Being a long-time fan of the original INSTYLER, I was excited to hear that they just came out with the InStyler MAX. Gotta love improvements to an existing product, right? Or did they take it too far? Hmmm, click after the jump to find out if this new one is better or if you should skip it. 

Instyler VS Instyler MAX

The new MAX still uses tourmaline ceramic smoothing plates as the original and you can still do your straightening, soft curls, root boost and flip out the bottom, and has the auto safety shut-off, but there are a few new traits they have added with the new one so let’s compare a few key ones.

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I’ve tried different versions of the below items in their categories and here are the ones I have found to work best. Yes, some may seem trivial (a nail clipper, really??) but only when I’ve used one that’s crappy, do I actually think about it. And now, you don't have to!

Do you have any beauty tools that you stand by? Do share in the comments!

Best Foot Exfoliator and Nail File - FAN OUT Foot Scraper (small $35, large $42) and Nail File ($42). Both @ fanout.com – when did I write about both of these? Wow, back on September 7, 2011 and both are still going strong and I use them quite regularly! Now that’s proof in the pudding.

Best Nail Clipper - REVLON Deluxe Nail Clipper - $2.49 @ ulta.com and bedbathandbeyond.com - I’ve tried a lot of different nail clippers over the years and these from Revlon truly are the best. They're always sharp and never break. I keep one in the house, one in the car, one in my purse. I think I own about 6 of these total!

Best Tongue Cleaner - BREATH RX Gentle Tongue Scraper - $6.99/3 scrapers @ amazon.com – I know, I know, who wants to talk about something as sexy as cleaning your tongue? Food can get caught in there and simply using your toothbrush to clean it just doesn’t do the job so invest in some of these scrapers and really get that tongue clean.

Best Hair Styler - INSTYLER 3-1 Rotating Iron ($99 @ kohls.com, ulta.com) – a great tool for quickly taking out bedhead kinks in the morning. And they just came out with a new MAX version. Details coming soon!

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.

1. SPORNETTE Ion Fusion 3” Aerated Hair Brush #186 ($24 @ amazon.com, ulta.com) – I have about 6 different styling brushes next to my hair dryer and this one has certainly become by go-to in the last month. It has Ion-Charged and Anti-Staric Crimped bristles, which quickly dries and styles strands. And the handle is one piece so no worrying about hairs getting caught.

2. ROWENTA BEAUTY Expertise – Versa Style ($229 @ bedbathandbeyond.com) – this was only a matter of time – an iron that curls and and can straighten. It has 1” floating Ceramic Titanium plates that will smooth frizz and straighten and the edges of either side of the long part of the tool are rounded so you can get curl too. And it heats up to 400 degrees in 30 seconds. This is major, people! 

3. INSTYLER Rotating Hot Iron Hair Straightener ($99.95 @ target.com) – It’s funny when you find yourself nesting or juggling a lot of different tools how you forget about favorites, which this one certainly is!

4. CROC Turboion Croc Titanium Wet to Dry Flat Iron 1 ½” ($154.19 @ croc.com) – this is still my favorite hair straightener and does the job better than any other one I’ve tried. Need you know more?

5. GOLD N HOT Professional Ceramic Deep Waver ($39.99 @ amazon.com) – this ceramic-plated iron gives deeper waves than this one and I would definitely recommend using a setting spray with it so the waves last in your hair. 

I should start an on-going feature on the site called “I Saw It on TV and Now It’s in My Home. Was it Worth it?” The only thing is that most of the products are not beauty-related. I guess I should just start another site dedicated to it. Anyway, the latest one you’ve probably seen on TV is the INSTYLER. I swear I tried this or something like it many moons ago and have no idea if I liked it or not. I think it tangled my hair more than anything else, so that’s probably why I blocked it out, LOL. If you haven’t seen the commercial yet, it does the job of a flat iron but has a rotating barrel to give you more passes per second, thus straightening strands quicker than your typical flat iron. The most important thing here is to section off the hair so that you don’t tangle the hairs once the barrel starts rotating. If you have the time and patience to section and run each section of hair through this, you really get a great shiny finished look.

There are three temperature settings and an auto shut off, which is convenient. And on their site right now is a limited trial offer for two InStylers for 30 days for $14.99 (and S&P on the second one). And then after 30 days, you will be charged three monthly payments of $39.99. So grab a friend and go in on this together only @ ulta.com.

Disclosure: The following item was provided to Cybelesays.com for review purposes.