Instyler is supposed to be the hottest hairstyling tool since the flat iron came out on the market. The big attraction is that it supposedly saves you time styling your hair by drying and styling it at the same time. I see that this company is trying to slam flat irons… their claim? It doesn’t damage your hair because it uses less heat. You know this company should get an award for their extremely clever marketing tactics both online and off. The hype they’ve created is unbelievable!
Is the Instyler a Deal or Dud?
Instyler Claims
- Uses a rotating heat cylinder with a brush and uses less heat than a regular flat iron.
- It can straighten, curl, add volume, lift and shine.
- Will not burn your hair.
- Rapid heat upgrade allows you to heat up your Instyler in 3 minutes or less.
- Flat irons while polishing and curling your hair in seconds.
- It can also be used to both dry and style damp hair at the same time.
- There’s 3 different heat settings for different hair textures.
What are Ladies Saying About the Instyler?
Pros
- It does work for volume at the roots.
- The one thing I am impressed with is the detail and quality videos that Instyler put out. They’ve got a whole series of tips and techniques specifically for different hair types. You can find them here right here on the tips page.
Cons
- It’s very expensive and most ladies only want one Instyler. They end up paying around $150 in total for two.
- It’s very noisy and annoying as the barrel rotates.
- The tip of the barrel is very hot and it’s easy to burn yourself on it.
- It doesn’t really make your hair shiny.
- You need to upgrade to the hotter iron otherwise it won’t be hot enough to style your hair.
- It’s bulky and takes you longer to style your hair than what the infomercial shows.
- The fact is if you don’t use heat protecting spray while using a hair dryer, curling iron or flat iron, you’re going to damage your hair. Several good hair stylists have told me time and time again that ceramic irons are best for your hair. In one of the Instyler videos on their site they are advising you not to use any hair product. Don’t do it!
- There are tiny grooves between the tip and the barrel that catch strands of hair and breaks it while the barrel turns.
- Be aware of the costs just for the initial 30 day trial period. They include $14.99 for the trial plus the shipping. When you return it you again pay the shipping plus insurance to send it back. The total cost ends up being around $40 total.
- It’s much easier and healthier for your hair to use a flat iron. Flat irons easily create a curl with a flick of your wrist.
- You also get shiny, frizz free hair with heat protecting spray when using a flat iron. Why do we need the Instyler??
- It takes patience and time to learn how to use it. You have to use the proper combination of the right hair product and know- how for your hair type to get the results that you see in the infomercial.
How-To Videos - Styling Your Hair With Instyler
Instyler tips page
Youtube channel
Final Verdict
Instyler has many mixed reviews although it seems that there’s a slight majority of ladies that don’t really care for it and would prefer to use their own personal straightening iron or hair curler. If you’re into taking the time to learn how to use it, you might like it. If you want something quick and easy, Instyler might not be for you. Just remember the company is very clever with its marketing. Many times you don’t know if reviews are real reviews or just company representatives promoting their product through fake comments.
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22 responses so far ↓
1 Chelsea // Jun 16, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I just got an InStyler and I love it! My hair is very very curly and its also very long, and when I blow dry it, it becomes an Afro. I thought the InStyler wouldn’t work but in less than 20 minutes my hair was straight!
2 brandy // Jul 24, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Gotta say thanks for the pros and cons list. I seem to agree with chelsea above. Though my hair is not as curly, it is pretty wavy, and I’m getting great results in about ten minutes.
But thanks for the honest review. Great site for potential buyers.
3 Ash // Jul 31, 2009 at 11:52 am
The InStyler is not as good as it seems. Using it on my long, thick, wavy/ringlet curly hair, yes, it did “straighten” it… BUT it took about an hour and a half and made my hair semi-frizzy, as if I had straightened it with a flat iron three days before and had not washed it yet and had just rolled out of bed. And it didn’t make it very shiny. It leaves it looking like I “used a straightener” kind of look, which I don’t want. I’m reselling and saving my money for a Solia. =)
4 Gayla // Aug 15, 2009 at 4:36 pm
This thing is a piece of junk. Don’t waste your money. It not only does not work on your hair (still frizzy) it breaks after about 10 minutes…..KAPUT!!!
5 Jill // Oct 9, 2009 at 11:42 pm
The InStyler is a piece of junk. It did a horrible job of straightening my hair, and it kept shutting itself off while I was using it. I had to stop what I was doing to push the button 3 times to get it back on high again about ten times. My hair did not look polished or shiny at all, in fact it looked sort of frizzy.
Also, the ads make it look super-fast and it took me forty minutes to do just the front of my hair, and it turned out terrible.
Don’t waste your money. Get a good flatiron instead, or one of those hot air brushes instead. I used the latter on my hair and got results ten times better than I did with the InStyler.
6 Theresa // Oct 10, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Ahh that sucks sorry to hear that! I know…they always make products look so good in the infomercial. And it’s funny in the ads they try and make the flat iron look inferior to the Instyler. Give me a break!
7 Kelly // Nov 16, 2009 at 11:40 am
I have been using a ceramic flat iron for about 2 years, and have always loved the results. I reieved the InStyler for a gift this year. I tried it, and the results were no where near a s good as my flat iron. It made my hair look frizzy, and feel dry and brittle. My hair was straight, but looked “puffy”, and not sleek as is does with the flat iron. I say do not wast your money on this product.
8 Theresa // Nov 17, 2009 at 12:36 am
Thanks Kelly - yeah I agree those ceramic irons are really the best for your hair and so easy to use. Just glides right through it. The best one I found is the Coriollis Flat Iron. I picked up one at the mall back in Dec for $50 off so $150 total and I new it worked well but I was really impressed. It keeps your hair perfectly straight until you wash it again. It took a couple days to learn how to curl with it but well worth the effort. Some curl even stayed in my hair overnight although I had to touch it up in the morning.
I did the frizzy test with a damp bathroom and my hair did not frizz up. The ceramic plate emits negative ions which close the cuticle layers of hair which locks in the moisture. And it’s nice that you can both curl and straighten the hair. The only thing is if you have natural curly hair you will lose some of it because I find after I wash my hair it remains sort of straight with less natural curl than I had before. I want to do a video to show you ladies but I’m kind of shy to go on cam.
9 tess // Nov 28, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I love the Instyler!!!! I read bad stuff but decided to try it, once I could buy it at a store that would assure me I could return it, if not pleased. I have thin straight hair that use to take me about 30 mins to fix. With the Insytler, it takes less that 10 mins. My hair is now shiny and has body. I got to thinking that the hairdresser does the same thing when he/she use a brush and pulls and rolls my hair into a style. That is what this product does. I am almost tempted to buy up two extra ones, in case the company stops making the product. If you did not get a good dip in the hair gene pool, as I didn’t, this product will almost make you look like you did!!
10 Patty // Dec 3, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I would like it if I didn’t have to keep checking which way the roller was going. Switching sides, left and right is akward. I end up using a roller brush and hair dryer.
11 Brittany // Dec 31, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I just bought it and tried it tonight and do not like it whatsover! It made my hair frizzy and dry /damaged looking. My old $25 flat iron worked a lot better! I tried curling it, but to wrap your hair around the barrel is dangerous and hard to do. I burned myself trying and it didn’t even curl that well. I’m very dissapointed.
12 MicheleS // Jan 2, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I always had great/good hair when I was young…but now that I’m older my hair is “wild”. Companies like the one selling the InStyler are banking on our vanities…in other words “is there something BETTER out there that’ll make me look like I used to?” I started using expensive products on my hair when it started getting frizzy and they didn’t work too well. My hairdresser (whom I purchased these products from) insisted that I’d be better off buying the expensive products than flat-ironing my hair. Well, guess what? I flat iron my hair a lot and it’s fine - the expensive products never worked. I’m not going to invest in a “tubular” rotating flat iron (basically what it is), where the company insists on selling you 2 against your will, and even an “upgrade”?. Where there’s questionable marketing practices, I can assure you there’s questionable customer service…(usually outsourced/or at a company that does multiple “as seen on TV items”). Go slowly if you’re planning on purchasing.
13 Josie // Jan 10, 2010 at 6:03 pm
The instyler works great for any hair types. You need to use it properly follow instructions. I have very curly course hair and it straightened it and made it super shiney. Remember it is not a flat iron it is different. Instyler is not trying to compete with the flat iron. GREAT PRODUCT AND A GREAT INVENTION.
14 Karla // Jan 18, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I bought my from someone on e-bay and thought maybe I’d be ripped off until I saw these comments. Glad I’m not alone, but sorry the rest of you are having the same problem. While mine never actually came all the way apart, the barrle got really loose and eventually the top part was almost falling off. The biggest problem is that they should have put a locking nut on the top of it so the nut couldn’t unscrew and cause the whole thing to fall apart. Unfortunally, I didn’t figure this out until I had the whole thing apart and the wires they use on the inside are so delicate that they came off their attachments. I did get them soldered back in place (or at least I thought so), but to get the halves back together again was impossible to do without accidentally cutting the wires in the process. I saw this on QVC and wish I would have gone throught them to buy it so I could return it and get my money back, but I tried to save some money. No saving money on this piece of @#!~. Glad to see QVC isn’t selling it anymore, they must have realized what a piece of crap they were pedling to the masses.
15 Theresa // Jan 19, 2010 at 1:57 am
Wow, what a pain in the butt! Yeah unfortunately, it’s the “real” product doesn’t work as advertised. Actually you should try to get your money back. If you run into a problem with an eBay item that you you can contact the seller directly and ask for a refund. They should be more than happy to work with you since their high eBay rating is so important to their business. As a last resort, Paypal has a resolution center that’s quick and pretty straight forward. Just go into your paypal account and start the process. Your case falls under “the item significantly not as described”. But I’m sure the seller will work with you to refund your money if you payed either by PayPal or credit card.
16 Ann // Jan 31, 2010 at 9:34 am
I just got it and I love it! I have very curly hair but it’s not necessarily thick or coarse. I have NEVER worn my hair straight because I could never get it smooth with a flat iron and the ends always looked crunched and weird, not to mention it would take me forever. But this thing works great. I like how it continually keeps the ends going through the little brushes because I have a million layers. I think it seems really well-made so I wonder if there are different manufacturing plants or something. For me, definitely worth the money. Doesn’t pull or break my hair like flat irons always did. So far so good, I’m loving it. Getting lots of compliments on my new look too!
17 L. Barber // Feb 10, 2010 at 1:10 am
I recently purchased the instyler from a China website called “cheapinstyler.com” for the low price of $35.00 with free shipping. That’s the cheapest I have seen it. They had one at Walgreens for $100.00 and I compared them to see if there was any difference. THERE IS NOT ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE UNIT. It is the exact same hair iron! As a matter of fact, all instyler’s are made in China. The only difference is, in the US they are required to put a caution tag on the unit due to the content of LEAD! Apparently it is O.K. to use led in products in China. There have been more recalls than I can count due to LEAD content in products manufactured in China. This makes me just a bit uncomfortable. The instyler is in fact a unique idea but, I’m not at all convinced it is worth the high price being charged for it. I can see the $35.00 dollars I paid for it. But, if I would have paid any more for it, I would have returned it. And depending on the levels of lead it contains it may not even be worth the $35.00 dollars. There are plenty of good hair stylers on the market without having to put your health at risk.
18 Theresa // Feb 11, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Oh isn’t that interesting. Like you, I’m also wary of things made in China. Although I saw one news report that mentioned that that almost everything we use in our daily lives is made in China. And not enough inspectors to go round and check every single product. Scary stuff!
19 Laura // Feb 14, 2010 at 8:04 am
I purchased the instyler, I gave the second one to my daughter. we both have the same opinion.
It is too bulky, burns your skin and hair.We get
better results with other hair tools. I use electric
rollers, using them for years!
The Instyler seems to be great for course hair!
Both my daughter and I have thick hair with some natural wave. The Instyler almost destroyed our hair and burned the skin around
our hairline, and hands! I wish I could get my
$124.96 returned to me. The Instyler is a loser!
20 Mike // Feb 20, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I tried the instyler on my shoulder length hair and it melted my forhead =/ Do not buy it!! it SUCKS
21 PAMELA // Feb 21, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I BOUGHT 2 FOR THE PRICE OF 1 OFF OF EBAY FROM A SUPPOSED INSTYLER SELLER WITH GREAT FEEDBACK. IT IS A PIECE OF JUNK!!!! MY DAUGHTER HATES IT. SHE HAS NATURALLY CURLY THICK SHOULDER LENGTH HAIR. THE IN STYLER DID NOT STRAIGHTEN IT LIKE HER CHI FLAT IRON WHICH SHE HAD TO USE AFTER THE IN STYLER. SHE ALSO BURNED THE BACK OF HER NECK WITH IT. I FELT HORRIFIED FOR HER! I AM IN THE PROCESS OF SENDING THIS CRAP BACK!!!!!
22 Madison // Mar 2, 2010 at 8:48 pm
It works great for me, but it doesn’t seem to work for people with long thin hair. So if thats the type of hair you have don’t buy it
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