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 the InStyler’s infomercial 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.
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Hiya, I would like to know the price please! Cheers Eden
I got the instyler from harmon beauty supply store to try it out, used it once…. didn’t find much of a difference than my twenty something dollar ceramic straightener. so returned it. not really worth 100 bucks..! hair were ok…. they were not really straight straight… its hard to get the roots to straighten up in fear of burning with the open end hot roller. and yea… it is pretty noisy….!
I want to get an instyler but i have some what long hair and its very curly! do u think that the instyler would work for me?
Hi Magpie, it’s hard to say either way since only you know your hair–but I can say with long, curly hair, it will take some time. Remember to work in small sections
I don’t recommend this hair straightener, I’ve heard that it can pull off your hair and it doesn’t do much. I prefer the regular hair straightener , I use the Karmin G3 Salon Pro that has tourmaline ceramic plates which cause less damage to the hair and keeps it soft, shiny and very straight. I totally recommend it !
BAD NEW: BURNS HAIR, FOREHEAD, DOES NOT LOCK OUT FRIZZ AND WHAT EVEN WORSE THEY DO NOT ADHERE TO THEIR RETURN POLICY. I spoke twice to a customer service rep: 1st rep insisted i try their hair product to make it work. It did not help. 2nd call (3 minutes and recorded for quality assurance) rep offered reduced price & suggested I give away as x-mas gift. I declined and asked to return. She gave me RA # & I asked how long I had to return because we had lost so much time with having them talk me into trying w/their hair products: she said that since I had gotten the RA # in time, that was what mattered. I returned it a few weeks later and it was rejected and returned to me because of my postmark date. I tried to have customer service mgr pull up our taped conversation of how she advise me and he said it was archived each month but he could tell it was a 3 minute conversation. What a run around!! Bad product, bad customer service, bad decision on my part.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Eve!
My moms had hers for a while and loves it!
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