Remington’s lightweight tapered wand with the smallest barrel for the shortest strands
Model name/ number: CI9541 (1-1½”), CI95AC10 (½-1″)
Price: $30
Shape: tapered wand
Available sizes: 0.5” to 1”, 1” to 1.5”
Best for: all hair types and lengths
What we like: wide range of heat settings, lightweight, affordable, elegant design
What we don’t like: poor material quality
How it stands out: an affordable tool which achieves loose waves with an undone finish on both thick and fine strands
Rating: 4.2/5.0
Remington always offer tools with elegant designs and this time they caught our attention with their tapered wand. This tool comes in two sizes which appeals to different hair lengths and styling needs. But its smaller size option of 0.5” to 1” is outstanding as its the smallest tapered wand that we’ve come across in the market. This tool is very affordable and it’s a simple yet solid product that offers great versatility. Its tapered wand shape appeals to the ones that want to create natural looking results with an undone finish, since you hold the tips of your strands with your hand. It leaves out the clamp for this purpose, and if you’re a beginner, it may take some time to get used to. That said, it does leave room for mistakes with its ceramic barrel that heats up slowly and this product suits all hair types. Fine hair benefits from its minimum heat of 250 °F. It also has a satisfying maximum temperature if you have stubborn strands that need high heats to tame. It also comes with a heat protectant glove to make sure that your hands are safe from heat while styling. As this is a budget tool, it doesn’t come with the fancy feature and the high-quality material like its luxury alternatives. But it’s a solid tool that does what its promised perfectly, offering a 3 year warranty which is more than the usual number.
Whether you’re seeking the best curling iron for fine hair or the best curling iron for short hair, rest assured, Remington Shine Therapy Tapered Curling Wand has you covered.
Below we share our experiences with “REMINGTON SHINE THERAPY TAPERED CURLING WAND”.
Table of Contents
- Shape
- Size
- Heat and Variable Settings
- Material and Performance
- Features
- Ergonomics
- Price and Warranty
- Competition
Features
Shape
This is a wand shaped tool and it leaves out the holding clamp on purpose. Wands aim to achieve looser and more casual looking waves, rather than tight locks with great precision. So, the decision between a spring iron and this tool will be mostly about your styling needs. The curls that it creates are spiralled and the ends have a more undone finish, as they don’t get the same amount of heat as the base of your strands. Another important aspect is the fact that its barrel is tapered rather than being straight. This shape creates larger and looser waves at the base and tighter curls at the tip. This allows you to create even more voluminous results. As all wands, it requires you to hold your strands with your hand, which means that it takes more effort. It also is a less beginner friendly option than a spring iron.
Size
As a tapered wand, its base and tip is not the same width. It comes with two different barrel options and the larger one which is 1” to 1.5”, is the usual number in the market that fits most hair lengths. It’s perfect at creating loose and voluminous waves.
What’s really outstanding is the other size option which is 0.5” to 1”. This size is the smallest in the market when it comes to tapered wands and is perfect short hair. If you have chin length or shorter strands, we really recommend to give this size a chance.
Its barrel is pretty short with 5”, while the average number in the market is 5.4”. This is great if you want a compact tool which is easy to handle and manoeuvre. If you have very long strands though, it will take more time to style your hair as it can’t cover a very large area at one go.
Heat and Variable Settings
When it comes to heat settings, we’re impressed by Remington’s generous heat range. This tool has 10 variable heat settings which is more than enough to get great precision. It’s minimum temperature of 250 °F is low enough to be safe from heat, if you have fine and fragile strands. When we look at its maximum heat setting of 410 °F, we can see that it also is powerful enough to tame unruly strands. So, we can easily say that this tool is very versatile in terms of heat.
Material and Performance
Ceramic is Remington’s material of choice which makes it even a better choice for beginners. This tool heats up evenly and slowly, which leaves much more room for mistakes. But it may be a bit annoying if you’re in a hurry. We recommend to seek a titanium curling iron if speed is your priority and your strands are thick. But otherwise, ceramic still does the job perfectly, just in its own time. It also is great for fine strands since it brings an extra element of gentleness.
We may not be very impressed by this tool’s speed, but it can tame strands perfectly fine. It’s a budget product with budget material quality. It’s very sturdy and comfortable to hold though. It’s also very ergonomically and elegantly designed and we think its price vs performance is legit.
Features
Remington offers budget products with solid performance but it doesn’t offer the luxury features of its expensive alternatives.
It comes with the usual 60-minute auto shut off which is one of the most essential features of a curler, making it as safe as possible against fires.
It comes with a full heat protectant glove, which is a very nice touch, especially for a wand shaped tool in which you have to hold your hand close to the heated barrel.
It doesn’t come with ionic technology which helps a lot with eliminating frizz from strands. If you have big frizz issues, it may be worth checking out a tool which offers this feature.
It comes with a non-slip barrel that holds on to your strands and helps them to get a bit more defined. It may take some time to get used to as the strands don’t glide through the barrel and kind of sticks to it instead.
An important feature that this tool lacks is dual voltage. This doesn’t really matter if you don’t want to travel with your tool. But if you do, be careful as it may not work everywhere you go.
Ergonomics
This is the most lightweight tool on our list with only 5.1oz. Considering all, it’s a very compact tool and it’s extremely easy to handle. It’s the kind of hair tool that most likely will never give you arm fatigue, which is a rare quality. Especially if you choose the smaller size, it’s perfect for carrying it around when you go to gym and for just aiming to use your tool for touch ups.
Its handle is 1.15” which is a little more than the average number in the market. It will most likely be very comfortable in your hands, unless they’re extremely small.
It comes with a digital display, as well as digital temperature control. These are great qualities if you’re a beginner home stylist and would like to acquire great precision.
It does have a cool touch finger grip, but to be honest, it’s a bit too small. It stays cool and will do the job, but it’s not the most comfortable to hold.
It also comes with a very elegant integrated counter rest to make sure that the hot barrel doesn’t touch the surfaces while being used.
They claim to have a salon length cord but actually its quite short compared to others. 6ft is much less than the average number of 7.6 and very far from the usual salon length which is 8ft. It will most likely be all right though, if your mirror is not very far from your plug.
Price & Warranty
$30 is a very affordable price for an efficient curling wand like Remington Shine Therapy. It certainly does a great job creating very voluminous waves while being very gentle on your strands. Its material quality is nothing extraordinary which is expected for its price, but it comes with a 3-year warranty that is more than the usual number.
Competition
The biggest competition of an affordable tool is a luxury one and in terms of material quality, we can’t think of a better one than T3 Singlepass Wave. This tool has very similar heat setting and also has a ceramic, as well as a tapered barrel. The difference is in its extremely durable material and the luxury feeling when you hold it. It of course comes with a luxury price of $170, but it’s well worth it if you don’t mind the investment.
As a tapered wand, Remington offers casual-looking results. If you’d rather achieve perfect-looking ringlets with great precision, you would probably be better off with a straight barrel wand. If this is your case, Remington Shine Therapy Straight Curling Wand is an option worth checking out. It’s a very similar tool with its ceramic barrel and affordable price.
