“I used this hair tool once, and 5 people asked me if I’d had a blowdry”

Stylist’s beauty writer Hanna Ibraheem never took the time to properly ‘style’ her hair. Then, she came across a tool that made effortless curls not only easy, but fast, too…

My hair routine usually depends on one of two things: how many times I hit the snooze button and how my hair looks when I take it out of my overnight bun.

I don’t really ‘do’ mornings. I’m usually up and out within 30 minutes and I use my lengthy commute to apply make-up. So, styling my hair doesn’t really take any priority in my AM routine – and when I do feel like making an effort with it, it needs to take as little time as possible, because, SLEEP.

While I love the look of smooth and sleek freshly-straightened hair, it can sometimes leave my roots looking limp and flat. Instead, I tend to gravitate more towards waves and curls. At school, I frequently tipped my head upside down and scrunched my naturally wavy hair with curling jelly for volume. In university, I rolled my hair into a topknot every night to create soft curls, and when I started working, I often slept with my hair divided into two plaits, giving me messy waves in the morning.

But then, I got my hands on Cloud Nine’s Waving Wand, £109, and – at the risk of sounding melodramatic – everything changed. 

Coming in at four inches, the barrel is one of the largest on the high street and works on all hair lengths, but is better suited to longer hair. Even with long hair, it took a fair amount of practice (and a few nasty shoulder burns) but once I got to grips with it, I was able to create glossy, bouncy curls in five minutes flat. And when I finally made the effort to get myself out of bed with a spare few minutes to curl my hair before work one morning, I was asked by five different people where I had gotten my hair blowdried throughout the day.

When you switch on the Waving Wand, you have the option to select one of three temperature settings (high, medium and low). I always go for the highest setting and the tool heats up in the same amount of time it takes me to brush out my hair. You then need to decide which hand will hold the tool (I use my right hand for the left side of my hair and vice versa) and pull the heat-resistant glove onto your non-tool hand. Then, you can begin to wrap sections of hair around the hot barrel.

My hair is quite thick, so I divide it into 10 sections and make sure each section is being curled away from my face. For me, the sweet spot for each section seems to be 20-25 seconds wrapped around the tool. I’ve also noticed I get a better curl when I hold the tongs straight, rather than let them point downwards. Yeah, my weak arms do struggle to hold the tool and my hair up for that long, but it’s worth it. Once you unravel your hair from the barrel, the curl may look slightly tight, but this drops out as your hair cools down.

When you’ve finished working around the head, you’ll notice that your hair may look shinier than when you started. Cloud Nine puts it down to the barrel being covered in a “mineral-infused coating”. This helps lock in moisture, seal the cuticle and minimise damage. But along with that, the barrel just gives you pretty dreamy loose curls.

Any time I want to make a bit more effort with my hair, I reach for these tongs. It’s my go-to for work events, special occasions and holidays – and I get compliments every time I use it.

Images: Hanna Ibraheem / Stylist

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