Kristin Ess Pivoting Wand Review

I, Ivy “Wake Up For Makeup” Boyd am on a constant quest to figure out my hair. It ain’t Wake Up For Doing My Hair after all. 

I’m always looking for tools and fancy gadgetry to make styling my hair faster, easier, more enjoyable. So, I thought, if Kristin Ess and her can’t help me do that, who can? 

I’ve enjoyed Ms. Ess since her Beauty Department days. Her Instagram is mesmeric and gives me hope with her low key, cool girl styling. 

When I saw Kristin Ess was launching her own for Target, I was super excited for her, and myself too!

Design

The  is a real looker. I’m a big fan of anything white marble so she got me there. The handle is a soft touch white material that somehow doesn’t get too dirty or staticky. The wand itself is a gold titanium with a cool tip and rubber ring so you can rest it safely on your countertop. The cord is extra long and that is always appreciated. 

I adore the pink lucite comb it comes with. I know it’s little but this extra made me happy. The included white heat protectant glove makes me feel like Michael Jackson.

Results

It took me 17 minutes to style my hair both times I timed it.
I held each piece for 5-8 seconds each on the 425 degree heat setting.
I sectioned it and did the bottom first, then the top.

Another time, I parted my hair in the center and did each half.
It took the same amount of time both times.
I brushed through my waves with the included comb after curling.

Above is my hair right after styling. 

What I Liked

• Design
• Comfortable to hold
• Included comb is cute and functional
• Cord length
• Waves are soft and very shiny
• Hair retained volume

What I Didn’t Like

• Rubber ring near tip (definitely sounds like we’re talking about a condom here) makes it difficult to slide hair off when done
• Did not speed up styling time or ease
• My style doesn’t hold as long as I’d hoped and when compared to other hot tools.
• The included white glove gets dirty quickly if you have any makeup on your hands or touch your face while styling.
• The pivot feature doesn’t seem to make a big difference in ease or styling time for me.
• I’ve burnt myself 3 times already with it.

Tips

If you have thick hair like me, I found that for the most even heat distribution, it worked best to flat wrap my hair around the wand, vs. twisting.

I use my pointer and middle finger like scissors and sandwich a section of hair in between, then evenly wrap it around the barrel.

The photo above is my hair on the second day. I had to re-curl several front pieces as they’d gone straight again.

Here’s my hair when I had my hairstylist use the Pivoting Wand.

Do I recommend the Kristin Ess Pivoting Wand?

Ok, I just have to say it. No. I returned it.

While I really liked the results, it didn’t make styling my hair any easier or faster. The results were nice but not amazing enough for me to want to keep trying.

What this helped me realize is that what is quickest for me is actually a traditional curling iron, not a wand. Maybe I should have purchased the Soft Waves Curling Iron instead?

Since my hair is so very thick, I need all the heat retention I can get, which a curling iron seems to do a better job of. A curling wand like this one allows for more heat evaporation, which might be better suited to someone with more fine hair.

Everyone on Target.com appears to love the Kristin Ess Pivoting Wand, so as usual, with hair tools, I’m in the minority, over here just being a dweeb.

I purchased the Kristin Ess Pivoting Wand with my own money. I bought it for personal use and not purely for review purposes. I had no original intentions of returning it.