Drop your straighteners and throw away your hairdryers; the hair angels have answered our prayers yet again.
We spend hours styling our hair daily, we’re always on the pulse waiting for the next big release that’s going to give us professional hair in minutes, and hot airbrushes have given us just that.
Now, this isn’t the first time we have witnessed a hair tool transformed into brush form. Hair straightener brushes have changed the game, leaving us with flawless sleek hair with just a few combs of our hair.
But finally, it has been taken one step further with hot air brushes. Step into the world of volume and bounce as you’ve never seen before. Hot air brushes are essentially round brushes that you work like a hair dryer, but take the whole process down to one single tool. With this brush that blows out hot air, you can get any finish you’d like and take the guesswork out of it.
Today, I’m hitting you with a round-up of the top hot air brushes in the industry. These hot air brushes have been tested and put to work, and I’m here to tell you what worked!
Hot Air Brush Reviews 2021
1. Babyliss Diamond Big Hair Dual 50mm + 42mm
Babyliss are my favourite brand when it comes to hot air brushes. Not only do they have stylers to suit both long and short hair, but they’ve also gone one step further and considered that perhaps people might need the option to do both.
Whereas the 42mm size is ideal for layers and fringes, the 50mm is better for longer hair.
By being able to change between the two sizes you can style fringes, layers and longer hair.
If you have really thick hair this will really cut down on the amount of time it takes to dry your hair, especially as you can style it at the same time.
2 different sized rotating ceramic barrels with soft bristles
42mm barrel for shorter hair, fringes and layers
50mm barrel for longer hair and adding volume
Ionic technology for a frizz-free finish
Two heat settings plus cool
Two rotation speeds for total control
Multi-directional brush Protective cover
Side Note: If you have really short hair, I would opt for the Nicky Clarke, reviewed next – the smaller size will be more suitable.
2. Nicky Clarke Frizz Control 1200 W Blow Dry Styler
Let’s kick things off with a brand that we really don’t hear enough about. Nicky Clarke has actually been around for a while, and they really delivered with this hot air brush.
You can already tell just by the features how powerful this brush is. The Nicky Clarke Frizz Control brush will give you the quickest results. I love how this works to really dry hair quickly whilst also styling it.
As the name would suggest, this is guaranteed to be your go-to for getting rid of any frizz. The 1200W works to give you some serious frizz control and leave you with sleek and smooth hair. I really can vouch for how well this works to avoid any frizz and flyaways too.
What’s even more amazing about this is that it comes with attachments, one of which is a straightener. So if you’re unsure of how you feel about testing this trend out, this is the one for you so you can always rely on the straightener, although I can guarantee this is going to be your new obsession.
38mm brush and 20mm brush
Concentrator nozzle
Straightener attachment
2 heat settings
2-speed settings
Cool shot
Tangle-free cord
3. BaByliss Big Hair Rotating Styler (42mm)
BaByliss have made it their mission to take part in every single new tool trend, and they’ve slayed every single time. So let’s see how they fared when it came to hot air brushes.
Although it’s about to get bigger further on in this list, the BaByliss Big Hair Rotating Styler still blows us away with its 42mm wide brush.
Wider brushes are really going to give you that blown-out salon-quality hair we’re all after. This size is perfect for giving you flawless voluminous hair. The bigger the brush, the bigger the hair!
Yes, it also rotates. Now, this can be a little scary, and we often worry about our hair getting caught up, but once you try it you’ll realise it’s really nothing to be worried about. Rotating brushes are actually the absolute best, they’re the lazy girl’s best friend. With a rotating brush, you really don’t have to do much and you’ll still get flawless results. It just makes the whole process so quick and easy.
700 watts
42mm rotating ceramic barrel with soft bristles
Ionic technology for a frizz-free finish
Two heat settings plus cool
Two rotation speeds for total control
Multi-directional brush
Protective cover
4. BaByliss Big Hair 50 mm Rotating Hot Air Styling Brush
See, I told you it would get bigger. This BaByliss brush is actually the same as the past one with the addition of an even wider brush. Let’s see if it’s worth picking up too.
If you are after va-va-voom volume, this is the one for you. This 50mm hot air brush is guaranteed to give you the biggest hair you’ve ever had. This doesn’t tug on your hair and brushes through it seamlessly.
A concern when dealing with a bigger brush is usually that it won’t give you a precise blow-dry, and that you’re more prone to getting frizz or flyaways. What’s so amazing about this brush is that the different bristles help to counteract that. The soft natural boar and nylon bristles work to guarantee a frizz-free sleek finish while still getting huge volume.
This brush is a dream to save you all that time back-combing and teasing your hair. It will give you weightless volume that just looks like you have naturally huge hair! I cannot sing its praises enough.
700 watts
50mm rotating ceramic barrel with natural boar and nylon bristles
Superionic technology for a frizz-free high shine finish
Two heat settings plus cool
Two rotation speeds for total control
Multi-directional brush
Protective cover
5. Remington AS7051 Volume and Curl Air Styler
Another classic brand when it comes to hair tools, Remington has also given us a hot air brush. As you can tell from the name, this one promises both volume and curl – so let’s see if it delivered!
The Remington Volume and Curl Air Styler definitely stands out from the rest. This comes with four special attachments at different widths. That’s what I loved most about this, you can really get so many versatile finishes out of this brush.
For a more precise and straight finish, you can go for the 21mm brush, but then you also have the 50mm for a huge voluminous look.
Another way that the different sized brushes can be used is for curls. The 21mm can actually also be used to get the perfect curls. The 1000w power and the ionic conditioning on these brushes are guaranteed to give you frizz-free hair no matter which brush you go for!
Best Hot Air Brush For Short Hair
The barrel size can really play a big role in dictating whether a hot air brush will work with your hair length. That is why the Nicky Clarke hot air brush would have to be the top pick for short hair.
The thinner barrel sizes would really work perfectly to get right up in your hair and give you volume, whereas a wider brush would just be impossible to work with or get to your roots.
The two different sizes are especially helpful to give you the option of getting both curly hair and a voluminous blow out. It’s hard to find that with other brushes because the smallest size could be too big for short hair. It doesn’t hurt that this brush is going to eliminate any frizz and give you sleek hair.
Best Hot Air Brush for Long Hair
According to the same logic, the best brush for long hair would have to be the BaByliss Big Hair 50 mm Rotating Hot Air Styling Brush.
This huge barrel is hard to get away with, but for long hair, this is going to be a dream to give you huge volume.
This brush also has two-speed controls which is ideal because rotatable brushes can be a bit scary when it comes to longer hair. You’re more prone to getting your hair caught up and tangled, so this allows you to use a slower speed at the tops of your hair and then speeding it up when it comes to the ends. You can really customize this brush to work for your long hair needs.
What’s best about this brush is that even though the barrel is wide, it distributes heat evenly and will avoid any frizz. The ionic technology in the bristles is guaranteed to give you a sleek volume, when it comes to the volume you’re often left with frizzy hair and flyaways – but that’s not the case with this brush.
What To Consider When Using a Hot Air Brush
It’s natural to not know where to start when going for a new hair tool. Especially when it’s such a unique tool, it gets tricky to know what works best and what you should be looking for.
That’s why I’ve put together this quick guide of what to look for depending on your every need.
Barrel Size
The width of the barrel is going to be your most important defining feature. It’s important to understand what different sizes can do for your hair.
When it comes to finishes, a wider barrel will give you more volume and bigger hair. On the other end, a thinner brush is definitely going to be giving you tighter or thinner curls depending on how you use it.
Another important difference depends on your hair. For example, shorter-haired ladies are going to have a really hard time working with a huge barrel, so you’re going to want to opt for something more manageable.
Bristles
You need to understand the different effects bristles can give. It’s often a factor that we overlook, but different bristle types can really determine the quality of a finish you get. The most common bristle when it comes to hot airbrushes is nylon which works amazingly to really grip your hair. Alternatively, as we saw with the BaByliss brushes, the boar bristles actually work amazingly to avoid frizz and give you sleek hair.
Attachments
Most hot airbrushes will come with a couple of attachments, but the more the better. This can be helpful to get you different finishes, most hot air brushes are either catered for volume or catered for a more precise job. When you get a bunch of attachments you know you can get as many different finishes as you want, depending on your needs that day!
How To Use Your Hot Air Brush
Sometimes it seems pretty straightforward to use hair tools, that is until you end up burning or pulling your hair out! That’s why it’s always best to follow the instructions and understand how each tool is made to be used.
While every brush may be different, I’ve put together a general step-by-step tutorial on how to use this tool. Just follow these steps and thank me later 🙂
1. Choose your brush attachment depending on what finish you’re going for today (refer to the previous sections)
2. Wash your hair
3. Now, with most of these hot air brushes they can be used on wet hair- but make sure to read the directions in case your specific brush is made for dry hair only.
4. Warm up the brush. Even though a brush works differently from a straightener, you still want to start it up before using it on your hair. Turn it on and let the air blow for a minute.
5. Section your hair while you allow your brush to heat up. You can skip this step if you’re going for a quick blow dry and just want to brush through your hair as normal.
6. Begin at the root and brush slowly down to the ends. Go over each section at least 3 times to really coat it well.
7. If your brush is rotatable then allow it to rotate a few times at the roots to give you more volume.
8. Finally, just brush through your hair and go over it all with the hot air brush one last time to seal it all in, and you’re done!