Conair Curling Wand, Double Ceramic Tapered, 1.25" to 0.75", White

Why it's worth it

Conair's tapered double-ceramic wand narrows from 1.25 inches to 0.75 inches, so a single pass gives you waves that get tighter toward the ends. It has 30 heat settings, a turbo boost, a cool tip, and auto shut-off.

This is the budget option here, and it's the right first curling wand for a lot of people. No clamp means no crease line where the clamp bit down, and no fiddling with a lever while your arm is over your head. You wrap, you count to ten, you let go. Owners who'd never successfully curled their hair before describe getting usable waves on the first try.

The tapered barrel is doing real work. Because it narrows from 1.25 inches at the base to 0.75 inches at the tip, the curl you get is looser near the root and tighter at the ends — which is roughly what actual beachy hair does. Wrapping the same section higher or lower on the cone changes the curl size, so one wand covers a decent range.

From our review of 8 curling wands and hair styling tools, by Isabelle Reed, Beauty & Skincare Analyst

What we like

• +This is the budget option here, and it's the right first curling wand for a lot of people
• +The tapered barrel is doing real work
• +Ceramic spreads heat gently and evenly, which makes this the safer pick of the traditional irons here if your hair is fine or…
• +There's a cool tip at the end and an auto shut-off, both of which matter on a clamp-free wand where your fingers are close to a…

What to know

• –It's a wand, so you're holding hot metal near your fingertips
• –The build reflects the price