The InStyler Is Back, Baby
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Illustration: Bella Geraci; Source Images: Courtesy of InStyler
You didn’t really experience the 2000s if your hairstyling routine wasn’t influenced entirely by tools from infomercials that played so frequently you could recite them from memory. My hair gadget history began with the Topsy Tail, a loop-shaped tool my mom used to elevate my childhood ponytails in the ‘90s. (They still make it, by the way!) Later, in the early ‘00s, I had a brief dalliance with a Conair steam straightener that promised a sleek, shiny style without damage but in reality just made my hair frizzy and lumpy. Despite varying degrees of success, I never stopped experimenting with as-seen-on-TV hair devices that have since become infamous. One such gadget was the InStyler, which is having somewhat of a resurgence on TikTok right now.
Some people have been using one for ages and are just now making content about it. Some younger people have come to love it after stumbling upon it in their local thrift stores or unearthing it via archaeological expeditions through the depths of their families’ forgotten stuff. And you know what? Their hair looks fantastic.
But wait, let’s back up to 2008, when the InStyler was introduced. As its commercials would tell us, it was created by a “team of expert stylists” and promised sleek and shiny hair without damage. Unlike anything that came before it, the tool combined a rotating barrel iron with a stationary bristle brush to straighten and smooth hair; it was mostly known for straightening hair but allegedly could also create curls, flips, and “outrageous volume.” You could buy a 30 day-trial for just $14.99! (Plus shipping and handling, of course—and you’d have to pay for the remaining cost of the tool once said trial was over).
Back in the day, writer Judith Newman reviewed the InStyler for this very publication. “No question, this gadget was effective, even on our unruly curls,” she wrote for the March 2010 edition of Allure (you might remember the one: Jessica Simpson was on the cover). “On the other hand, you need both patience and care: Mistakenly smoothing one section for the fourth time resulted in singed hair and an alarmed cry of ‘What’s that smell?’ from our husband… Still, if even a beauty klutz can do it, this just might be worth the hefty price.” That price at the time was $100—honestly, a steal compared to the $500+ price tags of some modern hair tools.
I personally tried the InStyler in my college days and found that the tool was a little too complicated for my then-minimal hairstyling skills; my hair often got caught on the bristles, plus the motor that powered the rotating barrel iron was extremely noisy. But I was apparently in the minority—it seems the InStyler wound up founding a legion of devoted fans I had no idea were out there until TikTok put the tool back on my radar. A quick scroll through reviews on the beauty forum Makeupalley highlighted plenty of InStyler diehards, including one who purchased the tool every time they saw it at TJ Maxx or a thrift store so they never had to worry about losing or breaking theirs.
Meelah Harkness is an InStyler devotee with a personal connection to the tool; she says her mother once worked with one of the tool’s creators. Harkness has fond memories of her mother styling her hair with it when she was young. “I remember always looking in this big mirror on our wall after and not being able to look away because of how much I loved the way my hair looked,” Harkness tells Allure. Having naturally wavy hair that’s prone to frizz, she has yet to find a tool that smooths and volumizes her hair as effectively, including the traditional blowdryer and round brush combo. She also loves the InStyler for its versatility. “Instead of packing a flat iron, curling iron, blow dryer, and round brush [when I travel], I just take my InStyler. I can achieve any style I want with just one tool.” She calls it “unbeatable.”
meelah harkness instyler
Meelah HarknessAs one of the first to combine multiple styling methods into one tool, it’s no wonder the InStyler became as popular as it did. “A lot of people want the salon look, but don’t want to take the time to create it,” says Utah-based hairstylist Heggy Gonzalez, who has dabbled with the InStyler. “These tools kind of are the best of both worlds; they allow you to do more intensive blowouts or add curls to your hair without it being too difficult.” And it makes all the more sense why its diehard fans would clutch it so dearly in a time when the beauty industry is set on convincing us to own as many specialized products as we possibly can.
Hair gadget technology has come a long way, but the high-tech tools of the current day share DNA with throwback hair tools like the InStyler, which I consider the godmother of all the fancy blowout brushes we rely on today. Without its runaway success, would we have blowout brushes like the Revlon One-Step Volumizer or rotating curling irons like the Beachwaver? Probably not! In other words, the InStyler walked so the Dyson Airwrap could run.
There’s something eternally alluring about such unconventional hot tools that feel like an artifact of a time gone by—which is probably why the InStyler and its fleet of hot tool offspring remain so popular today. Just search TikTok’s current favorite product, the Wavytalk Thermal Brush, and you’ll see what I mean.
If you thought the InStyler simply disappeared when it stopped airing its commercials back in the day, think again! The tool is still available to purchase today, and not just from your local thrifts, bargain stores, or eBay. The InStyler company has been expanding its product line since 2008, but it still makes rotating iron tools similar to the original. (I haven’t tried the 2024 version, so I can’t speak to how it compares—or if they made it less noisy.)
While there’s no major harm in unearthing and using your perfectly functional high school InStyler—just use protection!—I don’t think it’s so much better than any other tools on the market that you need to devote your next Sunday to prowling local Goodwills to find one of your own. But if you do have one hiding away somewhere, happen to come across one on your latest thrift haul, or you simply never stopped using yours at all, there’s never been a better time to give it a (literal) spin.
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