As embarrassing as it is to admit that I’ve fallen victim to many late-night infomercial pitches, there are a few good products to break up the monotony of ridiculous products here and there. I didn’t need a Slap Chop, but I came *this* close to buying one on a sleepless night, and Smooth Away looked like something I couldn’t live without after the 5-minute commercial. For about every ten products that are the epitome of all human laziness, there may be one that has potential. It was only natural for me to be hesitant to try out the InStyler which has been in heavy rotation on late-night TV lately, but it definitely piqued my interest.
The commercials star celebrity hairstylist Dean Banowetz, the hands behind the red-carpet hair of celebs like Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, and Ellen DeGeneres. He’s also worked as Leeza Gibbon’s personal hairstylist, so he’s experienced in the art of good hair! A stylist like Dean who has such a star-studded cast of clientele has to be very careful what he attaches his name to, it’s a risky business and he’s got a lot riding on this. But what if it actually worked? Is it as easy as Dean Banowetz makes it look?
Yes, but not without trial and error. Like any heat styling tool, it took me a little practice– but not for very long. To be honest, after brushing up on a few of the techniques in the short videos on their site you would think I had been styling my hair with it for weeks with success. I couldn’t believe how easy it was once I got the basics down and that it wasn’t a flimsy little metal & plastic combo to be used a few times and then tossed in the bin with a few of my older heat tools. With 3 heat settings, a rotating barrel that gets seriously hot, and a comb that helps you detangle, separate, and smooth– it actually worked incredibly well. But like I said, not without trial and error. In the first 5 minutes, you know I had to go and burn my forehead really good because I didn’t pay attention to how close I had the barrel to my head when I was working on my bangs! I’ve burned my forehead with many a curling iron in all of my years, so it was no big deal– but I made a mental note to myself to make sure to tell you to be careful with the barrel and not get it too close. It seems like a no-brainer, I know– but I did it anyway!
A few of the challenges you may have out-of-the box:
• sliding it throughout the length of your hair too quickly, or not in a smooth & steady motion
• placing too much or not enough tension up against the barrel
• not using the correct size of a section of hair in the InStyler
• waking up your significant other at 7am because it’s a little on the loud side while in motion!
If you’re mindful of these important factors, it shouldn’t be too difficult to create flips, add volume and bounce, straighten, or add curls and more to your style. With a little practice and patience, it shouldn’t end up in the cabinet next to your Ronco Food Dehydrator or your Egg Genie. I’m keeping mine handy, I love my InStyler!
PLEASE NOTE: Beauty Junkies Unite has NO affiliation with InStyler or their infomercial marketing company and strongly encourages that you examine their pricing terms prior to purchasing. If those terms are not acceptable to you, you may wish to purchase it from another retailer. The purpose of this post was to share my honest opinions of my experiences with the InStyler. As with anything, your experience may differ.
I have two InStylers. One for my sister and I and one for my mom. My sister and I had no problem with this product at all. We washed our hair, let it dry and then straightened it with the InStyler. Now my hair is shiny, straight and fabulous. I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten many compliments on my hair. My hair is medium-fine. So it has it’s good days and bad ones. I’ve gotten compliments on it before but with the Instyler the compliments have increased.
Now my mom had a problem with this product. Her hair didnt come out as straight as she wanted it. Why? Because she thought the Styler was a magic wand. She sped through her hair without giving the InStyler time to work.
So my advice is take your time, especially those used to a flat iron. This rod was created to style the hair in a healthy way, without breaking the hair. Of course, it’ll take time. But in the end, it’s well worth it.
All my life even in the 60’s in the hippie era, I was jealous of any one who had straight hair or could iron their hair straight My hair is so unruly that I always kept it fairly short. Of course over years products had improved but no matter what i used
I always had some stubborn wave that wouldn’t go straight. A friend bought me the INSTYLER because he knew how much i wanted smooth straight hair. I cannot believe how wonderful this has worked. The nest day after using it, my hair still looks great with a little touching up. I have dry thick coarse wavy and curly hair and with age it has become more wiry. I have accidently burned my hand also but this happened with other products too. It is a matter of getting used of it, I am really enfoying it!
I bought the instyler for my daughter for her birthday and she’s been really happy with it so far.