Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, I sometimes am challenged to go Christmas shopping without doing a little shopping for myself. Color me guilty — sorry!
One thing I'd been eyeing is a curling rod.
A curling rod is like a curling iron but without that pesky clip/arm piece. They are essentially ceramic or metal shafts that you wrap your hair around (then you hold the ends of your hair using a heat-resistant glove). My 20-year-old brother Paul told me about the wonders of the curling rod on a jaunt to ULTA a few weeks ago. He told me he has several thick-haired girlfriends who own them, and that they can curl their whole heads in under 10 minutes with the magical wand.
I've been googling and Amazon stalking ever since. I finally pulled the trigger at a hair appointment last weekend while spilling all the tool's deets to my stylist.
Enter the Herstyler curling rod (I picked up the 18mm - 25mm one that's about $50 on Amazon.com and includes the heat resistant glove).
One reason I thought I'd be a good candidate for a curling rod is that I have naturally wavy (but not truly curly) hair. For some strange reason, the hair from my ears up doesn't really have much body or curl. I hoped the curling rod could give me some additional oomph.
Oh, and I forgot to mention another key element: usability. Some gals have a knack for doing hair. I am not one of those girls. I ride the short bus when it comes to doing my own hair or makeup. I'd heard the curling rod is less complicated/more user-friendly than it's curling iron cousin because you aren't trying to navigate your hair around the arm/clip of the curling iron.
Bleh semi curly hair (though I must say I'm very happy with the recent cut and color job I got with my girl Mary Verilli last weekend... highlights/lowlights with some fun chocolate foils underneath).
BEFORE
And this photo has nothing to do with this blog post but check out my beautiful sister and mom. :)
Okay, fast forward about eight minutes. I gave my hair a light hair spray then wrapped one or two-inch chunks of of hair around the barrel (I chose to curl under). You hold the end of your hair to the hot barrel using the heat-resistant glove. Hold for 10-15 seconds or until very hot, then release.
AFTER
Voila! Because we were running late for the wrong holiday party (see post about that here) and because my hair has some natural wave in it anyway, I chose to only curl the front/top of my head. But given the time commitment, I would estimate it would only take another 5-10 minutes to do the rest of my head.
The good:
- Curling rod gets super hot, fast
- Construction seems durable
- Heat resistant glove included
- Amazon vendors ship quick so you can have this in-hand within 2-3 days
- Easy, foolproof way to give yourself beachy waves or fun curls
The not totally awesome:
- Best curling rod with decent reviews is $50 plus shipping (that's not awful but I wished there had been a more budget friendly option)
- Kits that include more sizes of barrels (so your curls aren't all the same size) are more expensive
All in all, I'd vote this to be a win.
Do you have a curling rod? What do you think?
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6 comments:
Your hair looks awesome. I need a
1" curling iron anyway maybe I'll get one of these.
I'd never even heard of a curling rod! Wow, can't imagine spending that though - why in the world are they so much more expensive than a curling iron? Shouldn't they be less expensive since they have fewer parts? :) Anyway, my hair is pretty curly, so I actually have a much cheaper version of the curling rod - my finger - haha. Even my hair stylist just uses her fingers - takes her about 10-15 minutes tops to do my entire head, twirling it around her fingers, but she does it the "correct" way and begins underneath. I do it the "lazy" way and just twirl the top strands for 5 minutes or less :)
Vica, let me know if you want to play with my new tool - better than a new leaf blower. You're welcome to try mine before you buy.
Traci, we'd all be better off if we had hair as naturally gorg as yours! :)
Thanks for the compliment, but honestly, my hair is a big frizzy mess most of the time due to the thickness and curls. I'd trade it for yours any day :) I can't even get highlights because they make it even more dry and frizzy, so I stick with the same boring monotone color!
Maybe it's an Atlanta thing... In this week's Housewives of Atlanta, one of the ladies gets her hair curled with a curling rod. The result is gorgeous! I google searched "curling rods" and came across your review of your recent purchase. Now after seeing the show and reading a real person's experience, I think that I'm ready for a little pre-Christmas self-gift too! Thanks!
Natty, glad this could be helpful! Let us know what you think about the product after you get it!
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