GHI tip: Whatever your hair type, apply heat protection spray and ensure hair is completely dry before styling. Wet or even damp hair is more fragile and prone to breakage. How we test A curling wand is a styling tool with a straight, tapered or bubble (i.e. multiple bobbles in a row) barrel. Unlike a curling tong, it doesn’t open and clamp your hair. Instead, you wrap hair around the wand to style — use it to create everything from curls to waves. Over 100 testers trialled 18 curling tongs, wands and wavers. They judged how easy each tool was to use, how well it reached their roots and how pleased they were with their final style. A hair waver is a three-barrelled styling tool with a clamp that presses the hair into shape. Use it to create S-shaped waves known as mermaid or beach waves. The best tools for your hair type

Fine hair: Limit your exposure to heat damage by using a curling wand with lower heat settings (less than 150C). With over five years’ experience in beauty and health journalism, Florence has written for ELLE, Women’s Fitness, Sister Magazine, National Geographic Traveller and many more, with a strong sustainability angle thread through much of her work. Short hair: Curling can get fiddly and you don’t want to end up with burnt fingers. Use a curling tong to clamp the ends of short hair for easier styling. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Long hair: Look for a long, wide barrel so that you can curl more hair with each twist and style faster.

Long-lasting, shiny waves are easy to achieve with the best hair wavers – here are our tried and tested favourites for long and short hair

A curling tong is a styling tool with a straight barrel that opens and clamps your hair in place as you curl. Use it to create even curls or bouncy ringlets.