Let's Do the Wave!
Written: Jul 04 '02 (Updated Jul 04 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The wave plate works nice
Cons: The rest of the unit
The Bottom Line: Don't expect a miracle.
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| agklocke's Full Review: Conair Cs9cs Shiny Styles Hair Tool |
CONAIR Shiny Styles Iron - 4 in 1 shiny straight waver
When I was born, my little bit of hair curled on top. As I grew older, it grew into ringlets - the soft bouncy kind, not the tight ones. But when I was two, I decided to help my mom out. I decided I would show Mommy what a big girl I was, and so I washed my hair…with Nair. Yes, I washed my hair with hair removal. You read that correctly. Most of my hair fell out, and what didn't frizzed out beyond belief. I ruined my previous curls, and my hair never grew back the same.
Fast forward to the present, some 25 years later. It was only during my second pregnancy that my hair started to grow healthy again. Something about pregnancy hormones helped repair the damage I had done so many years before. But I didn't get curl - I got wave. I still have frizz, but it's a wavy frizz that can be controlled, unlike years past. With the aid of gels and styling tools, I can achieve a look that really looks nice.
Enter the purchase of the CONAIR Shiny Styles Iron. After achieving a semi-straight, semi-curly look with my fat curling iron, I thought I could go straight all the way with this product. I knew many who were using similar flat-plate straighteners and were happy with the results. I wanted that, too!
On top of having wavy hair, it is also quite thick. Using this product on my hair takes time and patience. Unfortunately, one go-round doesn't take. I have to move slowly to get my hair to go straight. The problem is, though my hair holds curl wonderfully, it does not like the idea of this straightener. "The straightener is designed to smooth unwanted curl or frizz…" says the enclosed booklet. Hmmm…not so - for me, anyway. Instead of a nice, shiny straight look, what I got was a mess. Not only did it seem like my hair was thicker, but it was only really straight on the ends. The rest refused to take.
OK, guess it was back to the big curling iron for almost-straight hair, but not before at least trying the second straightener, called 'flocked straight plates.' This one also says it helps straighten and keep away the frizz, but its bonus is it adds shine to your hair. I was skeptical - for good reason. I wound up in the mirror with half my hair done comparing - "Is this side shinier than this side?" No, there was nothing any different.
The other two plates included with this set are the crimp and deep waves plates. Memories of the 80s hit me as I look over the crimping option. No thanks. But my daughter has straight blond hair, and she's only 5. Surely she would love to have her hair crimped. Lesson number 5,673 in parenting: Don't assume your daughter will enjoy a long session of hair play. Though I only had to hold the iron on each segment of hair for a few seconds, it was long and tedious all the same. Plus, to make matters worse, she was less than pleased by the results. On her thin, straight hair, the crimp style took really well, though. So well that by that afternoon, she was begging me to let her take another shower so she could get it out. Just a little tempted, I did try crimping the hair around my face, but again I wound up with fat frizz.
Finally, it was down to the deep wave plates. So far, this $20 unit was not making me happy. Its life with us was dependant on the results of the deep wave plates.
DING DING DING! We have a winner!
I was attracted to this whole set for two reasons - the thought that I could get really straight hair when I wanted it, and the idea that my daughter and I would have fun with her hair. So far, I was zero for zero. But the deep wave plates saved this buy from the donation bag.
On my hair, my own wave was enhanced. Though still as long a process as the rest, I was actually happy with the final results. The frizz was not near as present, and this was without the added benefit of gel. The waves in my hair were deep, and as someone who cannot wash my hair daily or even every two days, it stayed wavy the whole time. The one downside, though, is much like with a perm, you can't use a brush after using the deep wave plates, else you'll have a big fluff ball on your head (depending on the texture and thickness of your hair, I'm sure).
Because of the success with my hair, I was eager to try it on my daughter. Though I had to bribe her to sit through this again, we were both happy in the end. She had nice wavy hair, and this time, she didn't walk away muttering bad things about me. I wish I could give a good report on the waves staying in her hair for a few days, but as my Princess Tomboy, skipping a day on hair-washing is not an option. However, the waves did last through the day.
All in all, I am not overly pleased with this purchase. One plate out of four isn't good odds. The unit itself seems solid enough, but a word of caution: Because these are slide-on plates, that means they can also slide off. Case in point - each plate is released by depressing a small button on each side. Each button is opposite of each other, though, so no matter which way you turn the iron to lay it down, it will lay on one of the buttons. As I went to use the iron once, in mid-waving, one of the plates just fell off. Had I not jumped, or if I had been using it on my daughter, there may have been a slight injury, either a cut from the metal, or, most likely, a burn, as the plates get very hot. One must be careful how the iron is laid when setting aside to gather more hair.
The plates do slide on and off with ease, but since we only use the deep wave plates, this is no longer an issue. The other plates are currently gathering dust.
On a final note, there is not an On/Off switch. Small appliances should never be left plugged in when not in use anyway, but I still prefer the option to turn something on or off. I would like to be able to turn this unit off to allow it to cool before unplugging and putting it away.
The price seems reasonable if you can use everything or at least most of the unit, but I wouldn't recommend running right out to purchase it. There's nothing spectacular about it, and we're still not even sure if we want to keep it. It's quite a disappointment from what I had hoped would be useful and fun.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
agklocke
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Member: Angela Giles Klocke
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 195 members
About Me:
Writer, Photographer, Speaker, Woman
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