Review: Babyliss Waving Wand

For years I have been on the lookout for a quick and easy way to curl my hair. I've tried with my trusty GHD's but I've never really been able to fully master the technique. I think this is partly due to the fact my GHD's are the older version, and aren't as 'rounded' as the newer versions are, thus making curling easier. Either way, I've never quite been able to do it. It starts off well, but as I work through more sections of hair, I just seem to get it tangled and my hair ends up... well, burned.

I faired slightly better with curling tongs, but often found I'd get the tell-tale 'kink' from the clamp which as you can imagine is not the best off looks!

However, way back before Christmas, whilst looking through the Boots Christmas catalogue, a new product caught my eye which made adding waves to my hair easier than I could've ever imagined!

The Babyliss waving wand is a relatively new product, that is similar to the conical curling wands that have become popular in recent years. The waving wand demands a similar technique, but the result is more natural, looser waves, perfect for summer I think. This is due to the unique shape of the barrel, which has flat edges, and looks similar to a very small straightening iron.

The styler itself is a lovely deep purple colour and is surprisingly light. The cord is a decent length and also swivels, which makes it even easier to manoeuvre. The ceramic barrel heats up to 200°c in about 30 seconds, but also has 4 lower settings if this is too hot for you; 140°c, 155°c, 170°c and 185°c. A heat resistant glove is also provided. This is especially useful as you get used to the wand, if it wasn't for this I'd have burned my fingers countless times! The glove is relatively thin, but is quite small, which is fine for my small hands but not sure if it'd be as useful for some people. I kind of wish two gloves were provided, as I alternate which hand I hold the wand in, and it's a bit annoying to have to keep taking the glove on and off. Having said that, I used the wand today without the glove and succeeded in not burning myself!

There's also a cool tip at the top of the wand, and it shuts off after 72 minutes which is extremely useful if you ever have that 'Have I left it switched on?!' feeling like I always do!

The technique is easy; simply wrap sections around the wand (minding those fingers!), hold for a few seconds, and voilà! It really is that easy. Use larger sections of hair for a looser wave, or smaller sections for a tighter wave. I tend to do a mixture of large and small seconds, mainly as I'm too lazy to do them evenly, but I think it also makes the over all look more natural. But this is entirely up to you.

I absolutely LOVE this product! I never thought curling my hair would be so easy. Like I said at the start, I've never been able to manage this sort of look with straighteners or conventional tongs, but with the wand I picked it up straight away!
The results last all day with a bit of hairspray, but I find the waves do drop as the day goes on. Although this depends on your hair type and/or what products you used. I'm sure mine would drop less if I used different products, and this is something I'm going to look into.

The Babyliss Waving Wand costs around £30 and is available from Boots, Argos and many online retailers.