Nicky Clarke NTS007

Generally speaking, my hair is always straight. This is not natural however, as I have the world's frizziest hair. After straightening, my hair comes to around the bottom of my ribcage, perhaps slightly lower. I decided that I fancied a bit of a change, so went looking for a curling tong. I'll be honest, I had no idea where to start. Would a thick tong give me better curls? Was I looking for something a bit thinner? I hadn't a clue. However, in the end I decided to go for a slimmer tong, with the Nicky Clarke NTS007 Frizz Control Curling Tong.

Based initially on the appearance of the product, my views were very positive. The tong has a fairly thick handle, upon which one can find 'on' and 'off' buttons, a temperature dial, and also the Nicky Clarke logo. The tong itself - a slim 13mm - is black in colour, but the hair grip handle is red to add that slight pop of colour. The cord itself, which is a fair length, swivels at the point at which it meets the tongs, making for easier manoeuvring when styling.

The tong heats up to 180 degrees, with various settings in between to accommodate your heat preferences. I always have it on the highest heat for the larger sections of my hair, and turn it down one notch for the smaller pieces to ensure more even sized curls throughout. They heat up fairly quickly - a few minutes at most depending on the temperature setting - indicated by the red light near the 'on' and 'off' buttons.

Curling is very simply. You just need to clip the end of your hair into the grip, which secures the end nice and tightly making sure it doesn't slip out, and then twist the tong until your hair is wrapped around it. Be careful not to pull too tightly as it makes releasing the hair a nightmare! As I said, my hair is very long but I can get a section in its full length right around the tong with great effects.

Some may prefer to add hairspray before releasing the tong, but I feel that this will damage it, so I always add hairspray directly after releasing each curl, and then again once my hair is finished. The curls are not as tight as I thought they would be, which is a good thing. Because my hair is heavy, they do loosen up throughout the day, and I actually find them to look a lot nicer after I've been out and about for an hour or so; it just means my contentment with them is sustained for longer!

The results are fantastic for what I was after. However, do they control frizz as suggested? I'll be honest, I don't think they do. I always have to curl my hair the day after straightening it as my hair won't cooperate if it's freshly straightened, and I actually find that curling it makes it a little more frizzy that what it was. I did try curling it after letting my hair drip dry over night, but this just didn't work; my hair was still a massive frizzy, overly curly mess! While I'm pointing out the negative points, the 'on'/'off' buttons are rather inconveniently placed as I do have a habit of nudging them and turning the tong off midway!

However, that aside, it really is great. It give mes exactly what I want, which is a massive thing for my hair! If you're looking for something that specifically controls frizz though, I don't think this is the tong to go for. Priced at £17.99 (Argos, Amazon.co.uk), they're definitely worth looking into if you want slightly smaller curls. I'm definitely happy with my purchase.

Amy 2012