BaBylissPRO™ MiraCurl™ Professional Curl Machine (Knock Off) Review

Let me start this review by saying, I have no idea what the fuck I am talking about when it comes to curling your hair. So why I am even bothering to write a review about a hair curler is a good question to ask. Why in the world are you reading this? Also a good question. But I have been asked and asked, and thought I would write up my thoughts and reviews on this curler. 

But to start off, my hair naturally:

So just to be clear, that is my NATURAL hair. No curler required. But I do often wonder what it would be like to be able to brush out my curls and have wavy or less curly hair. And if I brush out my NATURAL curls, well.... lets just say there is not a door wide enough to get my head through it if I try.

As you know if you read my blog years ago when the BaBylissPRO™ MiraCurl came out, I have been obsessed with trying it since it came out. But to spend $200 (American!!) on a machine to curl my hair seemed slightly insane. Insert this one from AliExpress. For $34 Canadian including shipping, I thought why not!

The one blaring flaw, and it is ANNOYING is that there are no labels on the buttons. They seem to have forgotten that part!

Aside from that, let me once more reiterate that I have no idea what I am doing or how to do it. A brief stint of crimping my hair in the 80s (for a good year or two I LIVED to have my hair crimped) I have never used heating tools on my hair other than a straightener!

I do think that once you get the hang of it, and "get it", the curler is easy to use.

And brushed out.

I actually can brush out my hair!

Overall, I am happy with it. For the amount I will use it (lets be honest, if I use it once every 3 months I will be impressed) I would not in a million years spend HUNDREDS on it. But for the $30 I paid, I am 100% sold!

If you want the link, feel free to email me (polishjinx at gmail dot com) but I don't want to post it blatantly and get the listing shut down!

Would You Ever Buy This??!!

So I have a feeling this is going to start a lot of drama but I am seriously SOOO on the fence about how I feel about this. On one end I think its totally wrong and kind of dishonest...... but I also would totally buy one if I didnt already have a Clarisonic Mia.

So for those of you who do not know what Aliexpress is, its basically a Chinese version of Amazon. Yes, you can buy TONS of fakes and replicas on there, but you can also buy all sorts of just cheap stuff made in China. $1-$3 accessories galore. And while many do not like that you can not pay with paypal, I think the Aliexpress method is actually safer.  I have made about 80 purchases in the last two years (best place to buy silicone heel protectors, gel insoles and other such items for pennies!!) and have had 9 arrive either completely damaged or just the wrong item. Each time I have filed a dispute and all but one time got my money 100% refunded. Aliexpress does not release the money to the vendor until you confirm successful receipt of item.

So anyways the point of this post. Someone on facebook recently bought a Clarisonic Aria off of the site. I figured it would be a knock off. Didnt think much of it. Then she got it. And reviewed it. And she went to the Clarisonic website  and registered it! WHAT???!!! For $50USD and free shipping?

I went through the feedback comments and was even more floored. 97% positive feedback, hundreds purchased, and many say they successfully registered it on the brands website! The friend who bought it got some replacement brushes at Sephora and she swears that they are actually legit Aria brushes.

Here are a few pictures from the feedback.

So my question is, would you do this? For $50? Its a completely unauthorized seller OBVIOUSLY, as to its authenticity, it seems legit, but that raises all sorts of questions about how they are getting them with real serial numbers and then the morality issue...

That being said, I am totally sure that if I did not have a real one I would totally say screw morality and pick one up! Hell, lets be honest, I just DID do this with a Babyliss Pro Perfect Curler. Instead of $200 USD I just ordered one for $30 Canadian that again, gets 99% positive feedback and that my friend who has the real one says they are legit identical. Do I feel guilty? A bit. But for a curler I will literally use once every 3-4 months, I wasn't splashing out even $100 on the drugstore one.

I am really interested to hear everyones opinions on this, and because I dont really feel like getting the listing taken down I will not publicly post it on this site. You can email me if you really want to get one and I can send you over a link!

BaByliss Pro Perfect Curl

Like many beauty obsessed girls on the net, I have my "list" of blogs I have to check everyday. I happened to stumble across the MOST unique hair tool I have ever seen. I hate curling irons. I really do. And while my hair is a curly frizzy mop, it only goes ONE WAY. My hair can either be straigtened completely, or it looks like this.

There is no "loose" curl. There is no anything. Corkscrew curls or I can straighten it. I have tried straightening and then curling it but traditional curling irons tend to frustrate me beyond words. So I have excepted a super straight hairdo or these corkscrew curls (images from 1997, 2009 and 2004 respectively). They were the first three images I found on my hard drive. But pretty much all of them are like that or they involve my hair in a pony.

So when I spotted the BaByliss Pro Perfect Curl on the ReallyRe blog I felt my heart go a flutter just a bit. I have NO IDEA if its available in North America, or just in the UK, but OH! MY! WORD! I cant get over how EASY this makes curling your hair look.

As you can see, this looks NOTHING like a traditional curling iron.

Perfect Curl automatically draws hair into the ceramic curl chamber where it is held and heated from all directions, gently creating curls. There are three different timer settings and three heat settings up to 230˚C which create looser waves and soft curls as well as more defined curls. Perfect Curl can be used on longer hair to mid-length styles and a range of different hair types from fine, delicate and coloured to thick and wavy hair.

To show you just how this works, here is a video from the company on the details on how you use it!

I am going to try to contact the company and see if I can find any details on where we Canadian/American girls can track it down. But in the mean time, what do you guys think of this?