Similar to a hairdryer, a curling iron is one of those things that all women should own. Similar to makeup brushes, it is something that should last you for years. That noted spending a bit on it, is not a big deal. This article will guide you thru some of the best that are out there assuming we will be shopping at what is in my opinion the best store in the world (Amazon).

On side note, I remember when Amazon was mostly a book and movie/TV show site. At least that was all that I had ordered to that point. Then one day, about three months ago, my favorite perfume was out of stock at Sephora. I googled to see where else I could get it and Amazon came up as a possibility. I wound up not ordering it because I was concerned about whether it was a knockoff or not. However, that experiment led me to find out that Amazon is way more similar to Ebay than I thought. So now, I will buy almost everything there and I recommend that you do the same. Now that I noted that, I will explain the top curling irons & wands.

01. Remington CI9538 T|Studio Salon Collection Pearl Digital Ceramic Curling Wand

Tnis is the best selling curling iron on Amazon. It is size–1- 1 1/2″. Both of them come in the color pink…I realize not all of us are girly girls but I would hope that is not going to bother anybody enough to not buy it–if only because it is salon quality, heating up to 410 degrees Fahrenheit as salon quality equipment does. Further, the ceramic finish on this one is awesome the way it the heat is even throughout the wand so that there are no hot spots.

02. Remington CI95AC2 T|Studio Salon Collection Pearl Digital Ceramic Curling Wand

This is basically the same curling iron as above. The difference is it is size 1/2″-1″. Basically if you want thinner curls order this size. If you want thicker curls, order the previous size. Just as the other wand though, it is salon quality heating to 410 degrees Fahrenheit with even heat throughout and no hot spots. I would highly recommend either of these for even a beginner or someone whose hair does not normally stay curled. Which one would depend on what size of curl the individual is looking for.

03. John Frieda Salon Shape 1.5 Inch Hot Air Brush

This one is not so much a curling iron as it is a hot air brush. I am sure you have seen those round brushes in the drug store that supposedly give you volume to your hair. Well this is that, only much better because it is heated. It has a 1 1/2″ barrel and 500 watts of power. Again it is not a curler, but I recommend this one as a frizz reducer.

04. Hot Tools Professional 1110 Curling Iron with Multi-Heat Control

This curling wand comes with a mutli-heat control. It is also 24K Gold Plated on the barrel. There is even a temperature memory built into this wand. Getting a tight curl is probably not doable with this curling wand, but there are no other major drawbacks.

05. xtava Satin Wave 5-in-1 Curler – Professional Curling Iron Set

This one is one of the most expensive on the list. There is a good reason for the increased price, however. This comes with five barrels ranging in size from 0.3 inches to 1.25 inches. The preset temperature is 410 degrees Fahrenheit which is the salon standard. The cord is also reasonably long at 8 ft. If you need a tight curl, this is your best option because of the smaller barrels. If you travel a lot this would also be a good option because of the dual voltage and the heat resistant bag that it comes with that it can travel in. In a nutshell, it is admittedly more expensive than what a lot of you are looking to spend, but if you need the additional features, it is still a worthwhile investment.

06. Curling iron, Perfectwo Studio Salon Collection Digital Ceramic Curling Wand

If you liked the first two on the list but hated the pink color, this might be the curling iron for you. It is very similar to the first one, but it is gold instead of pink. It is also worth noting that the cord on this one turns. As is standard with a lot of the curling irons that come out now, it has a digital display and automatically shuts off after 60 mins.

07. Conair Infiniti Pro Curl Secret Curling Iron

This one is more expensive than all of them. Unlike the earlier product it is only one barrel so that is not the reason. Personally, I am not convinced that is worth the extra expense…but I am including it on the list to be thorough. There is also three timer settings and two heat levels. So that could be a contributing factor to the price but in my opinion, it is not sufficient enough to justify such a price tag.

08. Infiniti Pro by Conair Nano Tourmaline Ceramic 1-1/2-Inch Curling Iron

I was thinking that the reason that the previous curling iron was so expensive had to do with the word tourmaline. Then I ran into this one and now it is obvious that isn’t it which makes me even more confused. Anyway…as of this writing this is the cheapest one on the list to this point. There are five heat settings. The only drawback is this one has a 1 1/2″ barrel…so if you want tight curls, this is not the curling iron for you. Otherwise it is a good buy.

09. Hot Tools Professional 1102 Curling Iron with Multi-Heat Control

This one is nearly identical to the Hot Tools one mentioned earlier in this article. Obviously with a 1 1/2″ barrel it is only the right option if you are looking for curls that give volume to your hair, not a tight curl.

10. Infiniti Pro by Conair Tourmaline Ceramic Curling Wand

At first it seemed like 8 all over again. That is until I saw the cone shaped barrel…that enables the curls to look differently. It does come with a red handle though, for those with a color preference. It has a professional length cord. It heats up in 30 seconds and automatically shuts off after 60 minutes. Another thing worth noting is that this one does come with a five year warranty.

11. Hot Tools Professional 1181 Curling Iron with Multi-Heat Control

The first thing I notice about this curling iron is…it is, as of the time of writing this, substantially on sale at Amazon. While it is not the most expensive on one this list…it is not the cheapest either so let’s look and see if there are any features that justify the extra price. There is a switch to memorize the favorite heat setting. There is also a professional length 8 foot cord and a soft handle that makes it easy to handle. The extra price probably comes from the 24K gold plated barrel that this model has. It’s not that bad of a deal if you are not looking for tight curls as this is a big barrel.

12. Bed Head “Curlipops” 1″ Curling Wand, BH313

As of the time of this writing, this one actually has a coupon on Amazon. 25% off of the already on sale from the retail price. That noted, this one would not be my personal pick and I will explain why. Aside from that it is for loose curls…the cord is only around 6 ft long instead of the 8 ft long that some of the others offer. Also, there is only a manufacturer warranty for one year and other models have offered it for five years. On the plus side though, it is the only model so far to include a heating glove with it.

13. Conair YOU Pro Cordless ThermaCell

This is the first cordless curling iron to make the list. The price is quite good too. It comes with a gas cartridge so there are no batteries or recharging needed either. The life expectancy of the gas cartridge is a few months. Fortunately the cartridges are replaceable and inexpensive to do so for a pack of two of them at pharmapacks.com. It takes a couple of minutes to heat up–which is slower than the others on this list. But assuming the size of the barrel is agreeable to you…think of where all you can take it with you to. You can even go camping and use it outside if you should want to. Granted, more people would probably use it while riding in a car than camping…but it’s just the point of the thing. And oh yes, this curling iron works for people whose hair is normally hard to curl as well.

14. John Frieda Salon Shape 1 Inch Hot Air Brush

It is more or less the same thing that was listed earlier in this article, it just has a smaller barrel. Obviously, just like the other one, this is not used to curl hair, but to add volume to it. So the deciding factor on which one would get would depend on what size barrel you would want.

15. Conair Double Ceramic Curling Iron

Here we have, at the time of writing this article, the cheapest curling iron on the list. There is also a bonus heat shield in order to prevent accidents. It is dual voltage so it can be used overseas with no issue. There are also thirty heat settings on this curling iron. That is very interesting given that it is also the cheapest one on this list. The wire kickstand that it has can be a minor annoyance…but given all its advantages it is probably a livable one.

Okay there they are: the 2 best hot air brushes and the 13 best curling irons of 2016. The hot air brush is relatively straightforward to decide because the only difference is the size of the barrel. As to the curling irons…there are a number of factors including the length of the cord, the size of the barrel, whether there is a warranty…Let’s recap those below.

If you want the smaller barrel, the five in one is going to be your best bet. If you aren’t that worried about anything in particular and just want to make sure you get heating gloves without being bothered to buy them separately, then you want the Bed Head curling iron, mentioned in 13. If you want the differently shaped curls, you want the Infiniti Pro from Conair with the red handle. If you like the idea of a cordless one, you want Conair Pro Cordless Thermacell; which interestingly is also one of the cheapest. If you travel overseas at all…you will want a dual voltage one, those are either the 5 in 1 or the Conair Double Ceramic. So that choice should be fairly easy…do you want one barrel or five? In a nutshell, I think the only one that anybody would be that disappointed in if they were not looking for any feature in particular is Conair Pro Curl Secret. There is just nothing there that stands out as to why it should be so expensive.