Does anyone remember when having any form of movement in the ends of your hair after flat ironing it felt weirdly embarrassing? Oh, how the times have changed, LOL. Nowadays, hair that is full of body and movement is all the rage, well at least according to TikToks and Reels on Insta. The best way to achieve lots of bounce in the hair while maintaining a smooth exterior is with the classic blow dryer and round brush combo. However, if you’re like me, you may lack the kind of perseverance and hand-eye coordination needed to accomplish such a feat. Bring in the blow dryer brush — a round brush and blow dryer all-in-one. There are numerous brands that have created their own version of this device, but the Revlon (which I believe retails for around 60-80 dollars, which is much cheaper than some of their leading competitors) is the one that is the most used on social media. Naturally, I decided to give this trend a whirl.
My initial take upon using it was that the results were rather underwhelming — my hair was left frizzy and weirdly damp in some sections. It felt like no matter what I did, the brush just wasn’t working right. I figured there was no way something that produced such poor results had gone viral, so it was probably issues on my end that were causing such funky results, and I decided to do a little more research. After doing a deep dive, I finally figured out how to use the tool in a way that produced the promised results, and it’s now my most used hair tool to date. Here are a few tips that I have compiled that really helped me nail down the at-home blowout and could help if you’re planning on giving it a try!
- Invest in the right brush! Depending on your hair type and hair texture, you’ll want to make sure you are using the right-sized brush. The larger oval barrel brushes can provide maximum volume with minimal effort, whereas the smaller barrel brushes can help to achieve an end result with more defined curls.
- Use good leave-in products! Leave-in conditioners and serums are a great way to help seal the hair shaft and ends, which will help to produce a smooth and shiny finish when you go in with the blow dryer brush.
- Use a heat protectant specifically made for blowouts! These types of heat protectants not only help to prevent heat damage, but they also help to speed up the drying time needed to blow dry and style your hair, which means your hair also doesn’t have to spend as much time under extreme heat either.
- Let your hair air dry! This appears to be the step that can make or break your results. If you go in with the blow dryer brush when your hair is soaking wet or really damp, your results are going to be frizzy. You also run the risk of causing extreme breakage, as your hair strands are super fragile while wet. By ensuring your hair has had some time to air dry prior to going in with the tool, you lower your chances of causing breakage, as well as cutting the overall styling time in half — meaning you can sleep in, shower, and style your hair all before your morning classes!
- Small sections! This is another step that really impacts the success of your blowout. I know numerous people who have different kinds of hair types, textures, lengths, and styles who use this tool, and the common consensus amongst the masses is that using smaller sections will produce smoother and longer-lasting results. Although smaller sections can initially appear tedious, they dry much faster than larger sections and are easier to work with overall.
All in all, based on my experience with this tool I think that it is absolutely worth the hype! With a little practice (and patience), I believe that it can easily become anyone’s favourite tool to achieve the bounciest blowout of their dreams, directly from the comfort of their own bathroom (or bedroom floor — we don’t judge here)!