Mermade Hair Pro Waver review: Big barrels for a beachy barnet
The Mermade Hair Waver is a convenient tool that creates mermaid-worthy waves on every hair type
Pros
- Big, soft waves
- Very quick styling
- Brilliant temperature range and adjustability
Cons
- Heavy
- No heat mat provided
- Stiff hinge mechanism
Mermade Hair is a brand best known for its signature tool, the Mermade Hair Pro Waver, which took the internet by storm when it was first released. Founded in 2019, it’s a relatively new brand, but its well-built, mid-range hair tools have cemented it as a favourite among young people. The Pro Waver, you guessed it, creates impressive mermaid waves.
As with any new brand, it’s natural to question the quality of its products: why buy from a new brand when a well-known brand has a great hair waver for a similar price? It’s also sensible to take its sponsored promotions from celebrities such as Kim Kardashian with a large pinch of salt. That’s why I’ve tested the Mermade Hair Pro Waver to see if it lives up to the hype.
All in all, I was impressed by its huge temperature range, speedy styling and the big, soft waves it’s capable of creating. However, its huge barrels and stiff hinge mechanism made it quite heavy to hold for long periods of time.
Mermade Hair Pro Waver review: What do you get for the money?
In terms of design and features, the Mermade Hair Pro Waver has some of the largest barrels of any hair wavers on the market. At a wide 32mm each, the three interlocking barrels press the hair into loose, uniform, “S”-shaped waves that are shiny and smooth, thanks to the high-grade ceramic used on the surface of those barrels.
It also possesses an impressively wide temperature range, which starts at 80°C and can be adjusted all the way up to 210°C in 10°C increments. That means it can style a wide range of hair types, with lower temperatures more suitable for fine, fragile hair, and higher temperatures better suited to thicker, healthier hair. The temperature is displayed on an LCD screen at the top of the handle, and it can be adjusted using the arrows on either side of the power button, conveniently located just below.
Alongside the temperature settings, the waver itself has a comfortable handle that’s slightly tapered to fit ergonomically in your hand. It’s let down, however, by the high amount of tension in the lever mechanism, which is a little too short and stiff for comfort when operating it with your thumb or forefinger. On top of that, the waver weighs a hefty 748g. That, as you can probably guess, is due to those big, thick barrels.
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Other design features include grey-coloured cool-touch handles on the end of the barrels that make it obvious where you can safely touch them without burning your fingers. Even while wearing the protective heat glove that comes with the waver, these are useful additions that add extra control during styling. A swivel cord also makes it easy to manoeuvre the waver around your head.
Thankfully, Mermade Hair has included an automatic safety shutoff that switches the waver off after 60 minutes to prevent you from accidentally leaving the device switched on for hours, hot, and burning through power. There’s also a built-in heat stand that raises the heated barrels at an angle to protect your surfaces from burn marks. It’s still wise to use a heat-protective mat as an extra precaution, but you’ll have to purchase this separately.
Mermade Hair Pro Waver review: What’s it like to use?
The Mermade Hair Pro Waver feels similar in use to the Beauty Works Hair Waver, mainly in terms of the technique needed to achieve the best results. The main difference, aside from the fact that the Mermade has a 60-minute safety shut-off, is the larger size of its barrels.
What impressed me the most was that I was able to wave a much longer length of hair per clamp than other wavers. I only had to clamp each section of hair twice before reaching the ends, whereas smaller wavers needed at least three to complete the wave from root to tip. The waves it creates are much looser than average as a result, but this relaxed look is exactly what some people want out of a hair waver.
In my testing, I found the temperature controls easy and intuitive to set using the arrow buttons situated on either side of the power button. It took a fair 93 seconds to reach my standard testing temperature of 180°C and, in that time, the LCD screen displayed the current temperature of the barrels so it was easy to tell when it had reached the desired level.
As mentioned earlier, the one big problem I had with the Mermade is that its hinge system – used to open and close the barrels during styling – was quite stiff and wouldn’t be very easy to use for anyone who doesn’t have much strength in their hands. I found that the best way to prevent aching hands was to hold the handle with my thumb and use the rest of my fingers to open and close the waver using the lever.
The solid edges of the hair waver, combined with my awkward grip, also meant it wasn’t possible for me to see my hair while it was clamped in the waver. This took a bit of getting used to as it made it slightly more difficult to line up the first wave of the second clamp with the last wave of the previous one to achieve a continuous “S” shape.
Once you get past these minor handling problems, however, the waver produces great results. Once styled, my hair felt healthy and looked shiny – a testament to the quality of the ceramic barrels. The waves it produced were loose and soft and lasted for two days. By hair waver standards that’s fairly average longevity, but I’d say it’s impressive considering how loose the waves were; the BaByliss Deep Waves waver held for three days, but this produced far more exaggerated crimp-like waves from the get-go.
It’s worth pointing out at this point that, when testing hair-styling products, I don’t use products that might help prolong the style, such as mousse or hairspray. That means I always test the raw styling power of the tool. I’d recommend using hairspray or a strong-hold hair mousse, then, if you want your waves to last longer than this.
I also make sure to protect my hair during the process using a heat protection spray – I use the Tresemmé heat defence spray, which is our current favourite budget option.
Mermade Hair Pro Waver review: Should you buy it?
The short answer is yes: the Mermade Hair Pro Waver is a well-designed hair waver that creates loose waves on a range of hair types remarkably quickly. If you’re wanting gentle, shiny waves, no other product I’ve tested has created this style with such little effort, because of its huge 32mm triple barrel design.
Its size, however, is a double-edged sword. The waver is heavy, both in terms of its weight and the stiffness of the hinge mechanism, so if you tend to struggle with achy arms when styling your hair, you might want to consider other options from our best hair waver roundup.
