6 days ago
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Others We Tried
- BondiBoost Infrared Thermal Bounce Brush ($98): This is a popular thermal brush that you'll find recommended all over TikTok. It's a solid thermal brush, with easy controls to turn it on and to adjust the heat level, which has eight settings that range from 275 degrees to 450. It's one of the biggest temperature range options you'll find among these brushes; most only offer around five, while some offer no adjustments at all. It delivers nice results, but there are many reports and reviews that mention the device breaking, and BondiBoost primarily only offers a 30-day return window. There are mentions in comments about a one-year warranty, but BondiBoost's site doesn't confirm any warranty beyond the return window. It's no longer available on Amazon, and hasn't been for a few months now. It takes a long time to ship too.
- FoxyBae Hottie Hot Round Brush for $45: Though this brand is well-known for its tools and styling aids appearing in subscription beauty boxes like FabFitFun and Ipsy, most FoxyBae items are also available à la carte at Amazon. Though it looks like a blow-dry brush, this tool is advertised as both a curler and a straightener—“get a blowout without the hot air,” the website copy says. The fact it heats up to 430 degrees Fahrenheit was also promising. I have 3a curls that I regularly blow dry and straighten with a flat iron, so I wondered if a heated brush with a ceramic barrel might in fact be quicker and less harsh on my hair than a flat iron. I’d like to say definitively whether or not this was the case, but the weirdly stiff nylon bristles of this brush got so tangled in my hair that I wasn’t even able to complete one pass. You might have better luck if you have only slightly wavy or even straight hair that you’re looking to curl, but if you’re looking to go from curly to straight, this is not the way. —Kat Merck
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do Thermal Brushes Work?
Thermal brushes might look like a blow-dry brush, but they work differently. Instead of blowing hot air, thermal brushes use infrared heat to style dry hair. Infrared heat is also different than your usual hot tools. Instead of just heating the surface of your hair to style and control, infrared will heat the hair from the inside out rather than outside in. I interviewed a handful of hair stylists and beauty experts, and nearly all of them confirmed that this style of heat is gentler on your hair. “Infrared heat works differently than traditional hot tools. Instead of heating just the surface, it penetrates the hair shaft, styling from the inside out. That means better moisture retention, less frizz, and way less damage over time,” says Vito Esposito, founder of Vito Esposito Salon in Beverly Hills.
Are Thermal Brushes and Blow-Dry Brushes The Same?
You might have seen two different kinds of brushes while shopping that promise blowout results. While the thermal brushes are designed for dry hair, there's also blow-dry brushes that are designed for wet hair. These aren't interchangeable devices, since they use different types of heat and are designed for different states of your hair. If you're looking for a device to both dry and style wet hair, check out our guide to the Best Blow-Dry Brushes.
What's the Best Way to Use a Thermal Brush?
The trick with thermal brushes is to take the time to brush the hair in a way to create volume. There's no air flying out of this device to create volume like a blow-dry brush, and instead you need to manually create the volume by teasing the root of your hair up as you style it. I usually find I need a few passes of these brushes over a section of hair to smooth it out and style it as I intended. Make sure to start with a heat protectant first.
There's a lot of videos with tutorials on how to use these brushes that can show you the popular motion to use with these brushes. Personally, my hair is shorter than most folks who make a demo video, so I find it easier to flip my hair out than to curl and twist it in while using these brushes. You should play around with your new tool and your hair to figure out what works best for you.
The infrared heat is also good at helping your hair retain moisture, but that also means folks with oily or finer hair (like me!) might find that their day-two hair (or three or four, whatever wash day schedule is working for you) feels a little slick after using a thermal brush. I like to add a pinch of Bumble & Bumble Pret-a-Powder ($34), my favorite dry shampoo, on those days to keep my roots from getting too oily.
Do You Still Need Heat Protectant?
Short answer: yes! Even though thermal brushes heat your hair from within, you still need to treat the exterior of your hair with a heat protectant of some kind to protect your hair. You can shop our guide to the Best Heat Protectants if you're looking for one.
How I Test Thermal Brushes
I test every thermal brush on both air-dried curls and a day-two blowout to see how well it can recreate a blowout look on my hair. I usually test on the highest setting for the most consistent results, since some thermal brushes don't have adjustment features. I also always use heat protectant—I use the Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil ($25), which is our top pick in our best heat protectants guide—and I have found that using a heat protectant helps make my hair a little more malleable to a thermal brush.
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