I am not high maintenance, beauty-wise. I have used the same Conair curling iron for over three years. I think it cost $20 or so.
I just use it to turn the ends of my hair and give it some movement. Nothing real fancy.
Well the spring broke on it so it’s time to buy another. Holy cow there are a million appliances out there! Ulta had similar irons, plus tapered ones with no clamp (how do you use them?) and ones with squiggly metal wrapped around the barrel etc.
Any one have a curling iron that is easy to use and makes curls that stay in place? My old one was tourmaline or ceramic or something that was supppsed to be easier on the hair but who knows if that is just marketing
Just checked mine and it’s a Conair, too. Probably cost about $20 at Target 4 or 5 years ago; it might even be the same one you have.
My D is a real girly girl who can use the fancy ones to come up with some gorgeous styles. I am, shall we say, limited in my abilities with hair appliances, so a no frills one works fine for me. Thus no real recommendation other than buying a new one of the Conair model you already have IF you liked it.
Mine is Conair, about $20 with the same coating as yours, purchased at Target. I like a 2 inch barrel, to straighten the strands with a slight curl-in at the bottom. It works very well. I think the ones without a spring are to be used for beach waves.
I also like that size of barrel because it gives me height at the top of my head. I hold the barrel close to the scalp and just wrap my hair around it once, hold it for about 3 seconds and it gives it nice height.
I also have a Conair with coating (used to have the plain metal one before that).
I mainly use a straightener, and just use the curling iron to tidy up any pieces under that are sticking out weird after the blow dryer and straightener.
I upgraded from drug store price/quality for my straightener and my hair dryer. I didn’t get anything super expensive, but did go a bit higher end, and am glad I did. But so far I’m not convinced I need to splurge on a fancier curling iron.
I’ve had both expensive ($100+) and inexpensive curling irons. Honestly, I did not think there was a big difference. I have thin hair that curls easily but goes completely flat if I don’t use a ton of products. The expensive curling iron did not help that :). I would not recommend the Hot Tools brand though. I had two and they both broke within 6 months.
I have straight hair and simply use a flat iron to straighten my hair and then gently curl the tips. Most curling irons create stiff curls that look very artificial IMO.
@MaterS - thanks. I am in the market for a new one as mine is on the fritz. The one you posted looks good.
This is not necessarily true. It completely depends on your hair and the type of curl you are trying to achieve. I have very thick, coarse hair. I sometimes use a straightener and sometimes a curling iron. Right now I have long layers but because my hair is thick and coarse, my layers do not lay well after drying. I use a fat (not sure if it is 2” or what) curling iron to make very loose curls, not even curls really, but just a loose look to move the hair in the right direction away from my way face, basically so my hair sort of lays correctly. Both of my girls also have very thick long hair and we have never been able to achieve stiff curls - in fact, most of any curl achieved ands up falling within an hour or two and really just looks like a slight wave.
My mother, OTOH, has very fine, thin hair. She uses a thin curling iron and is able to get a very stiff curl which she then brushes out so it really just adds some body. So he’s, stiff curls can be achieved for some types of hair if that’s the look someone is going for, but if used correctly, a curling iron does not necessarily only make stiff curls.
I just bought a flat iron and I like it for smoothing my hair and for turning the ends under. It’s very easy and quick.
When I went through menopause, my very straight hair turned wavy and now little wavy hairs stick out all over my head, so the flat iron helps smooth those out.
It was very inexpensive.
My girls only get stiff curls that last for more than an hour (they have very long thick straight hair) when using those tapered irons with no clamp. I don’t like the look as it’s too curly for my taste and they can’t really comb it or it will turn into a big bush. So it looks a little unkempt for my taste. Also those are hard to use without burning your fingers.
I also use the Conair Tourmaline Ionic from Target or Walmart. I used to use 1 1/4 inch but switched last year to the 1 inch. Like 4kids4us, I use it to get my curly hair to go in the right direction.
ETA: I do like the variety of settings, the hard shell cover for the hot part and the auto-shutoff. My hair stylist had mentioned to me at one point, that some upper end ones don’t have auto-shutoff because they are for use in a salon.
Oops…sorry…I have a Chi Flat Iron…not a curling iron. I haven’t used a curling iron in over 15 years. My flat iron does a fine job of creating a little curl on the ends.
Oooohhhh thanks for all this feedback. I did spend a little more on a hairdryer and I think it’s worth it, but I am not sure I need a $100 curling iron. Will look at the latest Conair and the one MaterS linked.
I do have somewhat coarse thick hair, so a curling iron does not make ringlets or defined “Nellie Olsen” (Am I dating myself?) curls. They fall and look like loose beach waves, a style that I always thought some people just woke up wearing. I did not realize it required some product and a few minutes with an iron!
I know people can make curls with a flat iron which sounds totally counter intuitive, but I’ve seen it done. I’m just not coordinated to do it.
And I am puzzled as to why the taper irons with no clamp are able to make longer lasting curls. I do think those are a third degree burn waiting to happen in my hands, even with the heat proof glove!
Okay, because I am procrastinating, I just watched a few YouTube videos and learned a little more about how the flat iron makes curls. I also watched a woman curl her hair with the taper iron and the glove and she straight up held on to that hot iron! I am seriously beauty deficient!
I have thick VERY curly hair–natural curls look ok if I use some product, let it dry naturally AND don’t sleep on it. Sigh. That means I have to do something with my hair every day. I have tried every straightener in the book. This one is a completely different style and is the absolute best and fastest straightener I have ever had:
My hair took 20 minutes to straighten with a Chi. This one? Three minutes. Note, it doesn’t really do any curl though.
Most days I like a smooth hair with loose curls or just waves. I’ve tried everything for that too. I know it’s old school, but the fastest thing for me is hot rollers. I can get them in in 2 minutes and then get dressed and do my makeup, etc. Takes 30 seconds to take them out and then separate with fingers or brush through, depending what I’m in the mood for that day. I don’t have the patience to stand in front of the mirror and curl 15 “bunches” of hair. These are the ones I am using now (same size as a curling iron and I get the same curl):
OP asked what curling iron would create curls that last. That is completely dependent on your hair and the products you use. Two different 1 inch barrel curling irons that both go up to 400 degrees will create the same curl. Your hair is only reacting to the heat…it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a $100 curling iron or a $20 curling iron.
For D and me, nothing other than a permanent has any curl last in our hair. We have tried, many stylists have tried. We give up. The curling iron and hot rollers are still somewhere laying about practically never used. We have ultra-straight hair and live with it mostly peacefully.
I also have a straightening brush and totally agree…it is way quicker, and actually does a better job than any flat iron I’ve owned! But get a good one if you plan to…the “as seen on TV” one just doesn’t have the heat to do as good a job.
Thank you! That makes me feel better when I read the reviews and various people say a product did nothing on their hair and others said it made long lasting curls.
And I agree with you - unless it’s a special occasion, I do not have time to separate my hair into 6 sections and then style each section in 4 parts. Way too much, I know myself and I just won’t do it. I have used hot rollers but I find I need more curlers than my set has, so a curling iron it is then!
@thumper1, what straightening brush do you recommend? And what type of hair do you have? I have hair similar to the hair that @scubasue describes. I’ve always thought that a straightening brush wouldn’t dry my hair fast enough so the curls/frizz would be out of control. You both have me wondering if there is a better way than blowdrying and then flat ironing my hair.
