Traveling is tough when you have long hair. It basically becomes an extra travel companion to consider. In advance of your trip, you think about how you will style it, when you will wash it, and what you need to pack to do those two things in order to look phenomenal.
For several years I’ve been using a compact Babyliss straightener when I travel. I’ve loved its small size, but my biggest hold-up has been that it is not a dual voltage tool. Now that I’ve started to travel abroad more often, I decided a few months ago to purchase the higher-priced t3 micro singlepass compact hair straightener when it went on sale. In today’s video, you will see my unboxing and initial review!
In this review, I discuss several of the specs that make the t3 micro singlepass compact travel iron a solid hair tool to consider if you travel frequently and prefer to pack light!
Dual Voltage
- Dual voltage capabilities are very important for travel hair tools, since you will want to avoid damaging or burning off your hair (or blowing a fuse!) when you travel to countries that use a different electricity grid. Bringing a bulky power converter on your trip is really annoying compared to buying a hot tool that can do double duty.
Small Size
- I was very pleased to find that this flat iron was even more compact than my Babyliss travel straightener, which means it will fit even more easily in my carry on! I am currently typing this from a hotel in LA, and my compact singlepass flat iron is packed in one of the long and skinny side pockets of my Tumi Alpha 2 international carry on (suitcase review here).
Temperature/Effectiveness
- This straightener does not offer more than one heat setting, which was a disappointment. However, it certainly heated up enough to efficiently straighten my hair – as well as curl it!
Ability To Straighten and Curl:Ability to Straighten and Curl:
- I love when products do double duty. Learning how to curl my hair with a flat iron a few years ago was a game changer. Although I was able to curl my hair with the t3 singlepass compact straightener, it took a very long time (27 minutes!) because of its small size. It also created incredibly bouncy curls rather than soft waves.
Protective Case:
- I was pleased to find a hard plastic protective case that snapped onto the iron, which allowed it to be packed more compact. I had been using a bulky soft-sided cover for my previous Babyliss iron, and this case made the iron take up a lot less room in my suitcase.
Overall, while I found both pro’s and con’s to the t3 micro single pass compact hair straightener when it comes to travel, I can say that it is a very effective tool for its size. It is small, efficient, and dual voltage, which makes it a perfect choice for frequent travelers.
At full price, the compact flat iron sells for $89 USD on t3’s website as well as at other retail stores such as Amazon, Nordstrom, and Sephora. I had reached out to t3 to see if they could offer any discount codes to Means To Travel readers, but unfortunately they do not have any at this time. That being said, they often have sales for 25-30% off if you sign up for their mailing list, so if you are able to be patient, I would bet that you could strike a deal in the coming months!
I hope this video product review was helpful to all of you stylish travelers, and that you and your hair have some blissful adventures to come!
Happy travels!
-Eliz
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