Street Cents

Revo Styler

Melissa Terziyan from Montreal, Quebec wants to know if the Revo Styler really does "straighten curly and frizzy hair." Street Cents puts it to the test and finds that Revo is little more than an expensive replacement for a round brush.

Viewer Letter

Hi, my name is Melissa Terziyan. I'm 14 and I live in Montreal. I recently saw this ad on TV for this product called the "Revo Styler". It claims to straighten curly and frizzy hair by rotating 100 times a minute. I want to know if this brush actually works and if it will go on sale in stores.

Street Cents Response

The Revo Styler is a rechargeable rotating hairbrush. It's advertised on the Shopping Channel and through infomercials. It retails for about $74.99.

When Street Cents talked to the distributor of the Revo Styler, they told us it's only sold on The Shopping Channel in Canada - though it may be available in stores later on. It's also sold in "As seen on TV" - type stores.

The company claims it turns dull, frizzy, curly hair into smooth and silky hair or makes limp and flat hair full of body. "From Wild to Styled in 10 minutes!!!"

Street Cents had hair stylists try out the Revo Styler. They said it worked, but it was really just an expensive substitute for a round brush.

They thought it was cheaply constructed and overpriced.

Hair stylists thought it would be difficult to use by yourself because it is large and difficult to hold.

The company says Revo Styler is easy to use by yourself but it acknowledges it would take a couple of weeks before you would be comfortable using it.

The test

We got five curly-haired people with different hair types to try it out. It took a long time to straighten their hair - sometimes as long as three hours. They found the Revo Styler tricky and awkward to use.

One tester said, "You'd need a personal maid to help you do this."

Another tester found it did not straighten African-Canadian hair to the degree it claimed.

Stylists Street Cents spoke with said they thought the brush was worth about $30.00 - not the $74.99 it sells for.

And two of our testers said they'd buy the Revo Styler at $30.00. The other three said they'd never buy it.

original air date: November 18, 2002

Page 1: Viewer letter and Street Cents response

Back: to Episode 05

Company/infomercial claims

turns dull, frizzy, curly hair into smooth and silky hair or makes limp and flat hair full of body

the device works because some bristles are made of boar hair

special pads on the brush smooth hair while the brush rotates at nearly a hundred times a minute

Revo Styler styles and straightens hair, especially for African-American women: no more flat irons, no more chemical relaxants