In the past, I have avoided curling wands. We don’t have a good history. One time, I almost ended up like the lass on THAT Youtube Video and scared myself from using them for a while . Plus, I lost my curlers so I had almost given up hope of having the perfectly Pinterest worthy hair.
Lee Stafford is an incredibly popular brand and to be honest, it’s not hard to see why. With it’s luxurious products at just high street prices, it’s a super affordable brand that will make anyone’s hair feel like a billion quid. In particular, their electrical products. I’ve always loved the Lee Stafford brand, with their sleek packaging, staple pink branding and amazing quality products. They’re hard to beat in my opinion.
Now, I’m not one for using heat on my hair at all.
I haven’t blow dried my hair in about 5 years (minus the hairdressers which is like once or twice a year), I own straighteners but are still in their original packaging. My last curlers were ironically enough – Lee Stafford but I lost them in the move and never found them again *sobs*. So, it’s very rare for me to actually style my hair. I just wash it, stick some product on it, leave it to dry naturally and then add a bit more product on it – usually anti frizz of some sort. This is a big leap for me to use heat on my head.
After seeing tonnes of gorgeous photos across social media of people’s hair from using the famous Chopstick Curlers. I did some lil hints to my parents since Christmas was looming closer and closer, because I was so eager to test them out on my hair. And well, voila!
Before I go any further, I really struggled to get photos of myself using the products. I think I have about 500 outtakes and not a single one of them I liked. So I’ve used some pictures of me when I’ve had my hair done using these curlers and I hope you guys will still like them either way!
Make a statement…
When I first opened the Chopstick Curlers, I was a bit scared. I was excited but nervous because I had no idea how to use them. If you ever watch my Insta stories or have met me in real life, you know I have a bit of a mane going on over here. Since my Christmas was basically cancelled because we were all so poorly, after I had a prosseco or three to ease off the flu I gave it a whirl for the first time ever. The initial results I was so impressed with but I still had a lot of improvements to make but I managed to have a play, get to grips with the chopsticks and see how they work on my hair.
All I wanted was to have the Pinterest worthy and Instagrammable hair look. So many people on there have this perfect corkscrew curls that I so desperately wanted. After this first attempt, I’d like to think I was like a duck taking to water. Ignoring the endless battles with my hair of course. I just had to learn to be patient when using them because the barrel is so tiny and I have lots of hair. The first couple times it was taking me 2 hours minimum to fully do my hair but now that I’m used to the barrel, it probably takes me just over an hour (depending on how much I’m into Ru Pauls Drag Race).
The finished look – without being too big headed is just amazing.
I absolutely frickin’ love my hair after using my chopsticks. I feel like a proper 80s/90s gal and it’s just so different to how I normally do my locks. Once I’ve used my chopsticks, I don’t need to ‘top up’ on my corkscrew curls. My hair will stay like that for days after. Admittedly. it will drop slightly but I am 100% ok with this. It looks just as good with a slight drop as it does when it’s first done. I do tend to chopstick my hair just before I go to sleep just because it just gives it a little bit of time to settle. Plus, I’m on my own at night 90% of the time whilst Kayne’s at work, gotta fill my time somehow. Of course, the dreaded fizz does come with a vengeance after using heat on my head. But I just whack a bit of American English Seaberry Oil* and I’m good to go.
The amount of compliments I’ve had when I chopstick my hair too is amazing. So many people think it’s my natural hair and are dead impressed with it (even more so when I tell them it’s Chopstick Curlers and hype them up loads). This of course, gives me a mega confidence boost and in general, just makes me dead happy about the style. These are a bargain too at just £20.00.
Another curling wand that should be a staple styling product for many…
The Lee Stafford Rainbow Shine Wand* is on a totally different level to the Chopstick Curlers. The Rainbow Shine Wand* creates those luscious, voluminous curls that just look simply flawless and effortless. Whereas the Chopstick Curlers are designed to create the more dramatic corkscrew curls.
I absolutely love the Rainbow Shine Wand for so many reasons. The first being the colours – oh my god, just so pretty. It’s clipless which I massively prefer anyway. I cannot use curling wands with clips on for the life of me. They get me all flustered and 9 times out of 10 – my hair ends up looking I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards with the clips.
The wire is really long too which as weird as this sounds, is a huge factor for me when using hair styling tools.
There is literally nothing worse than having bloody wires that are the length of your arm because let’s be real – how is that effective or even helpful in styling your hair? The answer? It’s not!
But, the thing I love most about this wand is just how easy it is to actually use (and of course, the finish it gives). I don’t think I’ve ever used a curling wand that’s as easy as this. With it’s 25mm barrel, it makes it easy to wrap a section of your hair around. Hold it for just 10 seconds and let go, then voila! It’s done! Then after, it’s just a case of repeating that process over and over again til your head is full of curls. Now, if you wanna add a lil’ bit of volume to your curls and separate them a bit, just lightly run your hands through your hair and it will honestly create the most gorgeous beach style curls. These are currently £25.99 from the Lee Stafford website – again – another bloody bargain!
You do also get a heat protection glove but I don’t really tend to use it.
Not because it’s bad, I just don’t ever really use it. Which, I really should because I have a tendency to burn myself. Here’s a little story I’ve added in at the last minute for you all. So, you’ve all probably seen me flapping about a wedding I was going to over Easter weekend. Everything was going wrong for me. My dress kept snapping, my hair was just being a twat and my skin was breaking out really bad. Anyway!
Morning of the wedding, I got up bright and early to tackle my mane – with it being a super long day, I wanted to make sure my hair would hold out. Long story short – my hair definitely held out but because I was rushing/panicking – I accumulated a total of 11 burns! One on my jaw line (because Rupert tried to eat my breakfast so I lurched forward to stop him and yeah… basically) then the rest across my hands. Moral of the story? WEAR THE GLOVE THAT IS PROVIDED! Obviously, nothing would’ve stopped the burn on my jaw line but the hands could’ve definitely been avoided. Oops!
Just to give you an idea of how well the curls last with the Rainbow Shine Wand – I used them at 7.30 in the morning, they lasted the entire day and even into the next day! Admittedly, they had gone into very loose curls/kinda waves by the next day but even then – my hair just looked bloody fantastic. I didn’t use any hairspray to keep these in place either. The only products I used were the American English Seaberry Oil for frizz, Vo5 heat protection serum, Ouai Rose Hair & Body Oil and Ouai Texturising Spray (posts are coming on these beauties, watch this space). It roughly took me around an hour to curl my hair with the Rainbow Shine Wand. Which I think is pretty good considering the length and thickness of my hair.
DON’T JUDGE ME COS I AM NOT A FASHION BLOGGER xo
All in all, I can’t fault the products or the Lee Stafford brand.
I love everything about them and their products are just amazing. If you want tight, corkscrew curls that will make the heads turn in the street and make a statement. Then go for the Chopstick Curlers. Or, if you want a more subtle, ‘stepped off the beach’ yet ultra glam kinda look then the Rainbow Shine Wand is the one for you.
Have you ever tried Lee Stafford? What products (electrical and others) do you use? Do you want to try either of these? Let me know in the comments below! Why not check out my last post – all about my 28 day challenge with So Shape!
