Rotating curling irons are great for someone who isn't advanced or has challenges styling their hair,” says Williams. This is because these tools curl your hair for you, which not only makes things easier, but also faster and more efficient. Charmarti also says to let your hair cool down completely after styling. Pinning your curls up (with rollers or clips) for at least 20 minutes will help them set.

Rotating curling irons are similar to curling irons and straighteners in the sense that they style hair by using heated plates. However, they are different due to the way the barrel works. “Design-wise, [a rotating curling iron] features a cylindrical plate or barrel that spins automatically,” says Holas. Additionally, most rotating curling irons feature clamps that are able to securely hold the hair while the barrel rotates. If you’re someone who’s constantly on the go, you need a product that can keep up with your lifestyle. It’s hard to compete with a cordless iron that works, and we found that none compare to the Conair Unbound Cordless Auto-Curler. It’s small, lightweight, and portable, which means you can curl your hair from literally anywhere. Just charge the device before you use it (it comes with a charging cord), and then you have one hour to curl all the hair you want. An ergonomic handle that allows you to style your hair with one hand with flexibility, taking away pressure from your wrist If you’re not ready to splurge on the Airwrap but want a hot air-based curling iron that will care for your damaged hair, the Shark is your best — and most customizable — option. In this choose your own adventure, hairstyling edition, you’re free to select three attachments (out of eight total options), which include two curling barrel sizes, a variety of brushes, concentrator, comb, and even a diffuser. What we love most about this curling iron is that it’s extremely easy to use: It has two buttons on the handle (one with an arrow pointing to the right and another with an arrow pointing to the left) that turn the barrel in your desired direction. It also has an LCD screen that allows you to see what temperature the tool is at (there are three different temperature settings; low, medium, and high). But, what really sets this device apart is its special brush attachment. This handy tool can be clipped right onto the barrel and used to comb through hair after curling it. The results? Defined, wave-like curls.

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The 1 1/4 inch titanium ceramic barrel gives you the option to make larger, more voluptuous curls or smaller, delicate ringlets For the more stubborn parts of your hair, Conair offers up to 27°F burst of heat, while protecting the thinner sections your hair from excess heat The barrel of this curling wand features a special coating that allows heat to pass through without allowing hair to directly touch the heat source, ultimately cutting way down on potential damage. Even our fine hair, which never held a curl for more than two minutes, met its match with this curling wand — our waves lasted much longer than they did with any other hot tool.

If you have ultra-fine or damaged hair, you will want to select a curling iron that offers a low styling temperature. “Excessive heat will damage the cuticle further,” warns New York-based hairstylist Alwyn DiGregorio. “Lower temps with smaller sections will work just as well as higher temps and bigger sections.” Despite how easy the Shark was to operate, it was a bit annoying having to switch out barrels to change the direction of our curl. That said, this only takes a few seconds, and Shark clearly distinguishes between the two — there is a very clear “L” and “R” on the corresponding attachments.

What We Love: This is the lightest curling iron we’ve ever held, making it very comfortable to use during long styling sessions. Temperature aside, we liked the clamp’s nice, strong grip that didn’t yank at our hair, but kept it firmly in place as we styled, while the barrel was smooth enough to slide our finished curls right off. For many people, using a curling wand is far easier than a traditional curling iron because of the way you can customize your curl. On the flip side, it’ll take some trial and error to master your technique. If you’re winding your hair too tightly around the barrel of the InStyler, you’ll get tight ringlets, though they will relax and get beachier, especially if you brush them out. Practice makes perfect with this one! If you're deciding between two curling irons, narrow down your choice based on the special features. These additions will not make or break the curling iron's quality. However, they can enhance your experience with the product. When it comes down to specific looks, you can create a tighter curl by using your iron just off the scalp. Meanwhile, you’ll achieve a looser style if you skip the root and start wrapping your hair about a third of the way down the shaft. “Holding the curl horizontally will make the curl fuller, vertically will provide a more relaxed look,” adds DiGregorio. If you’re going for a beach wave or modern vibe, Reed loves to curl hair in different directions to prevent uniformity or an overdone look. “If you’re looking for classic curls, keep the iron going in one direction,” he says.

The device ultimately comes with six attachments, but two specifically to curl hair. “The larger barrel results in loose/wavy curls similar to a blowout, while the smaller barrel results in more bounce and wavy curls,” explains our tester. Once she got the hang of using the Airwrap, she says styling was a breeze, but she did experience a bit of a learning curve. “The directions were certainly helpful, however, it took me a moment to find my footing,” she explains. “It was hard to identify the settings once the tool was wrapped in my hair, but I think if you owned the tool and had more practice this would be easier to navigate.” You’ll really only see three kinds of materials when it comes to curling iron barrels: Ceramic, tourmaline, and titanium. If you have coarse hair that is heat resistant, titanium is the way to go. “It’s a natural metal that heats up very fast and will help the heat penetrate fully through the hair,” says DiGregorio, who adds that it’s also a lightweight material to hold. You’ll find it in the BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Spring Curling Iron.

The only thing we will point out is that this device comes with two different curling barrels that can only curl hair in one direction (one curls hair to the left and the other curls hair to the right). This means you will have to swap out the barrel if you want to switch the direction of your curls. However, it’s really easy to change between attachments, so this shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. The best way to use a curling iron is whatever way it feels most comfortable for you. Some people may prefer a wand, while others may prefer a traditional curling iron with a clamp. “Being able to curl your hair in a way that’s comfortable and doesn’t strain your arms will yield better results and less damage,” says Chamarti (that includes avoiding burning yourself!). For starters, the small clamp firmly holds hair while it rotates; the rotation buttons are easy to recognize and smoothly wrap hair; and there are five different temperature settings (from 280 degrees to 430 degrees), which allow you to adjust the iron to your desired heat. We will note that you can’t actually see the temperature the tool is set to. Rather, it has five lights that indicate which level the tool is set to. To finish it all off, it heats up in under one minute and automatically shuts off after one hour.