Tresemme hair tong review

Like most girls I love to wear my hair curly, however I have the straightest and most un-styleable hair I've ever come across, and really struggle to keep my ringlets ringed!! I've tried all sorts - Velcro rollers, heated rollers, those weird spongy spaghetti rollers. I've even tried dousing my hair in hairspray, and clamping my straighteners on a a twisted lock... Nothing works! Yet I remain hopeful (and perhaps a little gullible) that a solution does exist somewhere! Recently I bought myself a new hair tong in the hope that the answer was finally here, and thought I would put it to the test...

The tong in question is the Tresemme Salon Professional Volume Hair Tong. It has a 32mm hot pink ceramic barrel, maximum temperature of 200°C and 3 controllable heat settings. 

Design

I really like the design of this tong. It's easy to handle, and the clamp is the full length of the barrel which makes gripping and holding the hair a doodle  whether you use it straight up, or upside down. 

The other thing that I really like about this tong is that the heat setting is a slider, not a button. This means that it doesn't get accidentally turned off when I'm clumsily wrapping my hair around the barrel. I have used lots of Babyliss tongs in the past and the button controls are the most frustrating thing in the world, so well done Tresemme!

It also has a swivel chord and a really long cable, but I guess that's pretty standard nowadays. 

The Curl

This curler claims to give you 'beautiful soft curls and waves with a smooth finish', and I think that the finished look definitely lives up to that. I am ridiculously impatient so first tried the tong on my day-old hair, wrapping large sections around the barrel, and I really liked the result, but on Saturday I decided to do it properly, using 1-inch sections all over my head. At first I was really impressed. 

As you can see the curl isn't tight, but falls loosely in a nice ringlet. I really love the soft wave look so this type of curl was exactly what I was hoping to achieve. 

My hair is quite long so the curls are probably a bit more loose than they would be on shorter hair due to the weight. Having said that, if you're looking for something that will give you a Carrie Bradshaw barnet then this is not the tong for you!

The Time Test

When I'd finished my hair I was really pleased with the look. My locks were smooth, and fell nicely around my face. I wouldn't say my hair was curly, but it had that flicky, just-been-blowdried look that I try, and continuously fail to achieve with my hairdryer. My hair felt thick, full and bouncy; just what I wanted for a Saturday out with friends. A liberal spritz of Elnett and I was out the door and on my way to lunch. 

By the time I'd got to the restaurant my hair was significantly less 'curly', but I wasn't unhappy with it. It was drizzly and I had no umbrella so I didn't expect to look like I'd time-travelled to Streatham! My hair had dropped into a slightly undone wave which I actually preferred as it was less polished. 

My friend and I ate our way through 2 courses, consumed some really delicious wine and before we knew it the sky was pitch black! We decided that a night in was in order, so after heading to the shop for supplies (...more wine and a Wispa) we made our way to my friend's flat. 

I had a lovely evening. We had a good old catch-up and did a lot of laughing. At about 12am I decided to head home so jumped on a bus all the way as my friend's don't live far from me. 

When I got home I could not believe the change in my hair. It was basically straight! Now I'm not saying I didn't like it, and the picture below doesn't really do it justice, because it didn't look that bad in person. But it is by no means curly, wavy or any kind a non-straight term! I was very disappointed - all that effort and it looks no different to when I blast it with the hairdryer every morning. 

Despite the bad result I have since used the tong to curl my hair when it's in a ponytail and that lasts a little better. If I'm only going out for a few hours I have no qualms about using this tong, but I think for an all-day look I'll continue curling with my straighteners for now. 

Overall I don't think this tong lives up to Tresemme's professional quality claim, but I will continue to use it. As a curling tong it's not great, but it does help me achieve the blowout finish that I like, and for that I'm thankful. For the price (£14.99 in Argos on sale) it's not bad. I think the lesson here is not expect too much from something with such a low price point!

When judged as a curling tong I'd rate this 3 out of 10, but if judged as a tool to help achieve a blow-dry finish I would rate it a 6 out of 10. 

The search for a soft wave curler continues. If you know of any, let me know! 

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