Demonstration and Review: KISS InstaWave Automatic Hair Curler

KISS is a brand that specializes in beauty, nails, and hair styling tools. They have been around since 2012. Their KISS InstaWave Automatic Curler is one of their more popular products and you might have seen it before in an ad on TV or magazines. 

The KISS InstaWave is a fully automatic tangle-free curler that instantly creates beautiful curls. It promises to make hair curling be easy, quick, and effortless leaving you with fabulous results. I have been dying to get a new curling iron for months now so I felt very fortunate to be given the chance to try this out by the company. In this post are a tutorial and an honest review to let you guys know how it went. 

"Instantly create natural curls with ease!” – From KISS InstaWave box 

**Warning: This post is photo intensive!



First Impressions:

From looking at the box, this hair curling iron looks big. The size of the barrel (the stick part that your hair wraps around) is 1” in diameter, which is the average size useable on most hair lengths. Although from top to bottom the hair curling wand looks long, I think the large size gave me better control over positioning it when I was using it to curl my hair.

On the handle, it features a Curl Dial with left/right curl directions. This is the big grey button with arrows. Pressing it will make the KISS InstaWave spin left or right to catch your hair.

KISS InstaWave // Photo Credit: Brandbacker.com

There is a power slide switch on the handle controlling heat intensity with three positions:

•           High
•           Low
•           Off 

The 2 heat settings with a low/high switch will reach a maximum temperature of 420F.  Be extra careful to not have the KISS InstaWave too close to your face and skin when using it. There is a heat indicator light to let you know when it is on and getting heated.

A red light means it’s heating up. A blue light means it is good to go for you to start curling. It will automatically shut off after 90 minutes of use to prevent fire hazards in case you forget to turn it off and leave it plugged into the wall.

When I was practicing how to position the KISS InstaWave, I had it on off so there would be no heat. For the spin mechanism to work, you have to have it on the high or low position. The spinning mechanism is what catches the hair strands and wraps it around the barrel. As your hair is wrapping around the barrel, it is making contact with the heat.

In the box, it also came with a quick guide instructions card and in-depth safety manual.

KISS InstaWave Quick Start Guide // Photo Credit: intrice.blogspot.com

How to Use It:

Before I began curling away, I made sure I tested out the buttons and switches first so I knew how everything worked the first time. Definitely, don’t want my hair to get caught in it. If that does happen, the instructions say to press the arrow button in the opposite direction of how it was spinning to untangle the hair from the KISS InstaWave.

When I was finally ready to start using the KISS InstaWave, I first applied a heat protector for hair styling. I find that my hair more easily does what I want it to do with heat styling whenever I use a heat protector spray. You should always take this extra step when using heat styling tools (i.e. flat irons, curling irons, blow dryers, etc.) to avoid burning your hair and damaging it. If you smell a burning smell, it's your hair burning not the heat styler overheating. 

This is how my hair looked before using the KISS InstaWave.

For this demonstration, I used my TRESSemme Heat Tamer Spray. I also split my hair into 2 layers and will start with the bottom layer. Let’s begin curling.

Step 1.

Hold InstaWave vertically and simply place a section of hair on the InstaWave curling rod. Make sure your hair is between 1-2 inch sections.

*Note: Place the InstaWave on the top section of the hair if you want to get a full set of curls.

Step 2.                                                                                                                                                      

Angle the InstaWave slightly then touch the Curl Dial button either left or right. The InstaWave instantly and automatically catches and curls the hair around the curl barrel.

While trying to not leave my hair on the barrel for too long because the heat is on, I had to play with the buttons to figure out which direction to press in order to get it to curl the right way. I used the low setting for this trial and error phase. After messing with this for 15 minutes on my own and following the print instructions, I finally figured it out.

For future owners of the InstaWave, this is what you have to do for the InstaWave to correctly wrap your hair:

•  For an inner curl, place the hair behind the barrel and press the inner arrow button (the one closest to your face).
•  For an outer curl, place the hair in front of the barrel and press the outer arrow button.

Step 3.

Continue pressing the Curl Dial directions button until the hair is fully around the barrel. Once the hair is around the barrel, release the directional button for the spinning to stop and allow barrel to apply heat to the hair. Hold for 5-10 seconds, hold longer for tighter curls and less for beachy waves. The amount of time it will take to form a curl will depend on the style of curl and hair type.

I had to count to 10 seconds twice for my long hair when using the InstaWave on high heat. Once is for the top section of the hair and then 10 seconds again when I moved the KISS InstaWave to curl the bottom section of the hair strands. Using low heat was not enough for my hair to form an actual tight curl and instead it gave me wavy hair.

Step 4.  

Pull the InstaWave straight down vertically, letting hair out. Do not pull it diagonally.

I am guessing this is to prevent it from getting caught or tangled in the spinner.

**Tip: Switch between curling right and curling left to create the most natural looking curls

:: Final Results: Attempt #1 ::

Attempt #1: This is how my hair looked after curling all the hair on one side. I liked how the waves turned out.

My Hair Type: Straight, Thick

Overall Rating: 4/5

Ease of Use: 4 (once you get the hang of it) -- Cost: 3 -- Effectiveness in Curling Hair: 5

I was looking to do tousled curls and it was capable of giving me those results. I did have to practice for about 15 minutes in front of the mirror to get the hang of it in the beginning. The learning curve for this I would say is medium but if you watch their online videos on the KISS InstaWave website it helps a lot. 

The photos above are part of attempt #1 before looking up the video and just trying to follow the printed instructions. I have included photos for attempt #2 at the end of this post, which is a different look to give you an idea of what type of curls you can do. You can get a better idea of the whole process of the using the InstaWave from my attempt #2 photos.

Once I got the motions down, I was able to form curls much faster than at the beginning. It became fun curling my hair with the InstaWave when I knew what do and could even do it one handed towards the end of my hair curling session. I rarely curl my hair because it is so time consuming with conventional curlers and non-automatic curling irons but this really does make it easy and effortless for me.

I didn't burn myself once using the KISS InstaWave but did have some close calls. Be careful to not pull diagonal when you are releasing the hair from the barrel! Always pull straight down. Sometimes I forgot and almost burnt myself by going diagonal because of habit with other curling irons. The barrel of the KISS InstaWave does get very hot even when it's on low so be extra careful if you use it. After releasing my hair using the low setting, it felt very hot to the touch.

My biggest issue was getting my hair to wrap around the barrel. I guess I wasn't using a thick enough section of hair when I first started out so it wasn't catching in the spinning mechanism to carry the hair to the barrel. I was able to solve the problem by adding a little more hair to the section I wanted to curl and I slowly moved the InstaWave downward as it spun to get the hair to wrap completely around the barrel. (This wasn't stated in the printed instructions.)

Another issue was that the printed instructions don’t mention which direction to press the buttons nor explaining how to do outer or inner curls on the quick start information card. My hair would be on top of the barrel but because I wasn't pressing the arrow in the correct direction, my hair wouldn't wrap around the InstaWave at all.

I had to figure it out from trial and error for attempt one. Eventually, I looked up their online video tutorial to double-check that I was doing it right prior to attempt two. I am happy to say that when using the KISS InstaWave both times, my hair did not get caught in it. This was my biggest worry and I think what makes most women hesitant to use an automatic curler.

Even though I encountered these difficulties, I would still recommend this product for anyone looking for an automatic hair curler that gives nice results in a timely manner. It is easy for anyone to use, from any angle, with any hand. So whether you are left handed or right handed you don’t have to worry about it making things difficult. 

This automatic hair curler works really well once you get the hang of it. It just takes a bit of practice and research on how to use it. The amount of time it took to curl my hair by doing just one side of my head was about 10 minutes because I did have to go back to redo the curl sometimes. I think if I curled my whole head it would be about 20 - 25 minutes because the layers on the top section of my hair are shorter in length than the bottom section of my hair.

Have you tried the KISS InstaWave before or plan on buying it? What are your thoughts on it

Share them with me in a comment below or leave me a tweet @intriceblog. :)

 Retail Price: $59.99

Available at: KISSinstawave.com – On the “Purchase” page it takes you to direct links to order online from Target, Ulta, or Amazon.

For more information and video demonstrations for this product, visit KISSinstawave.com.

Note: This is a sponsored post from the hairstyling tools brand KISS. I received a KISS InstaWave to sample and was asked to write a review and tutorial. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and describe my personal experience when using this product. All photos belong to me unless otherwise noted. Powered by BrandBacker.

x Carol

Photos From Attempt #2

*Used TRESSemme Heat Tamer Spray prior to curling

*I curled my hair using the LOW setting on the InstaWave.

Place the hair section behind the /\ on the barrel of the InstaWave.

Press the direction button for it to begin wrapping your hair around the barrel.

After pulling the InstaWave straight down, you are left with the curled section of the hair.

Repeat Step 1.

Repeat Step 2.

I felt like I wanted the waves a bit tighter so  I re-curled the sections again.

Here is how the hair looked after curling over the same sections a second time.

Now curling the other side of my hair to do a tight curl. I left it on for 15 seconds (w/ using a heat protector spray.)
For tighter curls, make sure its wrapped tight around the barrel like the photo.

Finished one section and curling the other section left on this side.
You can see how much tighter the curl is compared to the other side.

Here is a close-up of the tighter curl that the InstaWave can make
by holding it longer against the barrel (about 15 seconds.)

Here is a close-up of the loose curl that the InstaWave can make
by holding for like 7 seconds.

Comparison Photo of Tighter Curl vs Loose Curl

After a bit of styling...

I thought this came out nicely too. Very happy with the results! :)

I went out with my hair like this and I was outside for about 4 hours and my curls/waves were still there! Surprised it didn't go back to being straight after 30 minutes because I didn't apply hairspray either. ^^ So what do you guys think?