Are you Asian? If you are not and are trying to imitate the styles of j-rocker hair it will be harder since the texture is different.

I would suggest both a hair iron and a straightening balm. I recommend Frederick Fekkai "straight away" balm. It can be purchased at Sephora or other high end department stores for about $17.50. I think an iron will work on shorter lengths of hair as long as it is very flat.

After you have straightened the hair, style it as you want with the balm and it should hold up through humid weather depending on how stubborn your hair is.

As for good irons, a flat iron by T3 is great and worth the investment. It can also be found at Sephora. If you do not have a Sephora store, there is Sephora.com.