Finally! I can curl my hair!

I’m one of those people who can’t seem to use a normal curling iron. In fact, I bought a curling iron with a clamp years ago, but have never successfully managed to do a decent curl. It only fried and crimped my hair. My hair is pin straight; it can’t even hold a decent bun unless I use hair screws or Goody spin pins. The thickness of the hair is about medium, and I have a fair amount of it. It doesn’t hold a curl for very long. In the past to make it a bit wavy, I’ve braided it. My hair is also very long. It is about half way down my back.

For many years, I’d heard about the clampless irons especially the Conair Infinti YouCurl. I was originally going to get that one, but I found the Remington T Studio Pearl Ceramic Curling Wand which is cheaper than the Conair for about $5CAD less at Walmart ($13 less since I got it on sale). It has a lot of good reviews too. I would have liked to get the bigger 1″- 1 1/2″ curling wand, but they don’t seem to sell it at the Canadian Walmarts.

Price: On sale at $24.95CAD before taxes at Wal-Mart. Regular about $32.97. I don’t think many other places sell this in Canada other than London Drugs which I do not live near. In the US, this retails for about $24.99 at Target.

Pros

• Affordable!
• Multiple heat settings.
• Heats up in under 30 seconds. Auto-shut off in one hour.
• The On/Off and lock functions (press and hold the Negative sign) for 2 seconds. I like the digital display.
• It works! Smooth, static free curl quickly. Lasts for days. It is easy to use.

Cons

• The handle and the non ceramic part of the wand feels a bit cheap. It’s basic plastic and I found a little chip on the stand. This is a minor quibble since the barrel is fine.
• The glove is made of standard material, not anything specifically heat resistant. Buy a real glove or don’t use it at all.
• If you have long hair, I recommend the bigger barrel one as this is a tad small.

Conclusion: I like this tool a lot. You need to take some time to learn to use it, but even when I used it for the first time, I managed to get a lot of volume and curls to my hair. It’s worth the price I paid for and I am not someone who is a hair junkie. I like my hair straight, but it’s good to have this tool for when I want to go out or change it up.

General Tips

1. On clean, dry (or very nearly dry) hair, I spray heat protectant. I use TRESemmé Heat Tamer, but I hear the Got2B one is good too.
2. Comb through to evenly distribute the product and turn on the curling wand.
3. Section hair for 3 or 4 sections. I recommend at least sectioning it in two to make it easier unless you have very thin hair to begin with.
4. Take smaller sections of hair for tighter curl or bigger for more wavy look. Take the wand and put it behind your head with the handle up and the barrel pointing down. Wrap backwards onto the barrel or forwards if you want to alternate.
5. Try to wrap so as to leave spaces between your hair around the barrel instead of it bunching together. It’s difficult especially if you have long hair, but it does create a better looking curl.
6. Hold for between 4-10 seconds. Release into your hand if you can and curl and adjust.
7. Touch up the ends especially if you very straight hair and layers.
8. Finish off combing through with fingers to make it more natural. You can apply hairspray or styling product to keep the curl.

Attempts and Tests

Take 1. May 6th, 2012.

356F. Held for a count of 10 (about 5 secs). No hair spray. No system to this as this was my first attempt. I tried to hold the wand in my right hand for both sides, but I had to switch to using my left and wrapping hair with my right when doing the right side. The left side and the front looks much better because I used my dominant hand to do the curl. I tried using the glove, but it is really hard to take pieces of hair with the glove so I gave up. Had some difficulty with the hair at the back. I found that when I grabbed bigger chunks of my hair, it wouldn’t curl or even make waves. I guess I need a higher heat setting for bigger portions or a more wavy look. Almost burned a knuckle, but generally not that bad heat at this temperature. Took a long time since I have a lot of hair, and I missed some of my hair.

Take 2. July 8, 2012.

I had a hair cut since the first take. While the longest layer of my hair is almost to my waist, I got a lot of layers at the top so I reduced the bulk of my hair.

365F. No hair spray. Sectioned hair into three parts. Wrapped backwards and tried to get smaller pieces of hair. Held between 5 to 8 seconds depends on how big the piece was. Tried to catch the curl in my hand and held it there while it cooled, but I got impatient towards the end. After I curled the hair, I moved it to the front and wrapped it in a clip. I curled my side bangs as well and I was really impressed with how well they looked (at least on my better left side). It seemed to shape my face and my glasses. It’s a great tool for touching up your fringe and getting volume.

I did this the night before going to work because I have a lot of hair and I don’t have the time to do this in the morning of work. The curls keep for a few days though and it gives instant volume.

That’s all for this post. Now that I have an curling wand, I can experiment and use online hair tutorials. I will make additional posts to see how I am getting on.

Do you use a curling wand? How do you like it?