Delightful Discoveries for Gift Givers with Great Taste
Despite having been a beauty editor and reporter for years, giving myself a blowout is simply beyond me. I can straighten it with a flat iron, but it’s rare that I bother. Curling irons and their younger cousin, waving wands, vex me. I don’t have patience for the dents and kinks that pop up no matter how I try. My hair has gotten stuck in the clamps. A finger got burned trying to wind my hair around the clamp-less wands. On top of that, I have a nagging fear of fires caused by small appliances left on. So hot tools? Historically, not worth it. You will usually find me in a messy bun.
And then.
Both my daughter (pin-straight hair) and I (fuzzy, wavy-but-not-in-a-cute-way hair) gave the Beachwaver a go. And we both think it’s well worth the money, especially now because it’s on sale at $30 off.
The Beachwaver B1 has a 1-inch ceramic barrel, which, according to the brand, is the most popular curling iron size. That makes sense, as the resulting curls were just right, neither too loose or too tight, on both my shoulder-length hair and my daughter’s slightly longer locks. It has three heat settings. We both kept it on medium. It’s really light, and the handle has a soft feel and is comfortable to hold.
So, the whole thing with the Beachwaver is that it spins left or right. You just press a button to switch the direction of your curl. I pressed right for the right side of my head and vice versa, but that’s no rule or anything, just what I thought would look the best. And while there is a clamp, which I need—the clamp-less wands are hopeless for me—it is only an inch long. It doesn’t run the whole length of the barrel, so it does the job, but I don’t get stray hairs tangled in it. And it’s that beveled little clamp that is the secret to dent-free curls.
My hair isn’t especially thick. I started in the front. To curl my entire head took 10 minutes. (I didn’t curl all the way down to the ends. I like how it looks with the bottom edge straighter, so I clamped my Beachwaver about an inch and half, maybe two inches at most, from the ends before pressing the button to twirl the barrel.)
Both of our smooth, beachy waves stayed intact all day, after we lightly brushed the curls out and misted with a bit of hairspray. If you’re traveling, you can take it with you, not only because it’s light, but also because it works with 100 to 240 volt outlets. And I can let go of my fire fears, as it has a 30-minute automatic shut-off feature.
It’s definitely a great curling iron for beginners, or just fumbly folk like myself. The unique design keeps each section of hair in place as you go. You simply press a button to curl your hair instantly in the direction you’d like. And for my fellow fumblers, if you also should press that arrow button the “wrong” way, I discovered that you don’t need to take your hair out and start over. Just press the other arrow. The barrel will reverse, and you can keep going.
My daughter and I both think the is worth it. It happens to be on sale for $69, which is a steal. But even at the regular price of $99, it’s still worth the money. The only other way I can get a head of sleek, bouncy, curls that are just perfect is with a professional blowout. And the price of one of those is what, $40 or $50 with tip? So really, if you use the Beachwaver two or three times, it’s paid for itself.
