This is a pre-styling product for people with wavy, curly, or otherwise textured hair who are going for a sleek, straight result with a blow-dryer or flat iron. Because it's applied to damp hair before heat styling rather than as a finishing touch, it's most useful to people who already have a heat-styling routine, not those looking for a no-heat frizz fix.

It's not aimed at defining curls — it's built to relax texture, so anyone wanting to keep or enhance natural curl pattern should look elsewhere in the line.

Where a plain heat protectant just shields hair, Straight Works is formulated to actively smooth the hair shaft while it protects, which is why Paul Mitchell positions it specifically for turning wavy or curly texture into a straight, sleek result rather than for general daily styling.

Its gel-serum format is the other differentiator: it distributes more like a lightweight serum than a stiff gel, so it's built to disappear into the finished style rather than leave a visible product layer.

• Apply a small amount to clean, damp hair
• Style with a blow-dryer or flat iron as desired

• Pro: gel-serum texture gives styling control without the stiff, crunchy feel of a traditional setting gel
• Pro: doubles as a pre-heat-styling product, so it doesn't require a separate heat protectant step for most users
• Pro: lightweight enough for regular use without visibly weighing hair down
• Con: contains multiple silicones (Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone), which can build up on hair over time without periodic clarifying
• Con: fragrance includes recognized scent allergens (hexyl cinnamal, limonene, hydroxycitronellal), worth noting for sensitive scalps
• Con: designed to relax texture, so it works against curl definition rather than for it