Best Curling iron?

[sunnyBeach]

I'm looking for some recommendations of great curling irons! I had my hair 'done' for an event and the lady used curling irons and it looked amazing! I need to get to get some to replicate it in a small way in everyday life!

Not an iron as such but I have the Babyliss curl secret. It’s foolproof. But expensive. And a bit scary the first time it sucks your hair in.

I'm not sure how you feel about curling wands, but as a frequent hair curler who has tried lots of wands & irons, a wand is my tool of choice. They can take a bit of practise to get the knack but I much prefer them to irons with a clamp.

I used to have a Babyliss Ceramic Curling Wand Pro which did the job for years, but I have recently upgraded to a GHD Curve Creative Curl Wand, which I LOVE! It gives beautiful soft curls which stay in my hair for 3 days, and a more natural result than the Babyliss which gave a bit more of a corkscrew look which required loosening with my fingers. I also have less tangled hair after using the GHD. There is a huge price difference between the 2 however so it depends on budget, the Babyliss certainly served its purpose while I had it though!

@newmummysw what's the difference with a wand? Just that there is no clamp?

I'm a little scared of the babyliss secret curl. With my luck I will get my hair stuck all the time.

That’s interesting, as the ghd one is £120 is it really that amazing? I’m a sucker for trying to perfect the long lasting beach wave !

The curling wands I have tried are tapered, so they go from wide at one end to narrower at the base. I find this gives a more natural look. The irons I have tried are the same width all the way down & I struggle to get as close to the scalp. I also find that the clamp leaves a dent in the hair & just generally makes it more fiddly to handle! That may just be me though!

With the wands, I have found the best technique for me to be holding the hair in place on the wand (with a heat-resistant glove!) for 8-10 seconds with the GHD (more like 20-30 with the Babyliss). I then pull the wand out while still holding the hair in a ringlet while it cools. I think you can clip the hair while it cools to save time but I have not mastered this yet! If I just pull the wand out & don't hold the ringlet while it cools I find the curl drops straight out.

With regards to the GHDs being worth the money, for me they have been. I still got long-lasting curls with the Babyliss, but they were more unnatural & corkscrew-like, required breaking up with my fingers which sometimes led to frizziness, & I always got really tangled hair at the nape of my neck; I referred to it as my birds nest! The GHDs give natural looking curls which relax slightly & never leave me with tangled hair. They are expensive though; I was very lucky to win £70 & then my friend who works in a salon gave me her 20% discount so I only ended up paying £20 of my own money.

Both wands did give me long-lasting curls (usually 3 days), but I don't know whether that's just my hair type!

I would add that I'm dyspraxic so find certain fine motor skills quite tricky, so this is just my particular experience!

Sorry, that was quite long!

Oh and just to add, I was tempted by the Babyliss Curl Secret, but as my hair reaches to the base of my back at its longest point (long layers), i was advised it might be too long so haven't even tried it. Also scared of it getting caught in there!

@newmummysw that was super helpful!!! Thank you!

You're welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions! You might be able to tell I'm a huge curling fan

Babyliss curling wand it was I dunno £25 maybe? God it's amazing the only thing that works in my hair. I use it on the dds they love it. Curls stay in all day and the next!

Seems like wands are preferred over irons!

I use the Babyliss pro conical wand too (the all black one) - I am normally a higher end person but I have seen a lot of prestigious hair stylists use this tool, which convinced me to give it a try as their work on clients is amazing. It is a good product but not revolutionary. I don’t reach for it much and tend to just curl with my straighteners as it is easier.

This curl idea sounds great. What kind of hair do you need for curling to save you time?

I've tried over and over again to curl with straightners and I can't get a good curl. With the conical wands is the curl more beachy wavy or can you get some Kate Middleton curls too?

I'm lying I've just looked at mine it's Remington - amazing item it's a Remington pearl curling wand and it's £29.00 bargain!

Not technically a curling iron, but my GHDs do better at curling than any of the dedicated ones have ever done.

I have very frizzy wild hair...anyhow now sit under the hairdressers old fashioned thing with big curlers in, like an old lady. My hair is fab now, great big curls. It's in great condition and I just titivate it a bit with my GHDs when necessary 😊

I've tried over and over again to curl with straightners and I can't get a good curl. With the conical wands is the curl more beachy wavy or can you get some Kate Middleton curls too?

I've never been able to get curls right with straighteners either!

I find with the wands that depending on how long I hold the hair for & how small the sections of my hair are, I either get big beachy waves or smaller tighter curls. Wasn't 100% sure what kind of curls you mean with Kate Middleton but if you mean the kind of voluminous look then the only time I've achieved that was with a large-barrelled curling iron with a clamp. The curls didn't stay for long though.

Does the GHD wand work on long hair? My hair is half way down my back, but sometimes waist length & I have a lot of it.

IME, the GHD works on every length I've tried it on - obviously, the shorter the hair the more likely the bounce of the curl is to defy the forces of gravity and bounce up. But that's just physics and no different than any other curling tool.

I never got this right either until my lovely hair stylist showed me how to do it:

Basically, you separate a flat-ish strand, position the GHDs on, roughly, a 45-degree angle to the hair strand, twist it in the direction you want the curl to go and pull the strand through.

You'll get a curlier result if you wrap the hair around the straighteners 360 degrees, and a wavier one if you only give it a half-turn. Similarly, the thicker your strand, the looser the curl and vice-versa.

I'm not doing a very good job of describing this, I'm afraid ...

Thanks Diliana, that's very helpful. I guess it's a case of lots of practice to get the technique right...

@ComedyBoobs my hair reaches just above the base of my back & the GHD wand works really well for me.

Ok I think I get it. I want a curling wand of some sort but not a conical one. Will look at the Remmingtons.

Glad I'm not the only one that can't master the straightners curl crazy stretch as I dubbed it in my house

My DD uses GHD Classic Wave Wand which was expensive but she had done her research and knew the exact look she wanted - not a corkscrew curl and not a ringlet- a definite wave.
She doesn't have anything from GHD range her straighteners are Babyliss so was wondering whether expense worth it.
She is absolutely delighted with them and the look achieved exactly what she wanted .
I don't know how to do links but fleur de force the youtuber did a brilliant review with photos of looks achieved of all the GHD curling range (there are 4 - 2 wands and 2 tongs) this was eventually how my DD made her choice.