My hair is neither straight not curly but is instead some frizzy messiness in between. This therefore results in me spending ages blow drying and straightening my hair to make it look neat and presentable. Every now and again, I will give it a helping hand in the other directions in a bid to achieve some defined curls. For this reason I bought the Babyliss 2285U Curling Wand.

Appearance and Price
The product is very eye catching in it's design and it's one of the main reasons that I first considered the product. It is a beautiful ruby read colour which looks expensive and classy, and it has a metallic finish. On the front of the product is a circular button which you push to turn the product on and off again. There is also a panel on the front which says the different temperatures and beneath it is a plus and minus button which moves the temperature up and down. It has a ribbed middle for extra grip and the product looks lovely and streamline.

The product will be available for a range of prices but I got mine for about £29 from Argos. It can be bought from a range of online websites and also from a variety of stores which sell electrical appliances.

About the product
The curling wand is described as being a salon quality. It promises to give you the freedom and the flexibility to create pretty curls or soft waves. It comes without a clamp which is either a positive or negative depending on your views.

Features
The product has a Nano Gold Ceramic Barrel which heats up to 200 degrees, although there are 5 heat setting altogether going as low as140 degrees so you can choose which works best for you. The very tip of the wand doesn't heat up so you won't end up burning your fingers as you hold the hair. The cord swivels around so it will move with you as you use the wand. The product comes with a heat protection glove to stop yourself getting burnt.

How do you use the product?
The product must be used on dry hair because if the hair is damp it could get damaged. You can use a heat protection spray on the hair first. You need to take a section of the hair at a time around wrap the hair around the wand, hold it in place for a minute and then release the hair. For a more natural appearance you don't need to curl the hair all the way to the root. For a tight curled appearance, you can curl small sections of the hair at a time or for looser waves, you can curl larger sections. You can then set the style with a spritz of hair spray.

Using the product
The product is not light but it isn't so heavy that it makes you arm ache and this is a good thing as you will be holding it for a while. It heats up quickly when you turn the product taking around 30 seconds or so which is good when you are in a rush. There is a flashing light on the front panel while it heats which then stops flashing once it has reached the required temperature. The cord to the curling wand isn't as long as it could be and although this isn't a problem for me, it will be for those who don't have a mirror fairly close to a plug socket. The product automatically switches off if you forget to do it which is reassuring to a scatter brain like me!

When using the product, I find the middle temperatures are best for me. I don't tend to use the hottest one because then I feel like I'm being kinder to my hair! I have used wands in the past which have a clamp and which this helps to hold the hair in place, it does make the process more fiddly in my opinion. So the fact this product comes without a clamp is a positive for me. I sometimes wear the glove to stop me from burning my hands because I am very clumsy. When I don't wear it, I have sometimes burnt my hand and it does sting because the wand gets very hot. The fact that the cord can swivel means I don't get it tangled in my hair.

The wand forms the curls quickly although my hair will generally curl very easily. This makes the process a quick and easy one. I prefer to start a quarter of the way down my hair using larger sections so that the curls are loose and natural looking. It does produce natural curls and they are defined well so there isn't any frizziness. It does seem to add a bit of shine to my hair and it does make my hair look in a good condition. The curls drop a bit as time goes on and they are more like waves by the end of a night but I like how this looks too! My hair is long so I think my hair weighs down the curl. Someone with shorter hair may experience longer lasting results.

Conclusion
All in all, this is a beautiful looking product which is classy and eye catching. It is easy to use, has a range of temperature setting and it forms gorgeous soft curls in the hair. The curls are fairly long lasting although they do drop into waves and I really look how they look natural. I would happily recommend this product.