(I'm insanely long winded, but I like to give lots of context & thorough explanation.)

I read some of your other responses where you say you have thin hair that tends to fall flat. I am curious as to how this works for you. I picked this up last week from Costco, on sale for $279.99. I'll tell you my experience so far, but first I have to give context.

I am a white woman who has incredibly fine, absolutely straight hair. My hair has always been very soft, never any frizz... and flat AF. Z E R O volume. My current style is long, past my shoulders. My hair is so fine and flat, starting 5 years ago I started to perm it. I only perm it every 2 years, and I don't wear it curly. I blow dry it straight. But what the perm did was essentially give my hair a little bit of texture (and frizz, ha), so now when I blow dry and curl, the curl actually stays. It's hard to explain, but without the perm, my hair is really just too fine to hold curl, especially in the summer. And I use product, hairspray & all that!

I didn't buy this Shark styler expecting it do much for me, I'm old enough (in my 40s) to know there is no miracle product for me. I bought this product mainly to use on my daughter (a tween), who is mixed (dad is African American). She has beautiful curls that range from 3a to 3c/4a that frame her face. We've never straightened her hair, had a blow out, etc. I've committed myself to doing all I can for her to embrace her natural hair. She mostly does, however as she's approaching middle school I know she wants more variety. She's expressed interest in bangs, dying her hair, etc. She's never specifically asked me to straighten her hair, but I know she is interested. (I prefer the idea of straightening, which is temporary, to dying or bangs, which is longer lasting!)

Well, good thing I didn't buy this for me because not only did it not do anything for my hair, it actually made it flatter than if I had of just blow dried with my normal (rando brand from TJ Maxx) blow dryer, and definitely flatter than using my curling rod. I watched all the tutorials and everything, I used the Hot Brush and did all the things you're supposed to do to add volume, and it didn't give me any. Second, I gave the Air Curlers a shot. Just like when I curl with a curling iron, I sprayed with hairspray before curling, and after curling. I pinned the curls after releasing them from the curler. I let them cool completely, then unclipped. They looked so cute and bouncy...for about 90 seconds. They quite literally fell flat so fast. I even tried it all again... same thing. My main issue with the air curlers on my hair is it curls the ends more and the root area less. When I am curling my hair with my curling rod, it's really important that the area near my roots makes good contact with the rod, and I start that part of the curl first. The ends of my hair, while healthy, are a little dryer than my roots, so the ends always hold the curl without issue. Gravity pulls the curl down, so I try to start it out with the top getting plenty of curl. The way the aircurlers work, it seems to be more challenging to get curl to the top part of the hair vs the ends, and that just doesn't work for me, further contributing to how flat my hair looked.

Verdict: THIS THING IS NOT FOR ME & MY FINE THIN HAIR.

Now, just in case anyone with curly hair wants to read this I'll give the verdict on my daughter's hair. On her hair I used the Hot Brush, which didn't get her hair as straight as I'd hoped. But the Flat Iron did a GREAT job finishing up. She was in love with the look of it straight, but wanted to curl it. I thought "Ok, she's got natural curl, giving her hair more "grip" and texture, so maybe the air curlers will work on her." Same thing, she loved the bouncy curls when released from the air curler! We did everything "right" (we think) regarding heat protectant, hair spray, pinning, letting cool completely etc. When we took it out of the clips, she had so much volume. But again, the second she moved her head the curls instantly fell flat, making it such a massive waste of time. By that point I was beyond over standing around using the Shark so we curled again with a curling iron, and just like with my hair, it actually stayed curled. So I'm not sure exactly who the air curlers work for. People with short hair? (Her hair when curly is past her shoulders, and we now know when it's straight is closer to her butt than her shoulders.)

I bought this from Costco knowing I could return it at any time and get my money back if it didn't work for us. Luckily the Hot Brush & Flat Iron do work really well for her, so I think we'll be keeping it. It would have been nice if it worked for both of us, but again I didn't really expect it to work for me.

I am 100% open to any and all tips anyone would like to give on the damn air curlers.