After seeing myself in a friend's wedding photos and staring disbelievingly at my horrible hair, I decided it was finally time to give in and buy myself a straightener and a curling iron. A couple of hours later, I sat down with a cup of coffee and the good old Argos catalogue to try and find myself the best possible styling tools for the lowest possible cost. I tend to think that you get what you pay for, and so I was willing to spend a decent amount on a straightener - ditto a curling iron. However, when I found the BaByliss You Curl I thought I'd struck gold! It straightens and it curls, depending on how you use it. I have never had much success in getting my hair to hold a curl, so I thought that even if it didn't live up to the promise of curls I would at least have a good straightener. There are several similar products on the market and I weighed up the options before deciding that BaByliss was the
brand I trusted the most and the You Curl looked like the easiest styling tool to manage.
The You Curl is, as you can see in the photo, basically a hair styling tool that combines the heated ceramic plates of a straightening iron with curved outer cooling plates. It's those cooling plates that create the curls.Technical Specifications:
Ceramic coated heating and cooling plates
Three heat settings: 150ºc, 165ºc, 180ºc
Ultra-fast heat up, ready for use in seconds
Ultra-fast heat recovery to retain the correct temperature during use
Once I got my You Curl home, I sat down to open the box and see exactly what my hard-earned cash had bought me. I have to admit, upon opening the box I was disappointed. The box is rather large and the You Curl was just wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped inside with no protection against rattling in transit to and from the shop. It comes with a 10-page booklet, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the styling tool.I read through the booklet, then plugged in and switched on my new toy.
The instruction booklet recommends that hair should be clean, dry and free of tangles before attempting to use the You Curl. If you have fine, delicate or coloured hair, you should use the lower heat setting. I have thick, heavy hair and for that the higher settings are advised. I turned the heat switch to 165ºc (the medium setting) and it took only seconds for the light to stop flashing, indicating that the You Curl was up to temperature. BaByliss definitely deliver on their promise of 'ultra-fast heat up'! But did it deliver beautifully straight hairand beautiful curls?
Straightening Straightening hair using the You Curl is, I imagine, the same as using any hair straightener. I've never attempted to straighten my hair before, but simply by placing a section of my hair between the ceramic plates, closing the plates and slowly moving them down my hair, I achieved perfectly straightened hair in an instant.
Curling To curl using the You Curl, simply take a section of hair (the smaller the section, the tighter the curl) and slide the You Curl into the hair at the roots, making sure that the curved cooling plates are facing towards the head. Close the plates together and turn the You Curl through 180º so that the curved plates are now facing outwards. Slowly move the You Curl down the length of your hair, then release the hair. To ensure the curl sits neatly, take the end of the section you have just released and twirl it in the direction of the curl. If that sounds complicated, don't worry! The booklet provides diagrams and if you visit the BaByliss You Curl website you can watch a demonstration video online. The 3-metre cord swivels on the end of the appliance, making it very easy to use either left- or right-handed, and the length of the cord meant that for once I could use an electrical styling product in front of a mirror instead of halfway across the room! It does take a while to get the hang of curling, but persevere with it. I have no skill with hairstyling at all, yet after about half an hour I had done all of my hair. I didn't have movie star curls, but I didn't look like a poodle either!
As I said at the beginning of this review, I have always had trouble getting my hair to hold a curl, and although some of the curls dropped out very quickly I woke up the next morning with a lot of them still in place. I only used the medium heat and didn't use any kind of hairspray or styling product that first time, but the next time I used the full 180º heat together with a styling product and the curls all lasted well.
The ceramic plates cool down fairly quickly, but it does bother me that the You Curl doesn't come with any kind of stand because I don't like having to leave hot appliances on cupboard tops. The You Curl has an automatic shut-off feature, which turns the appliance off after 70 minutes. I'm the kind of person who will check three times that I've unplugged something, but it's always nice to have safety features like that!
One huge advantage of having straightening plates on a curling implement is that if you make a mistake or a curl doesn't turn out the way you wanted it, you can immediately straighten it and try again. I found myself doing that a few times the first time I practised with the You Curl.
The RRP given by BaByliss is £40. You can pick one up for £39.99 in Argos or £33.95 on Amazon.co.uk
All in all, I'm very impressed with the You Curl. I've used it several times and it gets easier each time to achieve the curls that I want.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
BaByliss You Curl. Product detail * Unique styler that creates perfect modern curls in a ... more
single stroke. * Making curling as fast and easy as straightening. * Simply slide the plates into the hair, turn through 180°C and glide down the hair section to...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Products from industry leaders BaByliss are the choice of professionals. The BaByliss You ... more
Curl combines ceramic hot plates with curved cooling plates to create salon perfect curls in a single stroke. The styler is so simple to use, it makes curling as ...
Postage & Packaging: £3.95 Availability: Out of stock
BaByliss You Curl. Product detail * Unique styler that creates perfect modern curls in a ... more
single stroke. * Making curling as fast and easy as straightening. * Simply slide the plates into the hair, turn through 180°C and glide down the hair section to...
Postage & Packaging: £7.00 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Unique styler that creates perfect modern curls in a single stroke. Makes curling as fast ... more
and easy as straightening. Up to 180C high temperature performance. Advanced Ceramics; ready to use in 30 secs with ultra fast heat recovery. Tourmaline-ceramic h...
Postage & Packaging: £6.31 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: You don't need to re-straighten time after time, can create thing whispy curls very easily. Disadvantages: Damages hair, very expensive, yuo can get better for your money with babyliss.
Feb 9th, 2008
exceptional by (3%):
very helpful by (97%):
