Hot tools all in one hair dryer and styler

Plug in and turn on. Adjust the switch to the selected setting. LOW for fine or thin hair. HIGH for thick and coarse hair. COOL to lock in the style. For best results, separate hair into manageable sections and dry each section individually. Place styler close to the root and guide down towards the ends. For smooth blowouts, place the dryer close to the roots and brush down towards the ends. The bristles quickly detangle and gently grip hair to smooth and promote shine. For voluminous blowouts, place the dryer under the hair close to the roots and roll towards the ends. For extra lift at the roots, hold the dryer for 2 to 3 seconds before rotating inward. To curl hair in, place the dryer under the hair and hold for 2 to 3 seconds before rotating inward. To curl hair out, place the dryer over the ends and hold for 2 to 3 seconds before rotating outwards. Repeat on remaining sections until hair has been dried into luxurious, soft, silky styles. Turn the appliance off when drying and styling is complete. Allow the unit to cool completely before storing.

We updated this article in July 2022 to ensure all products tested and vetted by the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab were available, in stock and correctly priced.

For anyone who struggles to blow dry their own hair at home, hair dryer brushes take the guesswork out of the equation. These brilliant 2-in-1 tools effectively style and dry your hair at once, combining the styling power of a round brush and the drying power hair dryer in one tool. Bristles detangle and smooth hair while heat dries it, and the result is voluminous, frizz-free shine in a single step. But there are a multitude of dryer brushes to choose from, each with its own unique features.

At the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab, we test and vet hair styling products every day, from styling tools like the best straightening irons and hair straightening brushes to top-rated hair dryers, hair brushes and more — so we know what makes a good hair tool. In our most recent test of hair dryer brushes, our expert testers evaluated 10 products at home and in our Lab for ease of use, performance, drying time and more. After evaluating the results from our testing (including nearly 11,000 temperature readings!), we rounded up the best of the best.

Our top picks:

• 1

  BEST OVERAL HAIR DRYER BRUSH

  Hair Blow Dryer Brush 2.0 Amika

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• 2

  BEST VALUE HAIR DRYER BRUSH

  One-Step Hair Dryer & Volumizer Hot Air Brush Revlon

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• 3

  BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR THICK HAIR

  Professional 24k Gold Charcoal Infused Blowout Styler HOT TOOLS

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• 4

  BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR FINE HAIR

  The Double Shot Blow-Dryer Brush Drybar

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• 5

  BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR VOLUME

  Hot Body Ionic 2-in-1 Blowout Hot Air Brush Style Craft

  Read More

For more information on what makes a great hair dryer brush from our Beauty Lab pros, scroll to the bottom of this article. And if you want more information on how to get your best hair at home, check out our guide to the best hair tools and how to use them.

1

BEST OVERAL HAIR DRYER BRUSH

Amika

Hair Blow Dryer Brush 2.0

2

BEST VALUE HAIR DRYER BRUSH

Revlon

One-Step Hair Dryer & Volumizer Hot Air Brush

3

BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR THICK HAIR

HOT TOOLS

Professional 24k Gold Charcoal Infused Blowout Styler

4

BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR FINE HAIR

Drybar

The Double Shot Blow-Dryer Brush

5

BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR VOLUME

Style Craft

Hot Body Ionic 2-in-1 Blowout Hot Air Brush

6

MOST VERSATILE HAIR DRYER BRUSH

dyson

Airwrap Complete Styler Set

7

BEST HAIR DRYER BRUSH FOR SHORT HAIR

Conair

Hot Air Spin Brush

How we test hair dryer brushes

In our most recent hair dryer brush tests, we evaluated 10 oval dryer brushes with Lab tests and at-home usability tests. In the Lab, we assessed drying speed and air flow and used thermocouples to measure each tool's temperature — our Lab pros logged 10,980 temperature readings as part of this test. We also measured quantitative factors like weight, size and cord length, and partnered with Quiet Mark, a third-party certifier, to assess each tool's loudness. At home, our expert testers evaluated the dryer brushes and filled out a detailed survey on ease of use, performance and overall satisfaction. After parsing through the data from 784 questions gathered from 49 questionnaires, we found the very best hair dryer brushes you can buy.

How to choose the best hair dryer brush

✔️ Heat settings: Multiple heat settings are ideal to work on a range of hair types and textures; lower heat settings are great for fine or damaged hair while higher heat settings are good on healthy or thicker, coarser hair types. Our Beauty Lab pros recommend a tool with a cool shot to help seal in styles as well.

✔️ Bristles: Most hair dryer brushes are made with either pin bristles or boar-type bristles, or a combination of both. Pin bristles do a good job at detangling hair, while boar bristles grip and smooth hair (though they can sometimes add too much tension, we found in Lab tests). If you're looking to smooth out frizz or make hair look super shiny, look for a dryer brush with boar bristles. If you're more focused on detangling, pin bristles are great. In expert evaluations, some testers liked bristles of varying lengths to grab every last hair.

✔️ Cord length: The length of cord you'll need depends on where you'll be styling and if there's an outlet nearby. For ultimate flexibility, look for a professional-length cord of at least eight feet. Less expensive models tend to have shorter cords, but that may limit your ability to style freely — and when you travel, you may not have an outlet nearby a mirror!

✔️ Ease of use: In our tests, ease of use, comfort when styling and intuitiveness of the controls are all important considerations. Look for a tool that feels balanced in your hand, easy to grip and isn't too heavy.

Are hair dryer brushes damaging?

Like any hot tool, they can be if you don't prep hair properly. Exposing hair to excessive heat for long periods of time can cause damage to the structure of hair, so to prevent excessive damage, our Beauty Lab pros recommend coating hair in a heat protectant before use and letting hair partially air dry before using a hair dryer brush.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Good Housekeeping Institute Deputy Editor Jessica Teich has over 10 years of experience formally researching, testing and writing about haircare products, from hair tools (like hair dryer brushes, curling irons and wands and flat irons) to styling tips and hair products. An authority on (and a guinea pig for testing) new-to-market tools on curly hair, she regularly teams up with GH's Beauty Lab to synthesize its data in putting together product reviews on the very best haircare on the market, according to testing. For this story, she worked closely with Danusia Wnek, a chemist in the Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab, who has a B.S. in chemistry from St. John’s University, an M.S. in pharmaceutical sciences with concentration in cosmetic science from the University of Cincinnati and 10 years of experience in the personal care industry including formulation, product development, claim evaluation and efficacy testing. Danusia has spent seven years researching and developing testing protocols for haircare products for the Good Housekeeping Institute, and led testing for GH's most recent hair dryer brush test, providing robust data and results on usage and claims from expert and Lab tests.

Jessica Teich Deputy Editor Jessica (she/her) is a deputy editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute and a longtime product tester, reviewer, writer and editor of beauty and lifestyle content.

Danusia Wnek Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab Chemist Danusia (she/her) is a chemist in the Beauty, Health and Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she evaluates haircare, skincare, cosmetics and beauty tools.

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