Achieving a sleek blowout at home can be a challenging affair, requiring you to skillfully navigate coordinating the use of a hair dryer and a hair brush to achieve the desired look. It’s just not easy. The arrival of blow-dryer brushes have changed the game significantly by combining the functions of a detangling brush, a blow dryer, a straightener, and even a curling iron in one, allowing you to achieve salon-quality blowouts and other stunning hairstyles right from the comfort of your home. Heck, it’s so good it’s one of our frequently recommended gifts for moms and all women in general.
Some of the best blow-dryer brushes keep things simple by combining basic drying, shaping, and volumizing functions in a single fixed form factor. Others are more ambitious, bundling swappable heads that allow them to perform a much wider variety of hairstyling functions. What they do offer in common is they all seek to streamline the hairstyling process, allowing you to do your styling with just one tool at a fraction of the time require by ore traditional options.
Are blow-dryer brushes a fad? It may have seemed like that at the start, especially with the amount of gimmicky tools that combine multiple functions out there. However, their recent popularity has shown just how much value people get out of these versatile devices, as they enable some really effective styling functions that would have been much harder to achieve using more traditional equipment.
These are the best blow-dryer brushes to bring versatility and convenience to your hair styling setup.
Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0
Pros
- Dries hair fast
- Affordably-priced
- Glides through thick hair
Cons
- Might get too hot for some
- Loud
Temperature settings: 3 heat settings, 1 cool setting
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Nylon and tufted
Probably the one product most responsible for the blow-dryer brush’s newfound popularity, Revlon’s styling tool carries plenty of hype behind it. It’s popular for good reason. For one, it’s very effective at drying hair, doing it at a faster pace than many other dryer brushes we’ve tried, all while making quick work of fashioning even frizzy hair into smooth and straight locks. We also love the shape of the brush, which allows it to glide fluidly even working through rougher hair textures, while four temperature settings give you plenty of room to dial in the right heat level. Do note, this is the 2.0 version, which has more heat settings, a slimmer barrel, and a smaller brush, all of which we appreciate, although we do know some people who appreciate the bigger brush of the original, especially when working through longer hair. And yes, the original version still seems to be available if you prefer that.
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L’Ange Hair Le Volume 2-in-1 Blow Dryer Brush
Pros
- Easy to use
- Easy to hold even with smaller hands
- Lighter than others
Cons
- Might get too hot for some
Temperature settings: 2 hot, 1 cool
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Nylon and tufted
Our biggest issue with most blow dryer brushes is just how big and heavy they are. Seriously, using them for extended periods is just a veritable arm exercise. While this one’s still big, it is a bit lighter than others at 1.25 pounds, so it is a little easier to use, especially for those dealing with any kind of injuries on their arms or shoulders. It has two heat settings, so you can get the right level of heat to dry and style your locks without damaging it, as well as a cool setting that you can use to finish up and lock in the style. We love the fact that it’s so uncomplicated – just take it out the box, plug it in, and you’re ready to style.
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Drybar The Double Shot
Pros
- Gentler heat than others
- Good airflow helps dry hair fast
- Easy to grip
Cons
- Might struggle with very thick hair
- Expensive
Temperature settings: 2 hot, 1 cool
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Nylon and tufted
If you’re not fan of blow-dry brushes that get a bit too hot for comfort, you’ll love this one, which delivers much gentler heat than all the others in the list, ensuring your hair will never feel like it’s frying while you’re styling. Despite the lower heat, it works well enough for giving your hair the shine, volume, and bounce you want, all while having excellent airflow that really helps it dry hair at a reasonably fast pace. While it’s not the slimmest with its 2.44-inch thick barrel, the gently curved shape does make it comfortable to grip in hand, so it’s pretty easy to use. It does feel expensive, though, especially when compared to Revlon’s offering in the category, but it’s definitely worth the extra premium if you want the gentler heat.
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Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex
Pros
- Attachments enable versatile functions
- Dries and styles hair very effectively
- Folding design saves storage space
Cons
- Angle of use when using the dryer brush feels a little awkward
Temperature settings: 2 hot, 1 cool
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Boar
At first glance, the device looks like a sleeker version of a traditional hair dryer. And yes, you can use it like one. However, it also comes with additional attachments that can turn it into a versatile styling tool, including one attachment that transforms it into a blow-dryer brush. While it looks like it may not dry hair as fast with its smaller brush, it’s actually surprisingly fast. The highest heat and speed settings will let you handle even the thickest, coarsest hair, too, making it quite the powerful styling tool, although most people will probably want to opt for the lower settings. Aside from the brush attachment, it also comes with a diffuser, a finishing tool, and an air concentrator.
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T3 AireBrush Duo
Pros
- Two swappable brushes
- Straightens and volumizes
- Optional ionization feature
Cons
- Cool setting might not work for very thick hair
Temperature settings: 4 hot, 1 cool
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Nylon and tufted
This blow-dryer brush comes with two attachments, a barrel brush for volumizing and a paddle brush for straightening, making it just a little more versatile than your standard options. Both perform their specific tasks very capably, too, gliding smoothly through thick hair and leaving it feeling silky, while the bigger brush sizes allow you to go through long hair at a pretty fast pace. We love the five temperature settings, including a cool one, as it allows you to more precisely dial-in the heat levels, as well as the IonFlow button, which you can press to activate the ionization process if you want it. Naturally, we tried using with and without activating the negative ions and we found that using the feature actually produced much better results, adding a noticeably nicer shine and texture.
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Shark FlexStyle Air-Drying and Styling System
Pros
- Attachments enable versatile functions
- Dries and styles hair at a good pace
- Has folding section that turns it into a hair dryer form factor
Cons
- Takes up a lot of space
- Not the most intuitive to use
Temperature settings: 3 hot, 1 cool
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Nylon and tufted
While the hair dryer form factor of Shark’s SpeedStyle really make it stand out among products in this category, we have to admit that the traditional brush form factor just feels better when performing volumizing and straightening tasks. As such, the outfit also makes this blow-dryer brush, which combines a more standard brush form factor with swappable attachments that allow it to perform a whole host of styling tasks. Like the AireBrush above, it has both a barrel brush and a paddle brush, allowing it to volumize and straighten with equal aplomb. Going a step further, it also comes with a diffuser for curly-haired users, a rotating air concentrator, and auto-wrap curlers, as well as a head that folds sideways, allowing it to take on a hair dryer shape, which you might find easier for using some of the attachments (e.g. concentrator, diffuser). As far as dryer brushes are concerned, this definitely works better than the SpeedStyle, with the form factor making it a lot more comfortable to use and the bigger brush allowing you to work through long hair faster.
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Dyson AirWrap
Pros
- Extremely versatile with six attachments
- Excellent heat management
- Very strong airflow
- Feels premium
Cons
- Very expensive
Temperature settings: 3 hot, 1 cool
Speed settings: 3
Bristle type: Ceramic
There is zero doubt that the Dyson Airwrap is the best multi-styling hair tool in the market. However, its prohibitive price is what’s really given rise to all the other competition. Why would you fork out the $600 for this thing when there’s a good sub-$50 blow-dryer brush you can be using instead? However, those who want to have the most complete and most advanced multi-styling device in their arsenal, this is definitely the way to go.
As far as blowouts and straightening, this thing is as good as it gets, with four heat settings and a powerful cool setting that finishes your styling the right way. Sure, there’s a real learning curve here, but it’s also easy enough to figure out after seeing a YouTube video or two. It comes a volumizing barrel brush, two smoothing brushes (one soft and one firm), a smoothing dryer, and two curling barrels of different thickness that work so much better than what comes with the FlexStyle above.
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