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Whether your hair is thick or fine, get perfect curls with one of these expert picks.

Loose and dreamy beach waves might look effortless, but typically require a top notch hot tool — and a fair amount of elbow grease. You can use curling iron to achieve dream-girl waves (some even use a flat iron to curl their hair), but a curling wand is a clip-less hair tool that gives gorgeous, versatile curls and waves without looking overdone. But are wands better than curling irons? When it comes to curling your own hair, "most people doing their hair at home would prefer a clamp-less wand because it is more user-friendly; you simply wrap the hair around the wand," says Eugene Toye, hairstylist at Rita Hazan Salon in New York City. Wands can be easier to use than traditional curling irons because "clamps tend to leave marks in the hair if they are not properly used," he explains.

The Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab regularly tests the best hair tools on the market where we evaluate the ease of use and performance of each product. When testing curling wands we also access the weight, barrel thickness, temperature and cord thickness. After 103 measurements taken and 836 survey answers tallied, we found the only curling wands worth your money:

A novel twist on a curling wand, CHI’s 1-inch tool is angled to easily reach the back of the head, with testers noting "the handle makes it easy to use it upside-down." The highest powered of all the wands we tested, it scored top for creating the desired look, being lightweight and not pulling hair. It also got the highest scores for being ergonomic and feeling safe to use, with one tester saying there's “no learning curve," even on short hair, which is notoriously difficult to curl with a wand. This wand features a cool shot that blows cool hair onto hair to set the curl more quickly, which one tester said made curls "look much more complete ... and I don’t have to worry about accidentally disturbing them before they cool down like with traditional irons."

• Barrel size: 1-inch • Cord length: 11 feet • Heat settings: Adjustable heat 180ºF to 410ºF, plus cool shot • Auto shut-off: 1 hour

"This was the first curling wand I ever bought and I still use it when I travel," said a former Good Housekeeping editor. "It's inexpensive, so I don't worry if it gets bumped around in my luggage or accidentally left at a hotel. It's super no-frills, but it gets the job done!" It has over 6,800 reviews on Amazon and an average 4.5 star rating and a quick preheat time.

• Barrel size: 1-inch to ½-inch taper • Cord length: 5 feet • Auto shut-off: 1 hour • Heat settings: 5 adjustable heat settings up to 400º

This wand has four interchangeable barrel sizes and styles, so it's many tools in one at a reasonable price point. The medium and large barrels work for polished bouncy curls and beach waves, and as for the thinner barrels, nothing works better for fine-tuning natural curls. While we haven't put it to the test in the Beauty Lab, one of our editors has used it nearly every day for over 10 years!

• Barrel size: ½-inch tapered barrel; 1-inch tapered barrel; 1½-inch straight barrel; 2-inch straight barrel • Cord length: 11 feet • Heat settings: Adjustable up to 450º • Auto shut-off: Programmable

While we haven't formally tested this pick in the Lab, it boasts over 14,000 reviews on Amazon, this ceramic coated wand is a crowd fave. The graduated barrel comes in a smaller ½-1-inch size for tighter curls and a larger 1-1½-inch size for looser waves. Reviewers love that this affordable curling wand will "curl your stick-straight hair into submission." One of our editors says the finish on this wand is super smooth and because it also has a tapered end, you'll have to hold hair in place carefully to prevent it from sliding off.

• Barrel size: 1-1½-inch taper • Cord length: 5.9 feet • Heat settings: 9 adjustable heat settings up to 410º • Auto shut-off: 1 hour

Perfect to an undone beach wave, this Hot Tools model spans ¾-inch to 1 ¼-inches for an undone look and curls that stay put. The lightest of the winners (0.73 pound!), the tool was compact and simple to operate. “It gave me natural-looking curls,” an expert evaluator said.

• Barrel size: ¾-inch to 1 ¼-inch taper • Cord length: 8 feet • Heat settings: Adjustable temperature 280ºF to 430ºF • Auto shut-off: No

For curls that look natural (not cookie-cutter uniform), the unique taper on this wand is reversed for curls that bell out at the bottom and are tighter at the top. This one was the quickest to heat up in Lab tests (from 0 to 435ºF in 60 seconds, flat) and it nabbed the best expert score for having easy to use controls, a clear, bright display and being easy to maneuver.

• Barrel size: 1- to 1 ¼-inch reverse taper • Cord length: 9 feet • Heat settings: Adjustable temperature up to 450ºF • Auto shut-off: 1 hour

The extra-long 16-inch barrel on this one-inch wand makes it perfect for even super-long hair that has a tendency to wrap around itself on traditionally-sized curling wands and irons. Our Lab experts were wowed by the quick heat-up time and found the wand easy to maneuver and the controls intuitive to use (even without looking at them). The longer-than-average length of this wand takes some getting used to, so be particularly careful when using it at first.

• Barrel size: 1-inch • Cord length: 8 feet • Heat settings: 5 settings up to 430ºF • Auto shut-off: No

With adjustable temperature that goes all the way down to 160ºF, this wand is ideal for fragile, fine or damaged hair. The wand has a retractable comb attached that grips hair and evenly lays it onto the barrel, which created curls that look "nice and soft right away." One tester added, "I didn’t think I would care for the built-in retractable comb, but I find it very useful." Moreover, this iron scored best for lasting curls and highly for releasing easily without pulling or snagging. Testers also loved that the digital display shows the temperature and type of hair it's suitable for and also reflects any changes in temperature during styling.

• Barrel size: 1 ¼-inch • Cord length: 8.5 feet • Heat settings: Adjustable temperature 160ºF to 450ºF • Auto shut-off: Customizable up to 2 hours

A novel design that incorporates a flat iron mode along with a curling wand and a curling iron, this 1 ¼-inch rod scored moderately well across the board from ease of use to performance to user satisfaction. It scored high for having a wide temperature range, plus it got a perfect score for curls that lasted throughout the day making it perfect for thick, coarse or coily hair that tends to frizz. Even short-haired testers loved its versatility, noting "it was the safest curling tool I used: Easy to maneuver and keep from touching the face or scalp."

• Barrel size: 1 ¼-inch • Cord length: 9 feet • Heat settings: Adjustable temperature 240ºF to 430ºF • Auto shut-off: 1 hour

An editor favorite for waves and curls, not only is this curling wand tapered in size, but its shape graduates from circular to oblong for the perfectly tousled, undone wave. Its silicone tip stays cool to mitigate the risk of burns. This brand is known for hair tools that heat up quickly and maintain a constant temperature of 365ºF, which the brand says is safer for hair: The trade-off is that you can't adjust the settings for finer or thicker hair types.

• Barrel size: 1-inch round to .09-inch oval taper • Heat settings: N/A • Auto shut-off: 30 minutes

"I admire the genius air jet design, which makes hair strands, as if by magic, wrap themselves around the curler attachment,” says Birnur Aral, Ph.D., Director of the GH Beauty Lab. The result: Bouncy bends that rival a professional blowout. "It gives salon-level styling using lower heat, which can minimize damage as well," she explains. You can use this genius tool as a traditional curling iron by wrapping hair from the ends and working upward, or you can manually wrap hair around the shaft like a curling wand for a more beachy effect. Its versatility is a huge selling point.

• Barrel size: Two 1.2-inch barrels; two 1.6-inch barrels • Cord length: 8.5 feet • Heat settings: 3 adjustable heat settings and cool shot • Auto shut-off: N/A

If you've ever had A+ waves on one side of your head, so-so waves on the other, you're not alone. The wand on this hot tool helps fix that with a pivoting handle that rotates between 180° and 90° to easily reach every strand and fix a common beginner gripe. When we tested it in the Beauty Lab, our pros thought the rotating mechanism was a bit difficult to use, adding that the "barrel felt wobbly in both the 90º and 180º positions."

• Barrel size: 1 ¼-inch • Cord length: 9 feet • Heat settings: Four adjustable heat settings up to 425ºF • Auto shut-off: 30 minutes

When we test curling irons and wands at the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab, we start by rounding up the newest products on the market and then whittling down the field based on an initial pre-screen process conducted by Lab experts who also look into products' claims and availability. In our most recent test, we considered each product's ease of use and performance, as well as quantitative measurements like weight, cord length, barrel thicknesses, plus the tool's time to reach its highest temperature.

✔️ Heat settings: Toye says you'll want to prioritize adjustable heat options when shopping for a curling wand. This allows you to tailor your heat to varying hair thicknesses not only across users, but on your own head. If the heat is too low, hair won't curl; too high and you risk damaging your hair. For example, you may want to dial down the temp on the fragile pieces along your hairline, but turn up the heat on the thicker hair at the middle of your head.

Curling your own hair at home can actually be super simple once you get the hang of it. First, you'll want to prep hair: "When your hair is completely dry, use a heat protectant spray ... before going through the hair," says Toye. "This helps protect the cuticle from excessive heat." He adds that your hair texture will dictate the temperature you should use. Our Beauty Lab pros suggest 180°F to 370°F for fine or damaged hair; 375°F to 395° for normal thickness or generally healthy hair; and 400°F to 420°F for thick hair.

Good Housekeeping Institue Deputy Editor, Jessica Teich has over 10 years of experience formally researching, testing and writing about haircare products, from hair tools (like hairdryer brushes, curling irons and wands and flat irons) to styling tips (like how to get beach waves, how to use a diffuser and how to cut your own hair) and hair products, including dry shampoo and the best curly hair products. An authority on (and a guinea pig for testing) new-to-market tools on curly hair, she regularly teams up with GH's Beauty Lab to synthesize its data in putting together product reviews on the very best haircare on the market, according to testing.

With a background in hair dye research and synthesis, Good Housekeeping Institute Senior Chemist, Sabina Wizemann loves everything hair-related. Over her years in the Health, Beauty and Sustainability Lab, she has fashioned lab and consumer studies on at-home hairdyes, shampoos and conditioners, hair serums, hair volumizers, dry shampoos and more. She also tests hairstyling tools like hairdryers and curling irons while continuously checking for the latest innovations in hairstyling.