Found: A Curling Iron That Won't Burn Up When You Travel Abroad
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There are certain universal truths in life, and the fact that your styling tools will always melt when plugged into your converter is probably up there in the top 5 greatests hits. Every time I travel to a country with a current different than the standard 120 V here in the U.S., I can always expect both flat irons and curling wands alike to burn up within minutes of being plugged in, even if they claim to be dual-voltage--I had a pretty traumatic moment last year when one left my ends completely singed on the first day of one trip. Because of this, I usually end up having to rely on my round brush combined with a sad hotel hairdryer, or my Amika plug-in flat iron, but I have a pretty thick head of hair and usually require more styling time than the flat iron's 30 minute battery life. My boyfriend and I had planned a trip to the Faroe Islands and Copenhagen, so in preparation, I packed my go-to flat iron with the rest of the outdoor hiking essentials, but my friend Peachy came to me with an interesting proposition. Particularly, that of her BaByliss universal voltage curling iron, which survived her journey to Russia, Paris, England, and back.
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At first, I was scared to use it, mainly because I didn't want to sacrifice my friend's curling iron in the case I somehow did mess it up, but also, the Scandic Copenhagen hotel had a dryer with a diffuser. I was able to work my wavy texture for a few days, until we ventured over to the Faroe Islands. The hair dryer was attached to the wall, and you had to hold down a button the entire time to get it to blow out hot air, so there was no time like the present to see if the curling iron lived up to its claims. I plugged it in, kept my converter on the adapter setting, and waited as the flashing lights indicated it was heating up. The tool seemed to be heating up for a while, but after a minute or two, it had warmed up enough to use, so I chalked it up to the weird voltage and got to work. It reached the full temperature about a minute later, and I was able to style my entire head of hair without wrecking the tool. I used it two more times over the course of the ten-day trip, and I'm happy to report that it made it home safely, and works just fine plugged into the U.S. outlets. Frequent fliers will want to pick up the BaByliss Pro Ceramic Curling Iron for $26 at walmart.com, and never sacrifice one more hair tool to the voltage gods ever again.
