If you've inhabited #BeautyTok lately or have been shopping at Amazon/Ulta/Walmart, you've 110 percent seen hair-dryer brushes—i.e., heated round brushes that blow-dry your hair as you brush and style it. The result? Straighter, smoother, bouncier hair, whether you're working with poofy 1a hair or curly 3c hair. Even if you suck at blowing out your hair, trust me when I say you'll be able to handle a blow-dryer brush, since it combines a hair brush with a hair dryer for one-handed styling. That said, not all hair-dryer brushes are created equal, so we tapped expert hairstylist Andrés Melendez to help us break down the best brushes for every hair type and style preference.
Check out the short list of our favorite hair-dryer brushes below (if you’re someone who just wants the goods with none of the reading), then keep scrolling for the complete list
of top-selling options, plus what blow-dry brushes are and how to use them properly.
Our top picks for the best hair-dryer brushes in 2022:
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Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Thick or Curly Hair
INH Insert Name Here Blowout Brush
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Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Styling
Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long
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-
Best Overall Hair-Dryer Brush
Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer REVLON
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-
Best Lightweight Hair-Dryer Brush
L’ange Hair Le Volume 2-in-1 Volumizing Brush Dryer
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-
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Short Hair
John Frieda Hot Air Brush
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K, now on to what you came here for: The 12 best hair-dryer brushes for every hair type, preference, and budget. Featuring brands like Dyson, Revlon, T3, and more, we've got a hair-dryer brush for legit everyone. So let’s get started, huh?
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Thick or Curly Hair
INH Insert Name Here Blowout Brush
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Styling
Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long
Best Overall Hair-Dryer Brush
REVLON
Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer
Best Lightweight Hair-Dryer Brush
L’ange Hair Le Volume 2-in-1 Volumizing Brush Dryer
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Short Hair
John Frieda Hot Air Brush
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Frizzy Hair
Drybar The Double Shot Blow-Dryer Brush
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Shine
Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium Rotating Hot Hair Brush
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Fine Hair
Conair 2-in-1 Hot Air Styler Brush
Best Hair-Dryer Brush for Dry Hair
Amika Blowout Babe Thermal Brush
Best Dual-Headed Hair-Dryer Brush
T3 AireBrush Duo Interchangeable Hot Air Blow Dry Brush
Best Flat-Brush Hair Dryer
Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer & Styler
Best Rotating Hair-Dryer Brush
INFINITIPRO by CONAIR Hot Air Spin Brush
A hair-dryer brush is a corded round brush that blows heat from the inside out to dry your hair as you brush, twirl, and style it. Basically, it combines your blow-dryer with your round brush, so you legit only need one tool to blow out your hair (plus, obviously, a very good heat protectant spray). The result? Straight yet bouncy hair. And don’t be confused by the jargon: hair-dryer brush, hot-air brush, blow-dryer brush—they’re all the same thing.
Can you use a hair-dryer brush on wet hair?
Yes! That's actually how you use a hair-dryer brush: to dry your hair. Although, to prevent excess damage, it’s always best to let your wet hair dry a bit (think: 30 to 40 percent dry) before going in with your blow-dry brush. Trying to blow-dry your sopping-wet hair requires a ton of unnecessary heat, tension, and manipulation. And if you’re blowing out natural hair or tight, curly hair, know that you won’t get the same super-sleek results that you’d get from a traditional blowout or silk press—you’ll still be left with some texture, even if it’s straighter.
Are dryer brushes good for your hair?
Whether a dryer brush is good for your hair depends on your hair type and skill level. If you’re someone who absolutely cannot give yourself a professional-looking blowout at home—especially if you have wavy/curly or thick hair—then yes, a hot-hair brush is definitely a good tool to try. But if you’re someone who is pretty skilled with a round brush and a blow dryer already, you might not find that it leaves your hair as smooth and sleek as your usual combo.
How to find the best hair-dryer brush:
First, know how to use a hair-dryer brush
"Make sure you're using maximum tension with the hair-dryer brush and move slowly down the shaft of your hair in a 'C' shape motion," says Melendez. If you want extra volume near your face (hi curtain bangs), direct sections of the hair out and away from the face. It will probably take you a few times to truly ~nail~ the technique, but trust, it gets easier.
Manage your expectations
A hair-dryer brush is generally used for creating a smooth blowout. Though some believe you can use it to add curls to the hair, the most you can typically create is a soft body wave, says Melendez. Though some hair-dryer brushes may have specific features for curling the hair, your best bet is to stick to a curling iron.
Meet the expert:
- Andrés Melendez is the lead colorist at The Knowlton in Bridgeport, CT, and a colorist at the Benjamin Salon in New York, NY. Melendez splits his time accommodating clientele along the East Coast, NY, CT, and FL.
Why trust Cosmo?
Siena Gagliano is a contributing beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, and has three years of experience writing about beauty, fashion, and lifestyle news. She’s an expert at researching and writing hair stories, like the best shampoos for thinning hair and the best purple shampoos, and feels especially knowledgeable in hair-dryer brushes thanks to having long, dense hair that takes a particularly long time to dry. She regularly tests and analyzes hair-dryer brushes on her own hair for efficacy, while working with the industry’s top hairstylists to assess new formulas and brands.
Chloe Metzger is the deputy beauty director at Cosmopolitan with nearly 10 years of experience researching, writing, and editing skin, makeup, hair, and nail stories across print and digital, including how to determine your hair porosity and how to do the Curly Girl Method. Her hair-dryer brush picks were based on product reviews, ratings, and personal testing, along with information from experts.
Siena Gagliano Contributing Editor Siena Gagliano is a contributing editor at Cosmopolitan, where she primarily covers beauty in the makeup, skin, and hair spaces.
Chloe Metzger Deputy Beauty Director Chloe Metzger is the deputy beauty director at Cosmopolitan, overseeing the editorial content and growth strategy of the hair, makeup, and skin space on digital, while also obsessively writing about the best hair products for every hair type (curly girl here; whattup), and the skincare routines that really, truly work (follow her on Instagram to see behind-the-scenes pics of that magazine life).