When I was in high school in the mid-2000s, my cheerleading squad used to fight over the three-barrel iron. We called it a “waver” at the time, and it was like an ‘80s crimper, only with much thicker, wider bends. We’d shellack our hair with a ton of grape-scented Aussie hairspray, then get to crimping, watching our hair sizzle in the mirror. (Yes, I cringe in hindsight.) It looks like Nicole Kidman is also a fan of the tool, as her Spellbound premiere look is getting dangerously close to bringing back crimped hair.
The three-barrel iron has had a recent resurgence; the tool was hot, hot, hot in the early 2020s as an easy way to get uniform beachy waves. Kidman, who has naturally curly hair, went for a mermaiden look at the premiere of her animated movie, with her strawberry blonde hair styled in soft, perfectly imperfect waves. The waves began just above her brow and loosened up toward the ends, as though she had set her hair with a three-barrel iron, then let it cool and brushed it out for more texture.
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