Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am having a very busy day - but I had to take time out to write this review. This is the best beauty care item I have purchased in a LONG, LONG time. I am growing my hair out long. It is just barely past shoulder length now. It's baby soft and fine, but not thin. I practice medicine which means a couple of things specific to this item: (1) I need to look put together and professional every day (2) I need something that cuts down on my getting-ready-for-the-day preparation time The pain of growing one's hair out is that it often reaches stages that require DAILY routines that require a long time to accomplish. Plus those routines usually involve lots of heat ... e.g. curling irons, hot rollers,etc Bad news because: (1) I don't have lots of time to spare. (2) All of that heat was actually changing the color of my hair - so I knew it wasn't doing the hair shafts any favors I bought this product thinking, "What the heck ... if it's as great as it sounds, YAY. If it's not ... well, I'll send it back." I am definitely in "YAY" mode ! ! It is fast and easy to use. It's easy on the hair -- in fact, good for the hair. AND the curls REALLY DO LAST. As in at least 2 days. Actually, today (and this is the THIRD day after initial curling) my hair still looked nice enough to go to work with nothing more than brushing it again. When I first got up I thought "no way - I'm going to have to curl it all again." Then I brushed it through, and, VOILA! Ready to go for another day. Seriously! Here are some tips I have learned: 1. You don't want the spongy part of the curler to be wet. You want it to be HEATED with the steam. If you wait until it is wet, your curl won't set right ... and will fall out because they will be damp themselves. 2. Plug it in and give it a few minutes (3 or so) to work up a good steam. If you start curling before the steam is really going, your first curlers won't get as "steamed up" as the later ones, and you will end up with inconsistent results. 3. Separate the hair you are going to roll onto the curler BEFORE you put the curler on the steamer. Because the curler will cool down quickly if you take it off the steam, then set it down while you are getting the hair ready. So straight from steamer to hair! 4. I have found that if I press down on the curler (gentle pressure) as it sits on the steamer, the steam seems to distribute more evenly through the curler. The product comes with an order form for additional curlers of whatever size you want. They take several weeks to arrive when ordered that way - but are cheaper than ordering them on Amazon. However, you can use the bigger curlers and just wind the hair tightly on them for about the same result as the using the smaller curlers wound at medium tension. It doesn't require much storage space, so it packs great! I really appreciate the storage bag for the curlers/clamps, too. Oh, a last tip. Get a sharpie pen, and mark "J" for Jumbo, "L" for Large, "M" for Medium, "S" for Small, and "P" for Petite on both ends of the respective-sized curlers. That makes it easier to grab the right one quickly as you are 'rolling along'. GREAT PRODUCT ! TEN STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!