This iron features an extra long, straight barrel with a clamp that spans the length of the iron. You can clamp the ends of your hair and spin the iron upward toward your head, wrapping long hair around the barrel to create a perfectly round ringlet, which can then be finger-brushed to look more tousled. Barrel Size: Curling tongs barrels come in many sizes, all of which offer different styles of curl are suitable for different types of hair. We used each curling wand on a hair extension and, surprisingly, none of the curls fell in the following 24 hours. These widths create your classic, well defined, polished looking curls. If you want your hair to look as close to perfect and as far away from a festival as possible, then look no further.

Curling irons consist of a round heated barrel and a clamp that holds the hair in place. A curling wand is essentially a clipless curling iron. Instead of clamping hair with the hot iron, you use your hand to physically wrap sections of hair around the tool. The method creates a more natural-looking wave or curl than the coiffed Shirley Temple-esque ringlets that a traditional curling iron produces. When it comes to staying power, there was no difference in all of the different wands and irons that we tested. Instead, the longevity of a curled style largely depends on your individual hair type and the products you use before and after styling.

Hair curler FAQs

Some curling wands come with additional accessories that you can use alongside the curling wand itself. The most common of these is the glove — since there is a real risk of scalding yourself or burning your skin, the glove is there to protect you if your fingers slip by accident. Setup: How sturdy does the wand feel? How long does it take for it to heat up? Is there a notification when it’s ready, so you're not sitting around waiting? Are there adjustable heat settings for varying hair types?

Give Some Oomph to Your Curls with the 10 Best Curling Irons for Fine Hair How and when should you clean a curling wand? They assessed how easy each tool was to use, how well it reached their roots, how pleased they were with their final style, and how long their results lasted for. Perhaps the most talked about curling tool on this list—the Dyson Airwrap Styler Complete—is also the most expensive curling wand we tested.Angie Perrantes is a pro hairstylist and natural hair specialist whose clients include Paige Hurd and LisaRaye McCoy. Despite creating beautiful curls, the Dyson is not our overall winner because it has a steeper learning curve than other products to achieve the same results and you have less control over the style and placement of the curls it creates. It also takes longer than I—and I’m sure others—would like to spend on their hair.

The most impressive feature, though, is that it heats up in about six seconds—faster than any other iron I tested—and alerts you with a loud chime when it reaches 365ºF. The only downside is that the iron doesn’t have heat adjustability—it can only hold a steady 365ºF. That temperature is appropriate to give a great curl to pin-straight hair, but the option of adjustability for other hair types would’ve been more ideal. Another (smaller) bummer: It only comes in the one barrel size.

Bubble - a wand with bubbles or bobbles will create a relaxed beachy style curl, resulting in volume and texture. Mideyah Parker is a celebrity hairstylist whose clients include Precious Lee, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Naomi Campbell.

What we really love about this wand is that it creates small, tight ringlets that last for hours. If these curls are too tight compared to your natural hair, just run your fingers through them once they cool down. This will ensure they blend in with the rest. Tapered - If you're after a more natural and relaxed curl, then the tapered tool is the one for you. Using this means that the curl will be tighter at the root, getting looser as it gets down to the ends. To clean your curling wand, make sure it is unplugged and completely cooled off. Then, combine two tablespoons of baking powder with a few splashes of hydrogen peroxide. This will create a moist paste. From there, coat your wand in the paste for about 30 minutes to an hour. (Be sure not to get this paste on any buttons or electrical elements.) Once the time is up, wipe the paste off of your curling wand with your fingers. (It will be dry.) If there is any leftover residue on your wand, use a damp paper towel to wipe it off. While they both pretty much do the same thing, wands are usually better for beginners who want to keep things simple, as they can give you a bit more freedom in your style. You can also create different-sized curls easily. First things first, you should use a curling wand when your hair is dry. To avoid heat damage, you should also spray your hair with a heat protectant before you begin styling it. From there, take a section of your hair and wrap it around the wand. “Wrapping the hair away from the face will give you a classic natural wave and wrapping it towards your face will provide you with more of a glam look,” explains Gueldner. “You can hold for a shorter or longer amount of time, depending on the curl you want to achieve.”What’s more, each of these attachments – and the styler as a whole – punches well about its weight when you consider its price. The ceramic coating of the crimping and straightening iron helps provide an even heat distribution and a smooth surface texture. The curling tongs work well, although our models complained that they are a little short if you’re working with longer hair. This shorter size actually proved a plus point with the crimper, though, because it gave tighter mermaid-style waves rather than beachy waves. A look our models said they wanted to achieve. Of all the hair tools on the market, few are as polarizing as the curling iron. Choosing the best curling iron is just as important as learning how to use one properly—whether you’re creating subtle waves, tight coils, or flatiron curls. The Best Curling Irons The biggest difference between the two hair tools is their shape. A wand is just as you’d imagine — a wand that can be straight, bubbled or tapered — whereas tongs have a clamp on the side to hold hair in place. It's a lot to navigate, for sure — but that, fellow beauty geeks, is why you can turn to us. No matter what kind of curl you're looking to create or what your budget happens to be, there is a curling iron, wand, or newfangled gadget out there for you, just waiting to give you the ringlets or waves you're longing for.