Buyer's Remorse

[nyx]

Hi gals,

Well, I went to Sally's Beauty Supply yesterday and spent waaaay too much money on hair goodies. My two biggest purchases were a wave iron and a bonnet hair dryer. Now I'm having some buyer's remorse about spending so much, so I want to make sure the purchases are worth it. I haven't taken them out of the boxes yet, so I can still return them. Has anyone used a wave iron before--it's triple barreled, with larger barrels and is ceramic plated. Did you find it worked for you and gave you the look you wanted? I'm looking for the bigger 40's waves, not the tighter 30's waves. To clarify, my hair is stick straight and thin. Finger waving does not work for me. The wave clips do, but the wave is very sharp, and I'm looking for something more relaxed.

The bonnet hair dryer is a portable one that can be placed on a table. It was the only one they had that was portable, and I thought it would be useful when doing settings, because I have very oily hair and can not leave pin curls in overnight--the next morning my scalp is already oily--so I have to wash, set, and dry before I go out. Does anyone have one of these modern bonnet dryers and do you find it works well--drying all the way through and holding the setting like sleeping overnight on it does?

Thanks for any advice, ladies!

 

[roselily]

I have a wave iron and I love it! The heat setting you use and how much hair you put in the iron will make a difference how tight the waves are.

 

[KittyT]

I have a wave iron and I don't think it gives authentic looking 40s waves at all. Your best bet is to set using pillow rollers, hot sticks or sponge rollers. If you cannot sleep with rollers in your hair, try a dry set instead. All you have to do is zap it occasionally for a few minutes with the blow dryer - no need to sit under the dryer waiting for your hair to dry.

 

[texasgirl]

I have one of those 3 barrel curling irons. I have never been able to get it to make waves- it makes more of a crimping, frizzy, 80s hairdo. But I have not practiced a whole lot either. I'd do a hot set in the morning like Kitty suggests.

 

[ShortClara]

I have the straight, thin hair, too, and all I get from my triple barrel is 80s frizz, too. I just sold mine at my garage sale

 

[Paisley]

Daniela Turudich, author of 1940s Hairstyles, says she has thin hair and the waving iron works for her. As I recall, she recommended not waving all your hair.

 

[nyx]

Daniela Turudich, author of 1940s Hairstyles, says she has thin hair and the waving iron works for her. As I recall, she recommended not waving all your hair.

She's the reason I had decided to try it because she mentioned she had the same problem with finger waves and wave clips. But then I thought, I'd ask you ladies and see what your experience was. Well, perhaps I can take it out of the box and give it a try and if it doesn't work I can just slip it back in and take it back. Hopefully I won't tear anything getting it out

Thanks so much for your comments, everyone. Anyone have any thoughts on the bonnet dryer?

 

[ohairas]

As for the dryer, you could watch thrift stores, yard sales, or ebay and could pick one up for about $5. It's up to you if you want to spend the money *now*, or have it *new*, etc. But they are wonderful to have!
Nikki

 

[ssubialdea]

I've been wondering about the waving iron myself, I've only seen it online and the size of it looks like it might create too-tight waves. Let us know how it ends up working for you.

Also on the bonnet hairdryers, I don't have a new one but I picked up a vintage one at a thrift store for $5 (you were right on w/ the price ohairas!) Its not really the soft bonnet type but the hard dome shaped type. I love it, it works great and is fun to sit under with a head full of curlers. I want a old dryer chair from a hair salon, but this one's good b/c its portable. (I don't have room for the drier chair anyways) I say try them both out (careful to save the packaging) and take them back if they don't work for you.

 

[nyx]

I've been wondering about the waving iron myself, I've only seen it online and the size of it looks like it might create too-tight waves. Let us know how it ends up working for you.

Also on the bonnet hairdryers, I don't have a new one but I picked up a vintage one at a thrift store for $5 (you were right on w/ the price ohairas!) Its not really the soft bonnet type but the hard dome shaped type. I love it, it works great and is fun to sit under with a head full of curlers. I want a old dryer chair from a hair salon, but this one's good b/c its portable. (I don't have room for the drier chair anyways) I say try them both out (careful to save the packaging) and take them back if they don't work for you.

The waving iron was available in two sizes at Sally's. One provided (in the picture on the box anyway) almost crimp-like waves. The one I got had barrels twice as big as that one, although it was more expensive. The box picture showed large waves.

I've never seen any vintage dryers at the thrift stores around me; although, there are few thrift stores and I've rarely found anything good there. There are vintage stores, but they seem to specialize only in clothes that I've seen. But I'll take your advice and try them both. I'll let you all know if they work!

 

[LolitaHaze]

I am only guessing on the wave clips since I don't know what yours look like exactly... but just remember tha wave clips are to help set the wave not create the wave. Hopefully this will help you achieve less of a sharp wave.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

The triple-barrel waver should work great on your oily hair, nyx. I got both kinds from Sally but the one I just tried again after reading this thread is Model JBP2301 Jilbere de Paris Ceramic Tools Geometric Series Professional Triple Barrel Iron. (Obviously I didn't throw the box away. ) The list price is $44.99 but I didn't pay quite that much for it. Anyway, as I said I just tried it again and it worked a charm. If anything it will work even better on your hair than mine, mine is coarse, thick, dry, and I have a lot of it and when I wave it it tends to look even drier. With your oliy hair your waves should look perfect. It didn't come out 80s at all, more 30s style and I wasn't even being careful in placing the barrels. Hope this helps. As for the bonnet dryer, I have that on my shopping list for my next trip to Sally. I also have never seen one at a yard sale or thrift store and I've been looking for 25 years! lol My mom had one in the 70s and it worked great.
Ashley

 

[nyx]

Lolita: thanks for the hints. Perhaps I have been using them wrong. I wonder if there's a source out there on how to properly use them to set the waves.

Ashley: Great! That's the wave iron that I bought! This makes me feel a little better about the purchase. And holding a hand dryer just tires my arms out, and I end up with my root hair still being damp, so I felt a bonnet dryer would help that problem.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Glad it helped. I like knowing the exact thing people are talking about. Heck, clumsy me was even starting to use it one-handed! Have fun and good luck.

 

[Josephine]

I really wanted a bonnet dryer and was looking around eBay when I decided to call my grandmother just to see if she had one. And she did! Yay! Then I called my MIL who still had hers! Double yay! They are the soft bonnet ones, and I can't wait to get decent rollers and put my hair up. So I vote to keep it!

 

[fernande]

I was out yesterday at a "wholesale liquidators" place- kind of like a Big lots mixed with a Sams club- I'm not sure if this is an independent chain or whatnot since I've recently moved to a new area. But its a pretty cool store.....

While cruising the hair/beauty aisle.....I saw the 3 barrel curler. It was by Vidal Sassoon and I think there was one from Hot Tools (?) from what I've seen online- Its a nice respectable/quality one.

On the front of the package is a lady with a 1930s like style- and it was only 14.95- they also had one for 16.95..... I think it was the standard size.
I remember thinking "oh there's that curler the girls were talking about on FL" but only when I did a google, did I see that its normally around $34.95??
So 15 bucks is great deal. I think I might go an pick one up while they are still there-
If anyone wants one, let me know- I'll pick one up for you.

Oh and an interesting selling feature was the claim "Barrels covered in 24 kt GOLD"

ha ha

 

[princessofcandl]

I got the portable bonnet dryer from Sally's. I did not like it and returned it right away. The bonnet was flimsy (imho) and the blower didn't *ehem* blow enough. I'm a little spoiled because I use to have a hard shell from my mom but it finally broke. The soft bonnet ones just don't seem to do the job

 

[nyx]

I got the portable bonnet dryer from Sally's. I did not like it and returned it right away. The bonnet was flimsy (imho) and the blower didn't *ehem* blow enough. I'm a little spoiled because I use to have a hard shell from my mom but it finally broke. The soft bonnet ones just don't seem to do the job

Hmm. Well, I'm trying both the wave iron and the bonnet on Thursday when my son's father has him and I've got some time to myself. I'll let everyone know the results! I've kept the receipt so I should be able to return it if it's no good.

 

[nyx]

OK. Here's the skinny:

The bonnet dryer worked great! I have thin hair, so my hair does dry fairly quickly anyway, but my pincurls dried in just a few minutes on the medium setting. Oh, and someone earlier mentioned that soft bonnet dryers don't work for them, but this portable dryer is a hard bonnet dryer that folds up neatly into something the size of a cake display cover ( I can't think of the correct name of it right now ) I just sat it on my army trunk that sits at the foot of my bed and sat on the floor under it and read a book while my hair dried. Very convenient. I probably could have done my makeup while it was drying too.

The wave iron had less successful results. The waves were larger, so they didn't look crimpy, but I had already used setting lotion and put pin curls in my hair before I tried the wave iron, so it looked a bit fried and stiff. I'm going to try it again with fresh hair this weekend. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

But if anyone is looking for a portable hard bonnet dryer and can't find one at a thrift store, the one at Sally's was a good buy for me.

thanks for all the advice!

 

[goldwyn girl]

I could'nt live without my bonnet dryers, I have a soft cap one and a hard one. My tripple barrel iron gives me frizz so I don't like it, I get a better result from using the heated pillow curlers.