I don’t believe in love at first sight. Lust, sure. Joy, absolutely. But love? Nope. Mostly for the fact that love, in my world, includes trust and dependability, too, something that cannot be gleaned from a singular glance. So, when I tell you that I fell in love with this curling iron (the T3 Whirl Trio Convertible Styling Wand, to be exact) instantly, know that I put up a helluva good fight first.
Over the years, I’ve whipped through styling tools that promised the world and then a little more on top still. From a hairdryer that mimics the way sunlight zips the moisture from your hair to heated rollers (the best) and the zippy new generation of wet-to-dry straighteners (jury still out), the number of things I’ve run my strands through is fairly exhaustive.
The one I return to (and wax lyrical about), hasn’t changed, though. It’s a curling iron with interchangeable barrels, meaning you’re not stuck with one size for the rest of time. Oh, no. This curling iron comes with three barrels: a 1”, a tapered 1.25” to 1.75” and a 1.5”. If those numbers mean very little to you, think undone waves, tousled waves and loose waves respectively. And, it has the option to buy individual barrels (there are four more to the set), too.
Now, for the nitty-gritty: what makes this curling iron so darn special?
What makes the T3 Whirl Trio worth it?
Besides the interchangeable barrels which, in my book, cannot be any more underlined, the good things about this curling iron are numerous.
1. Cost
First up, the price. At £260, this curling iron is, on the face of it, more expensive than most. The new Hershesons Wavemaker is £150 while the ghd Curve Soft Curl Tong is £159. The Beauty Works Professional Styler is £70 and the BaByliss Pro Ceramic Dial-A-Heat Tong is £43 (£36 if you can snag it on sale).
But – and this is important – all of those stylers offer a fixed barrel. There’s no clipping on or off when you fancy a tighter or looser curl. Yes, the tightness of the curl as you wrap your hair around them will influence the shape that you eventually get but it won’t change the width of the curl. That’ll remain the same.
So, the T3 Whirl Trio which is, essentially, three curling irons in one (at least, remember there are four other barrels you can buy separately) comes out at £87 an iron, well below that of the other fixed styles. The closest comparison is Amika’s The Chameleon 5-Barrel Interchangeable Curling Kit which costs £285 and, when using every useful #girlmath, comes out at £57 per curling iron.
2. Variety is the spice of life hair tools
Next, the heat settings. Variable heat isn’t a new thing and most modern styling tools possess more than two heat settings. The T3 Whirl Trio, though, has five heat settings and goes up to a maximum heat of 140℃ with useful (and quite cute) little protective feet to stop you from scorching your vanity/desk/floor – delete as appropriate.
3. Tangle-free
I can’t not mention the swivel cord. If you’ve ever been tangled in a straightener or curling iron with little way of extricating yourself burn-free, you’ll understand what a godsend a swivel cord is. Plus, when you’re trying to do something that requires a little dexterity (thinking tousled waves or irregular curls), being able to move freely with the cord makes matters much more straightforward.
Let’s be realistic for a second. By desert island, I, of course, mean what am I stuffing in my hand luggage ahead of a weekend away? Most hotels and Air BnBs will have a hair dryer. It might huff out air as fast as a gentle breeze and only work when you’re propped up next to the plug but it’ll do its job if you remain patient and, crucially, also pack a decent round brush. The key to a smooth, shiny blow-dry is the tension you create by pulling the hair taut and directing the air down the shaft of the hair, not up. Never up.
So, with that in mind, the only other thing I need is something that takes my hair from smooth and dry to perfectly, artfully tousled and waved within an inch of its life. And that will always be a curling iron that comes with two (two!) extra barrels.
A straightener, while useful for people who like poker-straight hair, can create waves but, in my experience, they often look blockier and sharper than when using a smooth curling iron. As for air-powered devices like the Dyson Airwrap, when I heat style my hair, I like to know it’s going to stay in place through the evening, whether that includes wild girls-trip dancing or sitting watching the sun go down with a glass of grenache. For all its good points, I’ve never had that with a tool that relies on air rather than heat. And yes, I’ve used the cool shot, prepped and set my hair properly and, just generally, gone about it the right way. It still doesn’t happen.
What goes well with the T3 Whirl Trio?
I’m always going to suggest products that have a little something extra thrown in. The Color Wow Dream Coat Supernatural Spray (cult for a reason), protects your hair from heat styling but also creates a genuinely impenetrable shield from humidity, meaning your ‘do lasts until you choose to wash it next.
Color Wow
Dream Coat Supernatural Spray 200ml
Or, for cream converts, I use the Hershesons Almost Everything Cream almost every single day. It works as a styling agent (think hair primer, curl definer and frizz tamer) but it also conditions and treats the split ends we’ve all got dotted about our lengths.
Hershesons
Almost Everything Cream
For post-styling, it has to be the Evo Builder’s Paradise Working Spray which, annoyingly, is often out of stock but keeps hair in place without sacrificing the swooshy, swingy movement I love. A brilliant alternative is the Amika Fluxus Touchable Hairspray or, for a celebrity hairstylist favourite, the got2b Glued Hairspray Blasting Freeze Hold.
Amika
Fluxus Touchable Hairspray