I have long, thick, straight hair that’s in pretty good health – I’m appreciative of what I have. However, in my fantasy world, I would love it to be styled in Victoria’s Secret angel-esque waves, to be tossed in careless, sexy abandon.
In reality though, I typically only curl my hair on the weekends, when I have enough self-pampering leisure time to get dolled up to go out. The main reasons why I don’t curl it more are 1) it takes a non-negligible amount of time to curl a head of long hair and 2) heat treatment incurs hair damage. However, I’ve found a curling iron that allows me to indulge while minimizing my two concerns!
Let me begin by saying that I’ve been a fan of T3 curling products for more than a decade. They’re robust and well-made, with careful attention to detail (e.g. a nifty velcro-fastened strap to keep the extension cord nice and neat). T3 irons contain tourmaline and ceramic, which enables even heating and yields smooth, glossy curls.
The T3 Twirl360 is as beautiful as it is functional, with clean white lines and rose-gold metallic accents. The 1.25″ barrel (mis-stated in the video as 1.5″, apologies!) is perfect for gentle waves.
The operating mechanism is a simple and elegant use of technology. In a former life, I was a Lockheed Martin ‘rocket scientist’, specializing in gyroscopes and accelerometers for space vehicles and defense rockets. Gyroscopes, once used in aerial navigation, have successfully made the leap into our consumer world. Most of us carry one around with us daily, within our smart phones. As such, it’s clever that they’ve been integrated into the T3 Twirl360 to make hair-curling a fast and simple process.
How? A typical curling iron requires you to secure the hair into the iron, and then manually twist to roll the iron through the hair. Even if the cord is a rotating one, it invariably gets twisted up, which is a source of frustration for me.
In contrast, imagine an iron in which you secure the hair, press a button, and (gently! practically imperceptibly!) twitch your wrist in the direction you want to form your curl. It’s ergonomic – no more awkward, repetitious wrist-twisting, fast – the time spent twisting the iron adds up!), and intuitively simple, once you get the hang of it. It took me 1-2 minutes to get used to it, and I imagine it’d take you just a few minutes as well.
As demonstrated in the video, here’s the process:
Clamp your hair and locate the round button on the upper handle. Press the button and make a small twist in the direction you want the iron to rotate.
Keep the button depressed until the iron has engaged with the desired length of hair, and then release it. Hold the iron in place (for about 5-10 second), and then press the clamp handle and gently release the curled hair.
There are 5 heat levels to accommodate varying hair types. My tip: go lower, not higher. You’ll do less damage to your hair and will still get a great curl! I used to think that my coarse, thick hair needed an iron heat of at least 350 deg F, and I’d use up to 390 def F when I was pressed for time(!). I’ve since learned that 310-330 deg F is just fine for my hair, which is what I used in the tutorial.
The iron also runs in 2 speeds, so you can get comfortable with it at the low speed before turning it up. I used the higher speed in the tutorial.
I’ve tried plenty of hair styling tools, and once I find a great solution, I stick with it. In my opinion, this is a great solution. I love that this is a tool utilizing technology in a smart way that makes sense (vs. as a novelty factor), developed by a company that has a history of making reliable hair styling tools.
Happy curling! Please share your stories about your must-have hair styling products, so that we can all learn from each other! 🙂
aloha and xoxo’s,
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Love this T3 – Twirl 360 Iron! The beachy waves are great. This tool would be perfect for my niece with her long hair. I love that it is easy to use too! I am always looking for hair tools for her to give her as gifts. What girl doesn’t love pretty curls.
What a cool hair tool! Love the beachy waves. And it looks easy to use too. I’m always looking for tools to help define my unruly curls. This looks like a good choice.
I think the style of this curling iron is really pretty. I haven’t used one in such a long time. I have naturally curly hair, and I’ve actually ALWAYS wanted those loose wave/curls like the ones you achieved here in forever. It’s just not in the cards for me the way my hair is. It’s either completely straight or curls galore.
I wish I had long straight hair, I have short afro hair that is hard to maintain and I am hardly ever using curly iron. I love your hair both curly and straight
Your curls look so beautiful. I love those loose, beach wave curls. I do them myself with my hair straightener and it’s always hit and miss on whether or not they’ll stay or not. I’ll be wearing my hair like this all summer though 🙂
I have natural hair so of course I wont be using this anytime soon but let me say how pretty this curling iron is. I’ve seen it on quite a few blogs and I love the rose gold against white. Thank you for the review!
Beachy waves are just time consuming for me to do because I have long and heavy hair. If only I have the luxury of time every morning to dry my hair after taking a bath to curl, I would certainly do this. How often do you use the hair iron?
I have always been envious of any one who could have their hair hold curls! My hair is way too thick to hold the curls. This sounds like an amazingcurler, I am so excited my youngest hair will hold curls finally!
I have seen curlers like this and wondered how they worked, thanks for sharing! My daughter and I both have long hair, so I’ve bookmarked this page. Hopefully our hair will come out as nicely as yours!
I have long hair and I think this would be a great tool to use to save so much time curling. I have naturally curly hair but I would love to have the wider curls like you have in the pictures, looks like a great product!
Love the hair! I have never been able to do that with a flat iron. So this comes in super handy! 🙂 What a great giveaway too! I’m excited to try to win!