Curling irons over the past few years have innovated so much, and some of them can now cost upwards of hundreds of dollars, according to April Franzino, the beauty director at Good Housekeeping.
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"Curling irons are having a sort of boom right now, you're seeing tons of different technologies coming out and I think it's because people are styling their hair at home more," Franzino said.
At the Good Housekeeping lab, a team of beauty gurus evaluated 25 different curling iron models to break down their top picks.
"We saw ones that had clamps, ones that didn't, ones that rotate," Franzino said, adding that they even looked at wands with 90-degree angles which make it easier to curl the back of your head.
To determine their list of top picks they drop tested, field tested and closely evaluated each product's claims as well as looked at safety factors.
"You think any iron is going to heat up to the temperature listed on the packaging? Not true," Franzino said. "We found that eight of the irons in our test did not heat up to the level that they claimed."
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Some of them however, got a little too hot.
"This was a surprise to us. We found one that was above the threshold that was safe -- 500 degrees -- and it actually singed off one of our beauty tester's hair, which was scary," she said.
Good Housekeeping's top picks for curling irons:
- The Ion Titanium Pro Curling Iron
The prices ranged from $40 to $200, and in the end their winner was a bit of a budget surprise: The Ion Titanium Pro Curling Iron. - The Hot Tools Professional Curlbar
Their runner-up top pick was the Hot Tools Professional Curlbar, which costs $100. - Franzino's favorite: The Beachwaver
Franzino's personal favorite, however, was the Beachwaver, which comes in two models ranging in price from $130 to $200 and produces the trendiest style in recent years: Those natural, fluffy, beach curls.
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"The Beachwaver actually has settings where it rotates away from your face," she said. - If you have the money: The Dyson Airwrap
This beauty tool, which starts at $499 but can get much higher based on what model you choose, was added as an addendum to their list, in it's own category because of its price.
"It definitely does more things than a curling iron does," Franzino said.
For one, it also works as a dryer, so you can start with wet hair and then features different attachments so you can curl or smooth almost like a flat iron and a curling iron at the same time.
"So you're getting almost three tools in one system, so I think that's where the price point comes from. It's almost like a salon in a box," Franzino said.