Sunday, June 19, 2011

Magic Leverag (Curlformer Knock-off) REVIEW

Hey Fam! Just wanna give a quick shout out and welcome to all of our new and current family members :) Thank you for joining Diva R's journey and our empire of natural hair care for curls of all types! So since we have had mediocre experiences with the flexi-rods and the desired Curlformers are rather expensive, we were looking for something that would work better and we were tipped off by some fellow fam of ours on FB about these Magic Leverag Curlers that resemble the Curlformers but are a fraction of the cost.


Above is what the box looks like that the Magic Leverag curlers came in. I must add that these i have only seen being sold through Ebay, so that is where we bought them from. Initially i ordered 1 set which included 18 curlers of two different sizes "small" and "large" and they came from Hong Kong.  The shipping took about two weeks as expected. I was super excited to get them to try and get into this hype and see what they are about. THEN i realized that 1 set will not be enough for neither mine nor the Diva's hair. 

Here is the first set that i got...

 
(Note the different colors don't mean anything in particular, the disclaimer said the colors would vary :))

On the left below is a closer glimpse at the "Hook"  of which you use to guide the hair through the curler.
On the right below is a close up of the curlers so that you can get an idea of what they look like. At the tips of the curlers are the rubber like grips which help to keep the curlers on the hair and from slipping off. the middle material is like a netting which is supposed to maintain its ringlet shape before during and after use.

So of course i had to order another set... I ordered it this time from China and it seemed to have come quicker but there was no box, they were "loose" inside the wrapping.  18 piece set plus a hook small and large size curlers. Still from Ebay of course.

Here is the second set that we got...

 (Note the color difference between the two sets we got)

When it came to the options of these Magic Leverag Curlers, there weren't any! there is only one set that you can buy and it comes with both small and large curlers. There are no varying sets so whether you have short or long hair this is the set you would get. I tend to have an issue with that because we both have longer type hair and these small ones wont really be usable often... I really wanted a extra long and narrow set like Curlformer's sells but couldn't find anything like that with out the name brand... So that's another reason i had to buy two sets, but I'm sure everyone is wondering how much these cost... HONESTLY both sets combined including shipping they were $11.78 all together! Talk about a DEAL. These look so much like the Curlformer's i honestly cant tell the difference in structure and feel until i thoroughly examine.  EVEN THEN they are so similar i just wonder if the difference isn't just the price....

So i decided to do a review on these on myself first because i had questions about if these could cause damage because of how tight the rubber holds onto the hair. I would never experiment with something like this on Diva R right away, i would rather take the possible abuse than her :)

I decided to experiment with the Magic Leverag on WET hair first... I made sure my hair was wet with distilled water, and then i spritzed some Bee Mine Juicy Spritz for moisture and sealed the deal with some Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter.

I thought immediately that the WET hair may ruin my results because of how fine my hair is already...  But i was game for all aspects so that i could thoroughly check these out!

So here is what they looked like in my hair right after i had put them in... (Note: I did do these by myself not looking in the mirror and this was the very first time EVER...)

I didn't think to look at the pics i had just had taken until i was getting ready to post them! If i did i would have realized that i forgot some pieces here and there in the back! But since this is the first time that's ok for me.  I had also learned that my hair is much longer in the back than in the front. In this picture above you should be able to see the hair wrapped inside the curlers.  I did not even attempt to look up any tutorials because i thought i could just get it off rip...



I must admit i sat there stumped for a minute until i realized that the trick to the trade was to assemble the hook first, THEN slide the curler on to the hook as far as it will go and THEN hook the section of hair that i want inside the curler and pull it through...

The curler then springs back into its springy shape and its all set.

Here is the following morning...


Some hair has fell out of place... So i will keep experimenting until i know for sure ON MY HAIR what method of applying these is best.  I have layers that I'm recovering from, broken off hair around my crown and nape and just complete brittleness from dye...

Here are the results...





In case its not obvious i just threw it up in a pony tail and was done...

I will keep experimenting with these and see what i can come up with.  These are so not comfortable to sleep on either, i will only use these on Diva for a few hours max during the day because they are not comfy for night time in my opinion. I can say that hands down these are a much better buy than the expensive Curlformer's, I would love to try those out don't get me wrong but spending a hundred bucks for the set, shipping and an extra bag of curlers isn't feasible for me. Check out the two kits that i would like to try from curlformers for me and for Diva R if the "curler fairy" deemed us deserving... As those are probably less harsh feeling.


I will try these on my dry hair next :) Then maybe Diva's...

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

5 comments:

Tiffany: Diva Locks said...

I have a pack of these and I used them on the diva's hair in a high ponytail. They came out really good! But like you I wished they came in other sizes because I couldn't use them for her hair down and curly all over like I want to.

Unknown said...

This was a nice review. My hair is to thick to were these but I liked seeing how they work.

Tav said...

Hey Kim, we did a fake curlformers review too! Check it out here http://goldilocksnme.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-knock-it-off.html I never even thought to try them on my own hair like you did. Maybe I will next time I flat-iron it... Maybe I'll look into the leverags if these don't work out...

Unknown said...

@Tiffany- Thanks to you and Amber P from FB i found these :) Your Diva had lovely results from these so i had to give em a try! My hair is just too long for these and so is Diva R's so i may have to do the pony tails too :)

@Tavia- i LOVE Goldilocks results :) Her hair is just so lovely! Thanks for the heads up on the longer ones too!

@KeeKee :)

Jia said...

I really want to try curlformers, but these prices in Hawaii are no joke. Im glad to see that I can find a knock off version. I think my daughter would like to have her hair curled like that without me having to use heat.