It’s no secret that I have really curly hair. As a kid, I hated my curls and since my hair was really really long most of my life, I wore my hair pulled back and away from my face. Over the last couple of years, I have been trying to embrace wearing my hair down and my curls wild and free. But, while I am learning to love my natural hair, I do love larger curls or curls that are not so tight as mine can be and that is where hair tools come into play. While I have a variety of curling wands in different shapes and barrel sizes, I never tried an automatic curler before. I’ll be honest in saying that when I first heard of the product, I was a bit intrigued and hesitant, not knowing how this would work with my already curly hair. The KISS InstaWave Automatic Curler is an interesting tool to say the least.
The revolutionary KISS InstaWave is a fully automatic tangle-free curler that instantly creates beautiful, long-lasting curls with ease. Their claim is that you do not need to be a pro to create gorgeous curls and you can bring the salon home. At first glance I was a bit hesitant to use this product as I wondered how it would work with my already very curly and very long hair. After reading the directions several times and finally diving into the product, my hair got tangled so many times that I was worried to keep working at it. With trial and error, I realized some things I needed to change in order to use the product and I also learned what it can and cannot do with my hair since my hair is so long and curly. It took a lot of testing and trying (which I was not too happy about since I don’t really use heat on my hair), but the curler wand and I finally found an easy way to work with the hair tool that worked for me. More details about my results below.
The InstaWave Automatic Curler has Diamond-Ceramic Technology. Infusion of diamond and ceramic particles enhance the durability while maintaining ionic effects for healthy shiny styling results. Don’t forget to check out the video demo (embedded below), or click here to watch directly on YouTube.
After almost a month of working with the product, the InstaWave is now fairly easy for me to use, but it didn’t come without a lot of tangling and smoke. While I was pretty intimidated to use the product at first, I noticed that as easy as it is, there is definitely some trial and error for some hair types.
I have found that when my hair is dry (coarse) – my hair can tangle quite easily in the unit while curling and when my hair is soft, the unit curls my hair easily, without effort or issues. I love that you can curl left or right directions. Since my hair is so long, I love that this offers my arms a little relaxation and I am not spending hours curling my hair due to the length. So far the curls stay in my hair for quite a while after set, but my hair has always held its curls so I didn’t think that would be an issue.
Curling your hair kind of easy. Simply hold the InstaWave vertically and place a section of hair on the InstaWave curling rod. Pressing the right/left button until all of your hair wraps around the barrel and then releasing the button. Hold your hair in place from 5-10 seconds (longer for tighter curls and less for beachy waves). Pull the InstaWave down vertically letting the hair out.
While the directions say 5-10 seconds should be good… I notice that my hair can actually start to burn. The unit gets hot VERY quickly so I try to take the wand out of my hair faster than the suggested time. If you have long, curly hair as I do – I think there can definitely be a learning curve to the process, but once I started to figure it out, it seemed to work nicely for me. I can say this much… it surely saved me a lot of aches in my arms and shoulders from holding them up so long.
Photo above is with the curls right after removing from barrel – unstyled. After using the tool on my entire length of my hair and my whole head, I also realized that you can’t really get very close to your scalp – in my case, it was not a pretty sight when it tangled. If you are looking for curls nearer to your scalp or longer curls, I don’t suggest this tool. Also – if you notice your hair has tangled, what I did is reverse the barrel direction so it would unwrap your hair from the barrel. If that didn’t work, I turned off the unit and removed my hair the best as possible. While this did end up working for me after many tries… I wish there were a way to try out the product without heat first so you can get the hang of learning how to curl your hair properly without worry of burning your hair. I have burned my hair MANY times trying to figure out how to use this product… so it would have been great to be able to turn on the rotating section of it first, before adding the heat.
Photo above is with my hair curled using the InstaWave Automatic Curler. I have run my finger through the curls to loosen them and style. I concentrated all of the curls towards the lower part of my hair to give it that sultry, sexy look – which is actually different from how my hair would look with my normal curls.
Overall, while this product took a lot of trial and error, tangles and some heat burns, I have enjoyed using it as it has offered me the chance to curl my hair without too much strain on my carpal tunnel or my arms. Doing my hair was easy and I was ready to go in a shorter time frame. If you have straight hair or shorter hair than I do – you may have an easier time to use this product than I did. I also suggest that you test small sections to learn how to use the product itself.
This product was sent to me for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own and all views/opinions are 100% honest and unbiased. This product was sent to me via Brandbacker.
31 Comments
I’m so in love with my Instawave– it’s the only thing I’ve been using to style my hair!
I love that last look, you look gorgeous!
Loving the loose curls on you!
I love hair tools like this!!
Your hair looks incredible!
What a cool tool! Your hair looks GORGEOUS, Honey!
Your hair looks awesome!
Your hair looks so pretty like this!
Thank you for your honest review. You are so pretty all on your own!! <3
Bless you for continuing to test this product after it had burned your hair the first time. I would’ve been like, “NOPE! Done!” lol. I keep thinking I need to switch out my hot rollers for something a little more modern but this ain’t it 😉 Thank you for your honest review (and everything you went through to provide it) <3
I have heard a lot of the same things about this product. My hair is short right now so I don’t like to use heat. Thanks for a great review!
Your hair looks pretty, this looks like a cool tool!
I’e always loved everything about your hair so added curls just you look even more beautiful. One day (when I stop cutting my hair…ha!), I’ll play around with these. I haven’t used any heat on my hair in yearsssss. Crazy.
I never have luck with curling my hair… it just doesn’t stay.
Looks like a neat tool.
Bummer to hear there was so much trial and error, but I suppose that’s normal with any new product. I wonder how this would work with thin and fine hair like mine. I can never seem to get a curl to hold in my hair despite my best efforts! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love your natural hair, all those curls!
Too bad it has such a learning curve 🙁 the result is pretty though!
I rarely use heat tools on my hair, but I was happy with the results I got when I tried the Instawave. I did get a few tangles at first, because I didn’t separate each section well enough, but it was easy enough to reverse the direction, and it didn’t burn my hair. Of course, mine isn’t as long as yours! I do agree that getting close to the scalp wasn’t easy, and slicker, straighter hair might have trouble getting the curl started around the barrel. For me, though, it was fun to have more uniform curls without killing my arms!
Your hair looks fabulous!
Fabulous curls. I dont curl ever but this tool makes it look easy.
I didn’t have great luck with this but your hair here is gorgeous!
Ohh I keep hearing about this! My hair doesn’t take curl well, but I might have to try it anyway and see
Wow, you got it to work, Honey, on your looooong hair! Your curls are fabulous! It was worth the month of trial and error.
This seems a little too complicated for me but your hair looks fabulous! 🙂
Mindblown; love the concept of it self winding. Enjoyed your demo 🙂 and review!! You’re hair is beautiful before and after 😀
My hair is dry and coarse. It has an ugly type of curl. If I could get the hang of it, this might help me out. Your hair is always pretty but I do like how it looks with this curler, too.
I love this baby
Looks nice on you!
This looks interesting and your hair came out great. Although I’m addicted to my flat iron curls =p
Wow, you got it to work, Honey, on your looooong hair! Your curls are fabulous! It was worth the month of trial and error.