Amika Tourmaline Clip-Free Curler

I feel that this is the first time that I have reviewed a curling iron for my blog. Normally, I grumble about my wavy hair and am already trying to coax it perfectly straight. However, summer and flat irons don't seem to get along very well and so I have to either wear a ponytail everyday until Labor Day or investigate a new hair style. I was emailed several weeks ago by a PR company and the Amika line of tools was explained to me and some pictures of the results of use were provided. I decided that I liked the pictures of the loose, wavy curls the best and the tool that was used to create that look was then sent to me.

Amika is a brand that provides salon quality tools that can be used in the comfort of your home. I found some background on the brand that I would like to share with you. "Amika creates professional, sophisticated styling tools and accessories designed to perfect your hair styles twice as fast as traditional tools. Amika uses hot technologies like nano, tourmaline and far-infrared heating to help care for your hair. With regular use, Amika products may even improve your hair's condition. So go ahead, show your hair a little love."

The curling iron that I was sent is unique in that it has no clamp to hold the hair, it comes with a heat resistant glove to do the job. I found the following as the product's description from folica.com, a seller of the items. "The curler features a tourmaline barrel fused with ceramic. Tourmaline is a natural source of negative ions and far infrared heat, which provides faster styling. Negative ions eliminate frizz and close the cuticle to create smooth, shiny hair. . Far infrared light easily pentrates hair for faster styling with less damage. High power, instant heat for consistent, dependable results on any type of hair".

So how do I make this work? I wash my hair at night, put it up in a clip to sleep, then when I wake up in the morning, I make sure that it is totally dry and start curling. I was a bit nervous about this at first since the product gets very hot and I was having visions of disaster with using the glove and getting my hand so close to the product. But no worries, the glove is the only protection needed. This iron does not have the clamp so that no marks are left on the hair from when it is brought down and then the curls look much more natural.

So how I did fare with this tool? So far, I am doing great with creating loose, beachy waves. The first time that I used it, I had a bit of a difficult time working with the glove and not having the hair come off while I was trying to get my hand up. Within the next few tries, I got a routine down and was able to get my timing right to clamp down on the barrel before I lost any hair. To create loose waves, I started with my air dried wavy hair and curled individual pieces that dried somewhat straighter than others. It usually takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to create the beachy, loose look. With this iron, I have found that I need to go in smaller sections than I might have done with a traditional iron so I will leave more time to use in the morning. However, the results totally justify these few minutes. I have gotten many compliments on my hair when using this product, in fact, I had a close friend tell me that she prefers my hair curly to when I flat-iron it (ouch!).

I am currently trying to create tighter curls with this product. This a much longer process and I really don't prefer myself with all the tight curls but I still want to see how it works out. I really recommend this curling iron to create loose waves and refine exisiting curls. I am also curious as to how well it will work if my hair is already straight and I decide to change my hairstyle before going out at night. Oh and I have the pink curling iron...of course!

photo courtesy of Amika