RUSK Engineering Curl Freak Professional Curling Machine

I have super thick, wavy hair that is usually very difficult to style, and especially hard to curl. When using a regular curling wand or iron, it usually takes 1.5 to 2 hours for my hair to be totally curled (and even then, there are usually imperfections such as dents in the hair or curls that are not consistent in size or quality. The curl freak is super easy to use! I got my package, read the instructions, and started using it with amazing ease. In total, it took me about 25 to 30 minutes (AT MOST) to curl my entire head of hair. The tool has 3 different modifiers on it so you can change your heat level (with a low, medium, and high setting), duration (8, 10, or 12 seconds), and direction (right, left, alternate). The tool gives you a countdown so you know when to release the clamp and the curls come out perfect every time. Unlike some other curlers I've seen, if you incorrectly wind the hair in the machine, it does not cause your hair to get trapped in it, which is awesome because you will not fry your hair if you make a mistake. I only had an issue with the hair not winding properly if I took too large of a section, but this only happened two or three times when using it. The Curl Freak is an awesome, awesome tool and it speeds things up so often I don't have to worry about never having time to make my hair look good!!

The curls actually hold! I have medium length naturally straight, fine hair. I've kept my hair short for years but decided to grow it out, and I love having at least some waves in my hair to give it some volume. I've tried all the tricks - different products in my hair before curling, different curling irons, curling with a flat iron, etc., and the curls never lasted. They'd fall flat as soon as I left the house. With Rusk's Curl Freak, the curls stayed all day! Some people have stated that it takes longer to curl your hair with this tool, and it does, but I'd rather put in the extra time to get curls that last. I made sure my hair was thoroughly brushed before using and kept the pieces of hair small, so I didn't have an issue with getting my hair stuck in it. It was pretty easy to use, and I like the feature of being able to change the curl direction (the options are left, right, and alternate). I was hesitant to buy it due to the price, but I honestly have tried everything else in the book to get great curls. I've wasted more money on styling products and other tools than Rusk's Curl Freak cost - I wish I had bought this first. I really do love this tool and will absolutely tell people about it. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly.

My hair can be pretty stubborn when it comes to curling. This doesn't necessarily curl better than other curling products for me like I was hoping it would but it still curls just fine as long as I heat each piece long enough. I do love the timer feature though - you can make sure all your curls are consistent and the alternate directions option is fantastic so everything looks more natural I think. I think this product is most beneficial for long hair. Having it tried it with both long and short hair, it's honestly easier and quicker to curl short hair with a flat iron than with this though I would definitely side with this for long hair. It helps to make sure everything is curled and seems to keep the frizz down. The downside with this product is that it can take forever. I think it's super easy to use but there is a bit of a learning curve with it. You have to make sure you don't pull the curl out until you have completely opened the contraption back up or else you'll straighten the piece you just curled. Also, you'll get used to how big of chunks you can put into it (not as big as I would like). If you put too big of a chunk in it, it will lock up. However, it never hurt or anything. It stops pulling the hair in as soon as it detects a problem and it's easy enough to open up and start over again with that chunk of hair.

This makes beautiful curls that hold up well day one, looser after a day or two. HOWEVER you need to follow directions EXACTLY to avoid potentially devastating consequences. The machine works by quickly pulling your hair in and around a spool. If you use a strand wider than the recommended 1/2 - 1" max (vertically) it will jam up in the machine. If you use a strand with some hairs from two sections it will jam in the machine. If you get it too close to your scalp (stay at least 1" out) it will feel like it's ripping your hair out. Yes, these all happened to me! The first time I used it I followed instructions to a T and all was well. The second time I tried to speed things up and had my hair 100% snarled up into the machine 3 times! My daughter used a stainless chopstick and was able to work the hair out. For this reason I will NEVER use this when I'm home alone. Remember the "buddy system"! The third time I tried it I only had 1 event and she was able to unwind the hair from the spool by gently tugging on it. My hair is halfway to my waist and this makes it more important not to use too big of a strand. My daughter has shoulder length hair and hasn't had any problems. I use this for special occasions when I have lots of time and no pressure. It's not for everyone, and if you have certain emotional health issues, like panic attacks, you probably should avoid this contraption but I have never had such fantastic body and curl so it's a winner for me.

I tried very hard to like this but I have finally excepted this purchase as a complete fail. It works. It does exactly what it is supposed to as far as pulling hair and curls and very rarely gets stuck or tangles. That being said, you have to use very small sections of hair (almost half of what I would use normally) as a result, I have not seen this speed up the process at all compared to and old fashioned curling iron. In fact, it usually takes even longer because of the time spent touching up to make the curls look full and finished. The biggest issue I have though is that the curls are just so disappointing. They lack volume and bounce and for some reason are prone to get much more frizzy, much faster than a regular curl. Even using hair spray and the longest time setting doesn't seem to help and by the end of the day, some curls have gone completely flat. I have tried and tried about 6-7 different times think that I might get the hang of this curl freak thing but I am officially going back to my old iron. This is a waste of time and money. Do not fall for this fancy gimmick! I would like to return this item but I stupidly threw away the box.

My hair hates curls. But I love them. I have very, very fine hair. Insanely fine. I have tons of it, though. My hair is naturally super straight. In fact, the third picture of my hair is without straightening it. I just brush it out while it's drying from the shower and then put some anti frizz serum in it. I ordered the Curl Freak and was so excited to receive it. FINALLY, I'd be able to have hassle free curls without singeing my fingertips over and over again. I would be able to have gorgeous, curly hair in minutes! Well, I was sort of right. The Curl Freak curled my hair, but I just.....didn't like the curls. I love Victoria's Secret Angel curls. Big, voluminous curls with shine and definition, but that still blend. Instead, what I got was the first picture (the Derek Zoolander shirt picture.) Obviously, my hair is curled, but Curl Freak is definitely an accurate description of what happened. It took me four times as long as my normal curling iron, and no matter what setting I chose or how I held the iron or how many tutorials I frantically googled, I just didn't like the end result. Instead of my hair blending down into big, gorgeous curls, I had a sort of weird curly mullet thing going on, with sections near the top that looked like curled worms. The ends were strange and ropey looking, and overall, it just wasn't the look I was going for. So now we're at the middle picture. Frustrated with my waste of money Curl Freak, I bit the bullet and broke out the trusty old curling iron. Here is where the Curl Freak gets 3 stars instead of 1. It only took me about three minutes to get the big, voluminous curls I like when I switched to the curling iron. My hair already had a "curl base," so to speak, so I only had to grab larger sections and wrap them around the barrel, then voila! Big, amazing curls. The middle picture was a different day than the Zoolander one, but an example of the end product. I curl my hair with the Curl Freak, then finish with my normal curling iron, and I end up with amazing curls that last ALL day. I'm talking 9 am to 2 am, and they're still glamorous. Summary- Would I buy this again? Probably not. I wanted an all in one, and instead, got an extra time consuming step added to my curl routine. Would I recommend this? Only if the Zoolander shirt picture is the look you're going for. Is it going to rip my hair out? I've lost more than several strands to this, even with the automatic stop and unwind feature. It never pulled whole chunks, but there's a certain panic when your hair is stuck in there and it's too hot to reach in with your fingers but it's still scorching your hair.

I have been using this for about two weeks and we love it. It works on my hair as well as the hair of my 3 girls who all have such different hair. My only complaint is that the heat seems to waver a bit. I will get one really good curl and then the next will be kind of limp. I didn't notice that on me but on the hair of my younger girls who have much shorter but also thinner hair. It could be because of the length, sometimes they pull their head away, or maybe the way I put the hair in the machine. But in my hair it's amazing the curl stay all day with no product and it beautiful. It does take some time as you have to use small strands but I found it faster because it beeps when its time to let go. I still need to do some more playing around with it to find the settings I like and maybe I should turn the heat up for my younger daughters but they still get cute curls and great body which stays all day. On my hair I even brushed it out at night and the next day had great wave and a really cute curly ponytail.

I have a tough time curling my hair by myself. The curls just never look very good and it takes me forever to curl my whole head. I saw this curler and at first thought I would be crazy to spend this much on a curler! But then I started reading the reviews and was getting curious. I finally bit the bullet and got it, which I'm really glad I did! This thing is easy to use (I just watched one video on you tube) and I was able to curl my own hair. The best part is it makes consistent curls and I can even tell it if I want to have the curls go to the right, left, or alternate! Oh and I have really fine hair, which normally means the curls die after a couple of hours, but with this iron, they actually stay for the whole day! (Obviously less curly but still there!) I highly recommend this product and suggest you try it, worst case situation you can return it!