Automatic Rotating Curling Iron - Auto Hair Curler 1 Inch for Long Hair

Good size for medium-length / fine hair. Single slot is awkward. Should have ions for the price.

I have had the opportunity to try several of these auto-rotation style curlers—and I’ve learned along the way that they are not all created equal. Beyond the obvious learning-curve of how to feed your hair in, how to position the tool, how to choose direction of curl and so on [none of these is especially intuitive if you come from years—decades!—of using tong-style curlers which have clear visibility and infinite angle-ability]… beyond that, there’s a learning curve in determining what to look for in this type of curler, and what features are going to work best for your hair type. Given that I have quite fine mid-length hair, I had high hopes for the shorter length and smaller barrel diameter on this one. I also had high expectations because the last two products I’ve reviewed from Realair really impressed me (despite it being an Amazn-only brand—you know, with generic packaging, awkward English in the instruction manuals and so on).There’s a fair bit to like about this tool—and yes, that starts with the smaller barrel. If you have a lesser amount of fine hair and your tool is designed for longer, thicker hair, it’s going to be to “roomy” inside the enclosure and your hair will slide around, not really clinging to the barrel the way it needs to to form a curl. I got well-defined, even curls from this one (and the curls didn’t look too tight/cutesy at the 1” diameter, as I’d feared they might). And for the most part, I found it well-designed. The smaller size makes it noticeably lighter, which is no small thing in terms of arm fatigue. It has good balance in the hand, and a not-too-bulky handle that sits at just the right spot for easily reaching the controls with your thumb and *not* accidentally pressing them with your palm (= a pet peeve). Cleverly, once you have chose your temperature setting (300, 340, 380, 410 °F) and timer (8, 10, 12 minutes), it displays a little lock icon and locks in your choice, so you *can’t* accidentally change it mid-use and singe your hair. (To change it after that, just turn the iron off and on to start again.) The full range of temperatures, plus the very handy audible timer, makes it really easy to find the sweet-spot for good curl without excessive damaging heat, depending on your hair type. When I used it just now (at 340°F), I found it heated up quickly. I also liked the feel of satiny-matte finish; it has enough friction in the hand to feel secure, but still has some glide, which the current trend for silicone-coated plastics doesn’t have. It also didn’t look fingerprinty and smudgy after use, which both glossy plastics and the silicone-coated ones tend to do. The cord has a swivel, which isn’t ‘essential’ in a tool that does the rotating for you, but it’s still a nice detail because it means that when you move from side to side on your head you won’t gradually build up a twist in the cord. (The cord, I’ll note, seemed strikingly thin and flexible by comparison to the stiff thick ones that most hair tools seem to have these days—in fact, it seemed even a little thinner than the average ‘regular’ curling iron cord…. I truly don’t know if this is any reflection on quality? I do, honestly, suspect it may mean a shorter lifespan for the tool. On the other hand, I can say that I really LIKED using it with such an unobtrusive, un-bulky cord—nothing thwacking against my arm or the sink. I could just style my hair, without having to wrangle an oversize bulky ‘cable.’)I also quite like the aesthetic of this tool. That’s highly personal, of course, but for me, I greatly appreciate that it isn’t cliche Barbie- pink, and doesn’t have gimmicky “shaped” controls. The orangey-copper and copper coloured trim fit with the ongoing rose-gold trend, and the rest is a stylish sleek black with simple clean lines.One feature I did NOT like—though admittedly I got used to it and started learning how to adapt to it—is the fact that the outer barrel cover has only a single slot. This felt much more awkward to use than the ones that have two (or sometimes 4) slots, so you can feed your hair in at an easy right angle to the barrel, and see clearly what you’re doing. This one requires you to feed it in at an angle, just a small exposed section, and let the iron grab it in while you hold everything carefully just-so…. and you can’t really see what’s going on… and it just seemed to needless impede the process. One advantage to the single-slot design would be that you are far less likely to accidentally burn a fingertip or earlobe (etc).This curler does not have negative ions, which the other RealAir I recently tried (and rated very highly) did. I found I really miss that; it does make a perceptible difference in curl smoothness and shine. So many hair tools have such a feature these days, and it does surprise me that at the current not-cheap pricepoint of $86.90 CAD, this one does not. That is, I think, the deal-breaker for me on this one. I just get better results from an iron with those negative ions, and once you’ve used a tool that gives you that shine, others fail to measure up.It’s important to know that this kind of tool basically works to make barrel/corkscrew curls and not much else. You have to keep it mostly vertical. You can’t angle in and spot-style to form specific fine-tuned shapes at the hairline (no lift and curl and retro-glam swoop at the forehead, for example). It really is designed for the mid-and-bottom sections of your hair, not for crown-lift.

A learning curve, but functional

I grabbed this for my wife as she’s always looking to curl her naturally straight hair, but never jumped in on a curling iron – I figured why not try some of the newer tech?Packaging for this is relatively spartan – A fairly simple white box with a bit of product spec and just the iron inside – if it was supposed to come with documentation it wasn’t included. The tool feels well built with a soft touch handle, a couple buttons for controlling the power/temperature/timer and the rotation of the curler, and the rest of the body is built in a high quality shiny orange plastic. I’d call the cord on it long enough which is fine.Functionality-wise it has an 8-12 second timer with beeping, multi-direction curling, and 300f-410f heat settings so you can dial in what works best for your hair type. Audio cues are loud enough for a washroom, so you won’t mistake button presses or timer noises over a bathroom fan. The motor for the auto-curler is also relatively quiet.Use-wise is where it’s a bit tricky – There’s quite a learning curve if you’re used to curling your hair with a regular iron or if this is your first curler. There’s always the fear it’ll eat your hair, but in use it’s never happened. That said it feels like it’s probably a bit slower than a traditional iron if you’re practiced, so your mileage may vary on how useful this is for you.Overall it’s a good tool in the category, just be ready to check out some videos online on how to use it if you’re not familiar!

My Favourite Rotating Curler So Far, With Some Personal Genre Observations

I have actually tried a few automatic rotating curling irons at this point, and this one is my favourite of the bunch. My best tip for using it is to hold the solid orange piece flush to your head and feed your hair through the other side. You do not need to bring your hair all the way down the barrel, and it actually seems to work better when you do not. Keep the hair up higher, and let the curler pull it in and place it where it wants. Fighting it or forcing it makes the whole process harder than it needs to be. The multiple heat settings are a genuine plus, letting you adjust based on how thick, thin, or damaged your hair is. I do recommend using a heat protectant if you are going higher, which is honestly good advice for any hot styling tool. I want to share three honest observations about this whole category of styling tool, not specific to this product but relevant if you are considering the rotating curler style in general. First, they are noticeably heavier than a traditional clamp curling iron, so arm fatigue is a real thing during longer styling sessions. Second, deciding which direction you want the curl to go and executing that choice blindly is a learning curve, especially coming from the visual feedback of a clamp. Third, you really do need to work with smaller sections of hair. With a traditional clamp I could throw a big section in, wait, and be done. These want smaller, more controlled sections. I did not dock any stars because these observations are really about me being old school and having to unlearn habits from decades of clamp curlers. If I had started out with this type of tool, I would probably use nothing else. And honestly, this does do an amazing job curling my hair, probably because the small-section requirement is forcing me to work more carefully than I used to. A really lovely rotating curler with a bit of a learning curve for old school users, and one that delivers excellent results once you get the hang of it.