Like many other bloggers I was recently
sent a pair of the Remington Wet 2 Straight hair irons to try, so If you have had enough of reading reviews on these I suggest you look away now (I've always wanted to say this like when they show the football results on the tv lol.)
I was super excited to try these as my and my bestie had been discussing the possible merits and pitfalls about this product since it first launched. The idea in theory sounds fabulous a set of hair straighteners which you can use on wet hair to dry as you straighten, and on dry hair as a normal straightening iron. I must admit I have real problems blow drying my own hair due to CFS related pains and thick hair so I was hoping that these would be a good solution (I normally dry my hair naturally and then straighten it)
I have to admit before I start the review that I am a GHD addict I am on my second pair and I love them, other straighteners I have used in the past just dont compare and have usually ended up in the charity bag so I was interested to see how these performed in comparison.
Design and FeaturesThey are an ergonomically designed straightner with a slight curve to fit in the hand and to the scalp more easily. They also have longer and slightly thinner ceramic plates than my GHD's.
Unlike GHD's they also have an adjustable temperature control which is something I like this means you can adjust the temperature of the stylers depending on your hair thickness or type, e.g. higher temperatures for thicker hair etc. Like GHD's they also have dual voltage which means you can use them throughout Europe too.
The big difference though with the Remington Wet To Straights though is that they can be used on wet (realistically though damp hair) and dry hair. The straighteners features an easy 4 button control panel and an LCD display and you can easily switch between wet and dry at the touch of a button. The top set of plates feature a set of steam vents (in my pic they are upside down). According to Remington these vents draw the water away from your hair and create steam which helps the condition of the hair.
These straightners also come with a heat proof silver pouch which is very handy because they can get very hot!!
The Test - Wet Hair Before
As I said before wet to straight is probably a bit misleading - the straightners must be used on damp, towel dried hair, that has been combed through and sectionned out. I put the straightners on the wet mode and put it up to the highest heat setting of 230 degrees as recommended - obviously they take a little bit longer to heat up the higher the tempertaure you set them at but it still wasn't any more than a few minutes and they let you know with an indicator beep. I am in no doubt that these do indeed straighten and dry very well but I do have a few issues. First of all the biggie are they damaging the condition of you hair? Remington claim not - the production of the steam and the frizz resistant conditioners built into the plates prevent damage and actually aid the conditioning process -I have no reason not to believe this my hair certainly didn't feel any drier although I will say that I found the sizzling noise quite off putting!. Perhaps my biggest problem with wet to straight when used in wet mode was that it was incredibly difficult to get close enough to the scalp to dry the roots -the straighteners got very hot and it was very hard to hold them in a way to get to the roots without burning my fingers, and I found the same with my fringe. I also found it quite time consuming to dry all of my hair especially the underneath section -it seemed to take quite a while and you kept having to go over sections to make sure they were completely dry. Having said that it was for me personally easier than blow drying my own hair and I have to say I was quite pleased with the results - my hair was pretty straight, dry and not frizzy at all, and this seemed to last till the next morning
After
The Test - Dry HairBefore 
The is the most familiar way to most of us of using hair straighteners - as I say I normally leave my hair to dry naturally and then straighten it when it's dry. As you can see naturally it's quite wavy, I sometimes leave it but more often than not I wear it straight. All you do with these is set the straightener to the dry setting with the touch of a button and adjust the temperature accordingly (I set it to about 190-200 degrees which is the GHD temperature). As before I applied a heat protector spray all over my hair sectionned it out and started straightening. The straighteners were pretty effective although I did find I had to go over certain sections a few times to achieve maximum straightness. Again though I found them a little hot to hold at times and again it was quite hard to straighten my fringe due to the design and shape of the irons. I was pretty pleased with the finish that they gave my hair but Remington claim that your hair should be left without frizz for up to 8 hours - I don't actually believe this -although all hair types are different, weather conditions can vary and so on mine only stayed really frizz free for a couple of hours or so
After
What Do I ThinkWell as I said I'd always been interested in trying these straighteners- anything that can make my life easier I'm all for! I have to say on the whole I was quite impressed they did what they promised all be it with a few issues that I have mentionned. I do query a few of Remington's claims about this product though. I don't particulary understand the concept of how they protect the hair rather than damaging it maybe that is something you would only see over time, I also don't quite believe they banish frizz for up to 8 hours it certainly didn't in my case. I also don't think this product would be suitable for anyone with any thicker or longer hair than mine, I think the drying process would just take to long to complete. Would I buy this erm if I had GHD's already probably not I personally get just as good a result from drying my hair naturally and straightening it afterwards but if I wanted a set of straighteners and I didn't want to spend GHD money - yeah I think they are worth a try especially with the added drying feature. I get the impression that these are like Marmite a love / hate product -this is just my opinion and what I thought about them after a few weeks of use yours may be very different.
Where Can I Get ThemThe Remington Style Therapy Wet 2 Straight Slim Straighteners RRP is £79.99 but there are loads of special offers around at the moment where you can get them for up to half price. You can get them from all good electrical retailers including
Boots,
Superdrug, and
ArgosIf you have any queries or questions please don't hesitate to ask me or check out
Remington's own site for more information :)
