In the spirit of trying something new, I decided to give the Bed Head Wave Artist a try. I was hoping to achieve those perfectly undone beach type waves (like we always see worn to perfection on Kate Hudson!), maybe toss in a braid or two for a snazzy bohemian look. The Wave Artist works like a crimping iron; the curved plates kink your hair into pretty waves with each clamping motion on the section of hair.

The first thing I will say is this tool is sort of unwieldy compared to the flat irons, and even curling irons I’m used to. It’s heavy! I never really appreciated how lightweight my GHD flat iron is until I used this big thing! It’s not a huge deal, but something to consider as far as maneuverability when you’re working with it. I learned that the hard way – I burned myself pretty badly with it because I wasn’t being careful and underestimated how much room I needed to get my hand around it. Ow! I will be sure to use my heat glove from now on!

The Wave Artist Deep Waver has an adjustable temperature dial. It gets extremely hot, very quickly. I don’t understand why hot tools get this hot. I can’t think of any person’s hair that would need 450 degrees. Even Bed Head recommends to always use the lowest setting first, and only increase the heat if your hair needs it. If you’re in a hurry you’ll be glad to know it only takes about 30 seconds to heat up. There isn’t any beep or other indicator that it’s ready, you just have to wing it.

Aside from having a bit of a learning curve, the tool does perform well. It creates very nice waves that were long lasting! This particular tool is pretty inexpensive (I have seen it for sale at prices ranging from $25 to $30), so it’s not a bad choice if you’re looking for something to learn on. Just remember to always use heat protection, on your hair and your hands!

Wavy Hair Styling Tips

1 – Start off with hair that is completely dried, but clean.
2 – If you applied heat protector when you were blow drying, that’s plenty. But if you didn’t blow dry, apply heat protector now and let it dry or hit it with the blow dryer briefly.
3 – Section your hair to make it easier to work with. Only use the waver on 1-2″ sections of hair at a time.
4 – Lightly mist each section with a flexible hold hair spray before using the waver.
5 – Optional: for ultimate beach hair, mist with sea salt spray after you’re done with the waver.