Hair Styling: Herstyler Grande Clipless Curling Wand

"Tourmaline barrel creates smooth, glossy curls with Ceramic technology which produce negative ions to seal cuticles and repel humidity (no frizz!) Quick heat recovery without sudden increase of heat to minimize damage, leaving your curls shiny and luscious. The slim, rubberized handles facilitate your styling experience securing the barrel in your hand. Our Grande Baby curler is suitable for all hair types; from fragile and fine to wavy and thick. The body of the curler is constructed using light-weight, high-strength composite materials, commonly used in the aerospace industry."

http://www.herstyler.com/product.php?id_product=28

A Curling Iron, particularly the traditional metal kind with the clip, has always been a challenging hair styling tool for me. It is not an easy tool to master. It takes too long to use on my medium thick hair, without guarantees on the outcome even if I use it in tandem with tons of hairspray and a hair product that enhances and holds curls. Most of the time, I just end up with burnt ends and a frizzy mess.

From a year ago, I saw this feature on shine.yahoo.com on Clipless Curling Irons. Hair stylists swear on the ease of use, and a glossy frizz-free outcome due to the iron's ceramic coating. It is also said to make curls that last until you wash your hair. I've had no luck searching for this in Rustan's and Watsons. I saw one from a Multiply merchant but was wary of buying because it was generic/unbranded from China. The seller also kept changing the shipping cost, it was a turn-off. I was almost tempted to place an order from the pre-order merchants in Multiply and Girltalk for a Con-air, Sedu or Remington one. 

As luck would have it, I saw this Herstyler Grande Clipless Curling Wand being sold in sulit.com for only 2000 Pesos. This costs 140 USD from the Herstyler website, and on sale at 89.95 USD from Folica.com.  It was second hand but the seller guaranteed that she got it new from the US. It was not even a month old and she has used it for only a maximum of 3 times. Her reason for selling was because she already cut her hair short and didn't see any use for the product anytime soon. I asked for a few days return guarantee from her in case it didn't work as expected, and she gladly agreed. It still came in a box complete with the product cards and a heat resistant hand glove. It looked new and didn't show signs of wear in the rubber handle and ceramic barrel.

The verdict: IT WORKS! You need a low learning curve to use it. The results were a far cry from using a traditional curling iron. I was able to curl my whole head in medium sized sections 30 minutes tops. The iron is so light and not clunky, it was a breeze to use. The revolving cord also helps so the cord won't get tangled as you move and wind the tool around. The tourmaline ceramic barrel did produce curls that were shiny and not frizzy at all. You can adjust the tightness of the curls or loose waves depending on how tight you wind it onto the barrel. I first tried doing tight bouncy curls sans any fixing product to test how long it will hold. It loosened into medium-sized mermaid waves after about 3 hours. 

I would recommend using a gentle humidity-resistant fixing spray such as Finesse or Tresseme (available in Watsons and S&R respectively)  to hold the curls while keeping it soft and bouncy. Skip the Aquanet on this, it will only give it a crunchy texture and residue fallouts. 

Me and my best bud Anj recently used it when we attended our friend's wedding. Used together with a Finesse hairspray, our 'do lasted from 7 in the morning until we washed our hair in the evening. It did not frizz even though it was so humid in the church.

Tighter curls for me and loose mermaid waves for Anj. 

This is one great pre-loved buy, and won't be returning it. I hope this type of curling iron will reach our store shelves soon so more ladies can enjoy varied hairstyles without committing to digital perming.