my life has never been the same. The quickness, the hotness and OMG, the straightness! It was the best $100+ I ever spent.

But it almost didn’t happen. When I went to buy my Chi online, something got in the way. That something was the Fhi. Now I will share with you the story of the Fhi so that you don’t make the mistake that I almost made.

So back to 2004: I went to some discount flat iron website (in fact I think it was http://www.discountflatirons.com/) and I placed my order for the Chi. A few days later I got an email from the site saying: We are sorry to inform you that the Chi is currently out of stock. (NO! I could feel my hair getting wavier as I read the bad news.) However, we have good news. (A free Chi perhaps?) We will send you the Fhi which is better than the Chi at no additional cost. The Fhi actually retails for more than the Chi and it’s quality is superior to the Chi. You will be getting this exceptional flat iron at the same price as the Chi.

I was immediately sold on the Fhi. I thought, “I bet this is like the flat irons they use in salons! I will have salon-styled hair every day. That’s the dream! Yes, send me that freakin’ Fhi right now!” I started to click my acceptance but for some reason I hesitated. Instead of buying the Fhi, I Googled it.

Apparently lots of people were falling for this Fhi in Chi’s clothing. And it was not, in fact, superior to the Chi. This website must have gotten some sort of Fhi kick-back. I told the site I would hold out for my Chi and that’s just what I did. I think it came a few days later.

A friend of mine wasn’t as lucky as I was. She told me that she asked her mom to get her the Chi for her birthday. I said, “Make sure she doesn’t get you the Fhi.” She said, “There’s no way. I told her “Chi” and she doesn’t know the name of any other flat irons.” Sure enough, her mom got her the Fhi. Poor girl’s hair was fried.

Sadly, my Chi broke a couple of months ago. It’s okay; we had a good four years. I quickly ordered another and only had to go with unstraight hair for a few days. When people saw my wavy hair I’d just say, “My new Chi’s on order.” Hey, I’ll take a few bad hair days over four years with the Fhi.

(Me after a salon trip. I always takes a pic because even with the Chi, I can't get total salon-styled hair on a daily basis.)