Babyliss Big Hair

I have never before been fully in love with an electrical product before... except maybe my digital radio. But the time has come and I'm obsessed with the Babyliss Big Hair my mother got me for my birthday. And it's not just me. Everyone keeps telling me my hair looks amazing. Everyone. It did look pretty rubbish before to be fair.

This caused a bit of a stir when it first came out - loads of people loved it. Caitlin Moran and such were all over it like a rash. I nearly got one then. Then disaster struck. The original version had a rotating head. The next version didn't and did not get the seal of approval. I thought I'd missed my moment but the third version had both options - you can rotate it both ways or not at all is you so desire.

It comes in two sizes - one for long her with a 50mm (diameter) barrel and one for short hair with 42mm. I have the 50mm and think you'd have to have pretty short hair to want smaller. My mother has a bob and uses the 50mm. I think if in doubt get the bigger size. It has two heat settings and one cold. When it's blowing cold air you can't rotate it, then there's a warm setting with slow rotation and a hotter setting with faster rotation. I am lazy so I always just blast it.

If you have a lot of hair this will take longer to dry with than a normal hair dryer. If I'm in a hurry (always) then I usually do a quick blast with my normal dryer and then start with the Big Hair styler. And in fact as it's a 'styler' it recommends you use this when your hair is 90% dry but mine is about 50% max when I use it. It's not only the added volume and style that helps but it does give a really sleek finish which is lovely. And it all lasts for days, not when you've slavishly styled your hair with a brush and a normal dryer and wake up the next morning to find it's back to looking like a bog-brush. It's fantastic at getting rid of frizz.

I will be doing a tutorial on this soon as there are a few things I've found that really help with the finish that are easy to explain if I show you. You can watch it here.

It's also great to use when dry, which I was surprised about. If you sometimes wake up looking like Bon Jovi on a bad day (this is about 3 times a week for me) then it can add the shape and the 'done' look back to your hair incredibly quickly. This is useful if you are a lazy brusher. 

The only downside is that if you use this whilst slightly inebriated it is possible to burn your ear... it's quite painful. And whack yourself in the eye if you step on the flex. All in the name of research obviously.

What You Need to Know - Babyliss Big Hair 

• £44 for the big £38 for the small
• There are 2 versions - 1 for long hair with a large barrel (50mm) and 1 for short hair with a smaller one (42mm) 
• You can get replacement brush heads
• 2 heat and 1 cool setting
• Protective cover
• Not vegan friendly
• Available in the UK from Feel Unique, John Lewis