What it is: The Beachwaver B1.25 is our patented rotating curling iron — place hair in the clamp, press to rotate, release to stop. Twice the curls in half the time, no manual wrist twisting needed.

Who it's for: Long-hair wearers who want effortless, salon-quality beachy waves without the hand fatigue.

Why it works: The 1.25" barrel delivers loose, romantic waves and volume — ideal for everyday styling, blowouts, and texture-building on second-day hair. (Prefer tighter curls? Try the B1.)

Key specs: 3 heat settings — 290°F, 350°F, or 410°F. Short, beveled clamp prevents kinks. Rotates left and right at the touch of a button.

Pro tip: Use with Great Barrier heat protectant (up to 450°F protection) for faster, shinier results.

Questions we get asked

Is a rotating curling iron actually better than a regular one?

Yes, and in two different ways depending on whose hair you're doing. On your own hair, a normal iron is awkward for a reason nobody says out loud: you're holding it upside down and backwards. That's the problem it was invented for. Our founder Sarah Potempa is a working hairdresser, and when a beauty editor asked her how to get beachy waves at home she realised the honest answer was 'stand behind yourself', which isn't possible. So she sketched a barrel that wraps the hair for you. You clamp, hold an arrow, and it turns — either direction, one hand. On someone else's hair it saves your wrist, and that's not a small thing if you're doing more than one head. With a normal barrel you rotate your whole forearm for every section. We found this out backstage at our first New York Fashion Week doing roller sets and 1940s hair: nobody had to turn a wrist and the team finished thirty minutes early. Sarah still uses it on celebrity clients every week, and on her own daughter, which is the real test.

Is it a professional tool? Can I use it on clients?

It's used on runways and on celebrity clients every week, and it started in a salon rather than a lab — Sarah invented it as a hairdresser, for hairdressers and for everyone else. Two things make it worth having behind the chair. It's faster per section once you stop rotating your arm, which compounds across a full day. And the barrel turns in both directions, so you can mirror the curl on each side of the face without switching hands. If you're working professionally, the Pro Series is the one to look at: 310°F (154°C) to 450°F (232°C) on a digital display, so you set an exact temperature for each client instead of choosing between three.

Can I use it on my child's hair?

Sarah does, on her own daughter. Two things make it easier on a wriggly head than a normal iron: you only need one hand, so the other stays free, and the rotation only runs while you hold the arrow down — let go and it stops immediately. Use the lowest setting, 290°F (143°C), on young or fine hair, work with a heat protectant, and there's a 30-minute automatic shut-off and a cool safety tip at the end of the barrel. As with any heated tool, an adult should be the one holding it.

Will it work on short hair?

Shorter hair is genuinely harder, and we'd rather say so than have you find out. The barrel needs enough length to wrap around itself, so on a bob or shorter you get less of a curl and less room to manoeuvre. If your hair sits at your chin or above, take smaller sections, clamp close to the ends, and expect bend and texture rather than a full ringlet — which is often what looks best on short hair anyway. From roughly collarbone length down, the 1" is the easiest place to start. Below the shoulders, the 1.25" gives a looser, more blown-out wave.

Which direction should I curl — towards my face or away?

Away from your face for the sections around it. That's the single change that makes home curls look professional rather than dated: hair curled towards the face closes it in, hair curled away opens it up and lifts. Because the barrel goes both ways, you press the left arrow on the left side and the right arrow on the right, and both sides mirror properly. Through the back, alternate the direction section by section. Curling everything the same way gives you neat spirals; alternating gives you the undone, beachy shape, because the curls don't stack into one another.

How much hair should I put in each section?

About an inch to an inch and a half wide, and no thicker than the barrel. The most common home mistake is taking too much hair: the middle of the section never reaches temperature, so the curl drops within the hour and it looks like the tool failed. If you can't see through the section when you hold it up, split it. Clip the rest out of the way and work in horizontal rows from the nape up. A full head is usually eight to twelve sections.

How do I get the curl to actually last?

Four things, and the tool is only one of them. Heat: the B-Series has three settings — 290°F (143°C), 350°F (177°C) and 410°F (210°C). Fine or colour-treated hair holds best low; thick or coarse hair usually needs the highest. Too little heat is the most common reason a curl drops. Time: hold for 2–3 seconds after the rotation stops, then open the clamp and slide the barrel straight down. Cooling: this is the step almost everyone skips. A curl sets as it cools, not while it's hot. Drop each curl into your palm, or pin it, and let it cool completely before you touch it. Brushing a warm curl out is what turns it into a wave — useful if that's what you want, a mistake if it isn't. Prep: hair must be fully dry. Freshly washed, very soft hair holds less well than second-day hair — true of every iron. A heat protectant before and a flexible hairspray after will hold a wave far longer than the iron can alone.

How do I get a beachy wave instead of a tight curl?

Same tool, three changes. Take bigger sections. Leave the last inch or two of the ends out of the clamp so they stay straight — that's what makes a wave read as undone rather than styled. And once everything is completely cool, rake your fingers through, or brush it out gently with a soft brush. For a tighter, more polished curl: smaller sections, take the ends all the way in, and don't brush it out at all.

How do I avoid clamp marks or creases?

The clamp is beveled, no-kink clamp, designed to prevent exactly this, but technique matters. A crease forms when you rotate it the wrong way and the hair bends over the clamp. Simply rotate it in the other direction — start with the clamp facing in, towards the mirror, and press the button to rotate away from the face. There's a short learning curve, usually a section or two. The rotation only runs while you hold the arrow, so you can stop at any point and start over.

Can I use it on damp hair?

No — hair has to be fully dry. Heat on wet hair boils the water inside the strand and that's what causes real damage, and a curl set on damp hair falls out as it finishes drying. If you're short on time, rough-dry to completely dry on a cool setting first. Great Barrier heat protectant goes on before any heat.

Which heat setting should I use?

Start lower than you think and go up only if the curl won't hold. 290°F (143°C) — fine, fragile, colour-treated, bleached or young hair. 350°F (177°C) — most people, most of the time. 410°F (210°C) — thick, coarse or stubbornly straight hair. Hotter is not better. If a curl drops at 350°F the answer is usually a smaller section or letting it cool properly, not more heat.

How is this different from a wand or a flat iron?

A wand has no clamp, so you wrap the hair by hand and hold it there — which means your fingers are near a hot barrel and both hands are busy. A flat iron bends hair rather than winding it, so you get an S-wave, and getting it even takes practice. The rotating iron clamps and winds for you, which is why you can do the back of your own head without a mirror gymnastics routine.

Can I get a blowout look with it?

Yes, and it's mostly about barrel size and where you stop. Use the larger 1.25" barrel, take wide sections, and curl only from the mid-lengths down — leave the ends out and don't wind all the way up to the root. Then brush it through once it's cool. That gives the loose bend and body of a blow-dry rather than a curl.

How do I clean and look after it?

Let it cool completely, then wipe the barrel with a damp cloth to take off product build-up — hairspray baked onto a ceramic barrel is what makes hair drag and snag. Never wind the 8-ft swivel cord tightly around a hot barrel; that's the single biggest cause of cord failure on any heated tool. Store it on the stand until it's cool. It's dual voltage, 100–240V, so it travels without a converter.

What if it stops working?

Every iron carries a 1-year limited warranty. If it fails inside that window, contact us and we'll sort it — a warranty claim shouldn't be an argument. It's a heated tool with a motor, so the cord is the part to be kind to. The 30-minute automatic shut-off means leaving it switched on won't damage it.

Which barrel size should I get?

The 1" is our most popular and the easiest to learn on — it suits collarbone length and longer and gives a classic beachy wave. The 1.25" is for longer hair and gives a looser, blow-out wave. If you're between the two and your hair falls below your shoulders, the 1.25" will feel faster because it covers more hair per section.