CURLING WANDS

A heat protectant before styling, a heat-resistant glove during styling, and a curl hold spray after styling cover the three stages that matter most for wand curls specifically. The glove protects your fingers during the manual wrap-and-hold technique that wands require, which isn't a concern with clamped tools. A heat-resistant carry case is also worth it if you travel with a wand, since the barrel stays hot longer after use than a flat iron's plates do.

Barrel size determines curl size and how tight or loose the result looks. The 1.5" chronos curve max wand is built for loose, beachy waves; the 1.1"–0.9" conical wand tapers the curl so it's tighter at the root and looser at the ends; the 0.5" thin wand is made for small, tight, defined curls; and the tapered creative curl wand lets you vary curl size along a single barrel. Hair length also matters. Shorter hair generally curls better on a smaller barrel, since there's less length to wrap. Take the Curl Finder Quiz!

Work in small sections, no wider than about an inch, and wrap each one around the barrel away from your face, holding for a few seconds before releasing. Because curve wands have no clamp, the curl comes entirely from how the hair is wrapped and held, not from clamp pressure; the heat-resistant curve glove lets you grip the barrel directly for more control without touching hot metal. Starting at the mid-shaft rather than the root, and curling away from your face, gives the most natural-looking result.

A curling wand has no clamp, so hair is wrapped by hand around an exposed barrel, which tends to produce softer, more tousled, undone-looking curls and waves. A curling iron has a clamp that holds the hair in place for you, which makes it easier to get uniform, consistent ringlets with less technique; a better starting point if you're newer to heat styling curls. Both exist in ghd's lineup at the same 365°F, so the choice comes down to the finish you want and how hands-on you want the process to be.

365°F is the point ghd's styling scientists landed on specifically for wand styling, where hair is wrapped and held against the barrel rather than passed through quickly like a flat iron. Because a wand keeps hair in contact with heat for a few seconds per section, a single calibrated temperature matters more here than a dial with multiple settings. It removes the guesswork of picking a number that's safe for a longer hold. Every ghd curve wand runs at this fixed temperature across the line, from the 0.5" thin wand to the 1.5" max wand, so the setting is already matched to the styling method.