Who says you have to endure fried and split ends to get sleek, smooth locks with a flatiron? Not Misikko stylist John Davis on AOL Stylelist. Davis created these tips to improve your flatironing technique and help protect hair from all that smoke and sizzle.

Section off hair. The science behind sectioning is to ensure each strand gets equal heat distribution. But make sure sections aren’t too large or you’ll run the risk of only applying heat to the outer parts of hair while leaving the inner section untouched.

Don’t drag the flatiron. Smooth hair strands instead of tugging or pulling down on them. Let the smoothing motion straighten your tresses.

Avoid multiple pass overs. Please! Don’t pass over the same hair section more than three continuous times. Why? Because this causes more damage than using a high temperature setting. To get the desired straightness in only one or two passes, find the correct temperature setting for your hair. (Hint: Smoking strands mean burning hair.)

Always use protection. Prep strands with heat-protective serums containing jojoba and argan oil. These oils coat strands to prevent heat styling tool damage. (Hint: Only use a quarter-sized drop, though, to avoid product buildup.)

Never flatiron wet hair. Unless you like scorched strands, avoid this exercise. Instead straighten hair with a blowdryer. Follow up with a flatiron to lock in shine and moisture.

Click here to learn more ways to counter possible damage from hairstyling techniques.