https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6292332/recommendations-for-a-good-curling-iron#n=26

There are curling irons which people still use. Frankly using curling irons and flatirons is quite exhausting for me but I have very thick long hair so to do it well I have to pin it up and do in small sections which can take over an hour.

What I have found that might work is to get the kind of blow dryer that has a rounded brush attached to it. I blow my hair so that it is damp and not wet. I then clip up sections and use the blow dry brush to style the sections. If I wanted to go further I could use a curling iron to further get those kinds of loose curls you are describing - but it is a lot to do and I would only do it for a special occasion.

I used a curling iron for about 20 yr-- but I gave up and embraced my stick straight hair 30 yr ago because the curling iron took so long (i had to do each and every piece) and the heat damaged my hair. Looking back, the curls didn't look all that natural either. You may have different experience since your hair is wavy vs so darn straight.

I have been toying with the idea of getting a dyson airwrap. I think the curls are much more natural looking and I don't think it does as much damage to your hair. I would think this would be a great option for your wavy hair (if you can stomach the price. The price is the only reason I haven't given it a try!).

For a more casual look, I think beach waves are fun -- my niece has a device that looks like a curling iron that will give her beach waves. I've also seen people use plastic wraps (look like thick rubber pipe cleaners).

Helen, That sounds like a good compormise. Once when I was a teen I played with a round brush and that did not go very well for me. Maybe I have become more coordinated in my advanced years?

Funky, I had heard of the Dyson tool, but never looked at it. Wow, that is a good amount of money, but I am very good at justifying unreasonable expenses. There is that pesky round brush again, and it gives the result I want, so maybe I could learn, but it would be a lot of wasted money if I failed.

Will watch more YT.

Having the round brush attached to the blow dryer really simplifies it because you only need one hand.

I checked out the Dyson when it cake out a few years but it is overkill for me as my $30 round brush dryer is fine and i don’t need my hair automatically wrapped 😀

DD has a Dyson AirWrap because she has an indulgent DMIL. I’ve used it a bit on the granddaughters’ hair. I like it. If my hair were longer, I’d consider buying one. If you do buy one, also buy the larger, longer barrels. They give softer curls.

Also, watch a couple of YouTube videos about the Dyson Airwrap.

I've used nothing but Conair for both blow dryers and curling irons. No straight iron for me. Too much of a hassle.

Conair lasts forever, and I can put waves in my hair but they're pretty mild. The larger the curling iron the larger the curls. The smaller the iron, the curls will also be small and more tightly wound.

Thye're inexpensive and if you really get into doing your hair, buy one with frills. :)

I have a Drybar monthly membership, and depending on the sytlist they use either the flatiron or the curing iron to make beachy waves. Sometimes it’s more curly, sometimes less. They key with using a curling iron is to wrap your hair away from your face and have the iron facing vertical. I can do an OK job on my hair in a pinch, especially if I put in my clip in extensions. You do need to use something other than the lowest heat setting, so this is not something I’d do for every day.

My hairdresser used a flat iron on my hair (which is very straight) once to show me how ”easy” it would be to add a few waves. I loved it. So I bought a flat iron and I just cannot seem to make it work the way she did. My future DIL was planning to show me when she was here for Thanksgiving, but we never got around to it. So she actually texted me a video of herself using a flat iron…so my next step is to prop up my phone on the vanity, plug in the flat iron, and see if I can do it with her virtual help! I don’t need to do it every day but it would be nice to master it for special occasions.

I know there are plenty of you tube videos, too. I think the key is to try to find someone on you tube who has similar hair to you.

I have thick coarse wavy medium length hair. I have never been able master a round brush - no matter what I do my hair gets tangled. I use a flat iron if my hair has long layers and I'm just trying to straighten out the coarseness of my hair, typically necessary when it's humid and my hair "puffs" up. I can also use it to add a slight curl.

Right now my hair has some medium length layers. If I just dry it, the layers look funny to me (I don't have the dexterity to use a brush to style while drying like my hairdresser can). I use a 1" curling iron which helps tame the coarseness like a straight iron, while also styling/curling the layers. I don't do those curls that are popular (were popular) though, I sort of brush mine out. I can't really describe, but it gives my hair a finished look with lots of body. I can get a similar look with a straight iron, but I like how it looks better when I use the curling iron.

That was my long winded way of saying, I use both a straightener and a curling iron, depending on my cut, the amount of humidity outside and the look I am going for.

Sidenote, D17 has one of those popular Revlon round brush dryers. She doesn't use it every day, but she is already on her second one and just like the first one, has already broken. The second one is only six months old.

I also have curly hair and am somewhat successful getting it mostly straight but have never been able to do curls with any implement other than curling iron. There are lots of good Youtube videos on how to do it if you are so inclined. The one thing I notice is that when I do it myself, I tend to get frizzier and lose curl faster than when it's professionally done. I think the high heat in the salon has something to do with it - something I wouldn't want to do to my hair very often.

4Kids, that's too bad. I would attempt to return it, or at least contact Revlon and see what they have to say about it. I have one that I've been using for five years. It's a pain to clean, since the brush head can't be removed, so I just bought a new one that has a removable brush head. Got it for about $25 on sale after Christmas. Hopefully it holds up as well as the first one has!

I have tried the flat iron for curls. Sometimes I get good results and others, terrible!

I will follow this as I am wanting to find good curling iron as well.

I have no curling iron advice, but I can say that I had a round brush incident as a tween but have since become comfortable with using one. As a tween I tried to use my mom's and she had short hair so it was a narrow diameter brush. I now use one that has a larger diameter. My hair is quite long. I don't use it to create curls (not sure if I would know how or if it can be done) but I use it smooth my hair as a dry it. I let it air dry until it's just damp and then use a hairdryer with the round brush, especially in areas around my temples where I have more aggressive cowlicks.

I also have thick, wavy hair. I let mine mostly air-dry, then when barely damp, "fluff" with the hair dryer. I use a large round brush on bangs and crown and then a curling iron only to straighten my bangs a bit and pull some curl out of the crown. I occasionally curl an odd straight piece or two if necessary. My hair does best layered and I never try to straighten. I bought a professional strength (? not sure if that is the right word) curling iron. I've had it forever!

I have 2 Conair roller kind of gizmos. I think the purple one works better. The more brush-like one gets really really hot and blows on your neck. The purple one is easier for me to handle, doesn’t get super hot, and I like the stiffer plastic bristles more than the brushy bristles of the other one.

@bbstx LOL - My experience is the opposite as I found the larger brush like ones much easier to handle and gave me a better result. The small one seemed to be more like a curling iron with a brush.

Of course this could be because I have long thick hair and so larger brushes work better because small ones require even more sections which require even more tedious and time consuming work.

Luckily I have comfortable seating at my vanity. I can't imagine standing as this takes quite a bit of time as does putting on presentable makeup.