An Honest Review of the Lindsay Lohan-Approved TYMO Curlgo

• Ease of Use: 19/20
• Efficacy: 20/20
• Longevity: 19/20
• Portability: 20/20
• Value: 18/20

Total: 96/100

I’m not very good at styling my hair. Whether it’s a blow dry brush, hair dryer with round brush or a curling iron, something is always tangled, backwards or burning. Don’t get me wrong—I live and die by my T3 Curl ID ($270), but last year I burned my neck and still have a scar. When I recently came across a video of Lindsay Lohan getting her hair done with the TYMO Curlgo automatic curling iron ($100), I was intrigued. Especially after learning that it was touted as lightweight, portable, cordless and would prevent me from burning myself. After using it for a week, below are my thoughts on if it’s really as easy as it looks, and if I actually got movie-star quality hair.

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The TYMO Curlgo is an automatic, cordless and portable curling wand. (Though there is a corded function if needed and/or desired.) Inside the box is the curling iron, USB-C charging block and cable.

The tool itself has three controls: Power (also used to cycle through the heat settings), curl direction and barrel rotation. There are three heat settings: Bleached/damaged/fine hair (320 degrees), fine to normal hair (365 degrees) and thick/coarse hair (410 degrees). To curl your hair, make sure the side with the buttons is facing you and toggle the directional button to the correct position. Then, insert a section (the brand recommends ¾-inch to 1 inch) of hair into the duck bill at the top, then pull the hair down at a 90 degree angle before pressing the rotate button. (The video above is a helpful illustration.) The barrel will automatically rotate for eight seconds before stopping. If you want to stop the rotation earlier, simply press the same button. 

There is an automatic timer that will beep after eight seconds, at which point you can either pull your hair out of the tool or press the rotate button again if your hair needs more time. (A possibility for longer and/or coarser hair.) There is relatively little tension in the barrel, so it won’t pull your hair as it spins; once your hair is wrapped around, it’ll just glide around the curler if it keeps rotating.

I tested the TYMO Curlgo over the course of a few weeks, on my medium-length fine and thin hair. When evaluating the Curlgo, I graded it on five attributes on the PureWow100 scale:

• Ease of Use: Was it difficult to set up and operate?
• Efficacy: Did it deliver what it said it would?
• Longevity: How long did the curls last?
• Portability: Would I *actually* travel with this?
• Value: Given the scores of the four previous qualities vs. the price, is it worth the money?), for a total out of 100 points. 

When styling, I prepped my hair with Bumble & bumble’s Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil (it’s also a heat protectant), set the curls with bobby pins and then finished with R+Co Bleu’s Lifestyler Volume and Texture Spray before combing out the curls with a brush I sprayed with hairspray.

On the whole, the Curlgo is pretty intuitive with minimal buttons and settings. There are just two things I had to noodle around for. The first is that the power button is also the way you choose your heat setting (it’s not labeled). The second is the device’s “lock” feature, which prevents it from accidentally turning on if the power button is pressed for more than two seconds in, say, your suitcase. If you want to turn it on, you’ll have to flick the switch to the “unlocked” side. Otherwise, you’re good to go—the Curlgo heats up in about a minute and everything else is automatic, including the eight-second timer and auto-shutoff. It was a little bit difficult to maneuver my hair into the slot (it will not catch and curl hair that isn’t in this duck bill) at first, but I got the hang of it by the time I had curled half my hair.

Overall, I think this is a great option for a) those who lack dexterity when styling their hair b) those who are prone to burning themselves with an iron and c) frequent travelers who want a tool that’s not going to take up excessive suitcase space. I write this falling into all three buckets. The Curlgo took the stress of accidentally hurting myself out of the equation, since the side that faces you never gets hot—only lukewarm. It also charges fairly quickly, is lightweight, isn’t loud and takes the guesswork out of styling. Vis-à-vis the price ($100), I’d say it’s not a bad deal, so I’ve scored it 96/100 on the PureWow100 scale. I know what hair tool I’m packing for all my travels this year.