“Wet 2, well…err…kinda straight?”
I’m a suspicious kind of person. Yes, it’s my natural personality but also years of purchasing experience have made me ‘buyer-beware’. I have grown used to marketeering along with all the hype that comes with it. In other words, just because a product says it will do something, I don’t always truly believe that will be the case. So, with this is mind, I admit that I approached reviewing the Remington Wet 2 Straight with a bit of cynical trepidation. Could it really make my hair go from wet to straight? Really, really?
Ooh, I love a vent!
The Remington Wet 2 Straight comes with steam vents. These are not, as the name may suggest, something to help calm when your hair won’t style properly, but the idea is that they are drying the hair whilst the plates do their job of straightening. Think of it like someone drying the dishes while you’re still washing up. In other words, there are two things happening at once here, with the sincere intention of saving you time and making your life just that little bit easier. Unfortunately, however, my experience of such multi-functioning gadgets has not been wholly positive.
I remember the washer-dryer where the washer unit failed and so I couldn’t dry, and the TV/DVD player where, as soon as the DVD got stuck, the TV gave up also. When it comes to my gadgets, I’m a one purpose kind of gal, and the Remington Wet 2 Straight has done nothing to dispel that feeling. Yes, it dried my hair, but the straightened look was left a little frizzy at the end. In fact, I had to get out my go-to straightening iron to rectify the finished look, so saved no time whatsoever. Not impressed. Admittedly, my hair is thick (very thick) with damage and split ends, but I’ve had much better straightening results from even the cheapest of straightening irons.
Not the finest looking apple on the tree
The Remington Wet 2 Straight comes at a cheaper price point than many of its competitors. And it shows in the way it looks. For me, I don’t see that a cheaper cost equates to naff looks, but that is certainly the case here. The Wet 2 Straight logo, in an old-fashioned font, is overly large, and the numerical ‘2’ instead of its written equivalent is a little elementary school for my liking. Since when did abbreviated text talk become the next contemporary thing when it came to electrical gadget design? Grrr.
Dodgy signage aside, the Remington Wet 2 Straight just looks inferior – inferior as the materials that it’s made with look cheap, and inferior as in everything just looks a little small. I can’t put my finger on it – actually I can put my finger on it as opposed to my hand, as they just don’t seem to be as wide or as long as other straighteners I have reviewed. When it comes to comfortable handling of your straightening irons, size matters.
Ceramic…ish
Much is made nowadays of what straightening plates are made of. Are they titanium? Tourmaline-infused? Sugar-coated, frosted with a cherry on top? Or maybe just plain old ceramic? Well actually, plain old ceramic is known to give a smooth glide, adding health and shine. But as the plates of the Remington Wet 2 Straight are only ceramic-coated (so only ceramic ish), then it means that the results are only ish too. So the hair goes through the plates ish, the final result looks straight ish, and the hair looks shiny ish. But I’m a vain old goat, and always want maximum value for my hard-earned dollar. So ish simply isn’t good enough. Why did Remington not just go the whole ceramic hog? I understand that companies work to tight budgets, but customer perception of a product takes precedence.
Aha! A plus point.
Thank goodness for the auto shut-off feature! Not all is lost. The auto shut-off feature is one of those things that people don’t think they need, and may well never use, but if it isn’t there, it just makes you feel a little nervous. What if I forget to turn my straighteners off? Will I fry the dog? Will my straighteners embed into the wooden flooring? A bit like that annoying little sister that keeps borrowing your clothes, but who if she left home you’d be lost without. I believe that every set of straightening irons in the world should have an auto shut-off feature. The fact that the Remington Wet 2 Straight comes with this has made me feel that not all is lost when it comes to this brand, but with the pros and cons list looming, I still feel that these straightening irons would have to do a lot of work to leave me even slightly impressed.
PROs – the wet to straight feature would be an excellent idea if only it produced wearable results; auto shut-off feature
CONs – a cheaper-looking model with results that match; drying and straightening at the same time just didn’t work on my thick, frizzy hair; cheaper price point equates to poorer performance.
At the end of this review, I admit to feeling a little heavy-hearted. I am sure that if I bought a pair of Remington straightening irons and a Remington hairdryer, I would get better results. So I am left wondering why bother trying to bring the two together if it doesn’t work well enough. I can understand it’s a time saver on paper, but sadly the reality is very different indeed. In fact, it probably ended up taking me an extra 20 minutes by having to get my preferred brand of straighteners back out to go over the results the Remington had left me with.
