It is loud. Like, jet-engine-in-your-bathroom loud. It gets hot enough to cook an egg if you aren’t careful. And yet, the Revlon blow out brush—officially known as the Revlon One-Step Volumizer—remains a permanent fixture in millions of bathrooms. Why? Because most of us are remarkably bad at holding a round brush in one hand and a heavy blow dryer in the other without looking like we’ve just survived a wind tunnel.
The struggle is real.
If you've spent any time on TikTok or YouTube in the last five years, you’ve seen the transformation videos. Someone with damp, frizzy hair brushes through a section, and suddenly, they have a bouncy, 90s-supermodel blowout. It looks like magic. But honestly, the reality of using a Revlon blow out brush is a bit more nuanced than a thirty-second clip suggests. It’s a tool of convenience, a massive time-saver, and occasionally, a point of controversy for hair stylists who worry about heat damage.
What Is It, Really?
Basically, it's a 1100-watt hair dryer tucked inside a large, oval-shaped barrel. The barrel is covered in a mix of nylon pins and tufted bristles. The pins detangle while the bristles create that tension you need for shine. It’s a beast. It’s bigger than you think it’s going to be when you first unbox it.
The design is intentional. The oval shape isn't just for aesthetics; it’s meant to get right up to the root to create lift. Most traditional round brushes are, well, round. The flatter sides of the Revlon version allow for smoothing, while the curved edges create the flip at the ends. It’s a hybrid. It’s trying to be three tools at once: a brush, a dryer, and a styler. For about $40 to $60 depending on where you shop, it’s a lot of power for a relatively small price tag.
The Heat Problem Everyone Skips Over
We need to talk about the temperature. This is where most people get it wrong. The original Revlon blow out brush has three settings: Cool, Low, and High.
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High is very hot.
Internal testing and various independent reviews, including those by consumer tech sites, have noted that the air coming out of the vents can exceed 200°F. If you are pressing that directly against damp hair for ten minutes, you are essentially slow-cooking your cuticles. This is why you see those "horror story" reviews where people claim the brush fried their hair. It didn't happen because the brush is "bad"; it happened because the hair was too wet or the heat was applied for too long on the same section.
Expert stylists like Chris Appleton or Jen Atkin often emphasize that you should never start styling with a tool like this when your hair is soaking wet. You’re asking for trouble. You have to rough dry your hair to at least 70% or 80% dryness with a regular dryer first. The Revlon is a finishing tool.
How to actually protect your hair:
- Heat Protectant is non-negotiable. Use something with a high heat threshold.
- Sectioning. If you try to do huge chunks of hair, you’ll end up running the brush over the same spot twenty times. Smaller sections mean less heat exposure.
- The "Cool" Shot. It doesn't have a trigger like a professional dryer, but switching it to cool at the end of a section helps "set" the style and close the cuticle.
Comparing the Versions: Plus vs. Original
Revlon eventually listened to the feedback and released the "Plus" version (2.0). If you’re standing in a Target aisle wondering which one to grab, here’s the deal. The 2.0 has a slimmer handle. This matters because the original handle is thick—like, "hard to wrap your hand around" thick. If you have smaller hands, the 2.0 is a godsend.
The newer version also has an extra heat setting (Medium) which honestly should have been there from the start. High is usually too much for anyone with fine or damaged hair, and Low sometimes feels like it’s just blowing lukewarm air. Medium is the "Goldilocks" zone. Also, the motor on the 2.0 is supposed to be more durable. The original was notorious for burning out after a year or two of heavy use.
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The Skill Gap: It's Not a Magic Wand
You will probably fail the first time you use it.
Your arms will get tired. It weighs about 1.8 pounds, which doesn't sound like much until you're holding it above your head for fifteen minutes. The trick is in the wrist flick. You have to rotate the brush as you reach the ends of your hair. If you just pull it straight down, you get flat hair with no "oomph."
A lot of people complain that the Revlon blow out brush makes their hair too puffy. This usually happens because they are brushing from the top down. To get that sleek, salon-look, you have to brush from underneath the section, pulling upward and outward. It creates tension. Tension equals shine. It's a physics thing.
Who Should Actually Buy This?
It isn't for everyone.
If you have very short hair—think a pixie cut—the barrel is too big. You’ll just be hitting your scalp with hot air. If you have extremely curly, Type 4 hair, this might not provide enough tension to get your roots perfectly straight without a lot of prep work. You might find better results with something like a Dyson or a Shark, though those cost five times as much.
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However, for the "average" user with wavy or straight-ish hair that tends to get frizzy, it's a game changer. It bridges the gap between "I just woke up" and "I have a professional meeting."
Maintenance: The Gross Part
People forget to clean these. Then they wonder why the brush starts smelling like it’s burning or why it’s taking longer to dry.
Dust and hair build up in the intake filter at the bottom. Hair also gets tangled deep in the bristles. You have to get in there with a pair of scissors and snip the dead hair out every few weeks. If the airflow is blocked, the motor overheats. That’s usually when the "Revlon smell" starts—that metallic, burning scent that haunts bathrooms everywhere.
Why the Obsession Persists
Despite the noise and the heat, the Revlon blow out brush changed the market. Before this, "hot air brushes" were usually weak, flimsy things that didn't do much. Revlon put a high-powered motor into a brush and democratized the blowout. You don't need to spend $50 at a Drybar every Friday.
There's something deeply satisfying about the "One-Step" promise. In a world where we have ten-step skincare routines and complex tech, a tool that just works—provided you use a little common sense—is refreshing. It's loud, it's bulky, and it's a bit aggressive, but it delivers a specific result that used to require a lot more coordination.
Practical Steps for Your Next Blowout:
- Prep correctly: Wash, condition, and towel dry. Apply a leave-in conditioner and a heat protectant.
- Rough dry: Use a standard dryer or air dry until your hair is damp, not soaking. If you can wring water out of it, it’s too wet for the Revlon.
- Sectioning: Divide your hair into at least four sections (top, bottom, left, right). Use clips. Don't be lazy here.
- The Bottom-Up Technique: Start with the bottom layers. Place the brush at the roots, under the hair, and glide slowly to the ends.
- Over-direct for Volume: For the top sections, pull the hair forward toward your forehead as you dry it. This creates that "lift" at the crown that makes a blowout look expensive.
- The Final Pass: Once a section is dry, switch to the Cool setting and run it through one last time to lock in the shape.
- Post-Style Care: A tiny drop of hair oil on the ends will kill any lingering frizz that the heat might have kicked up.
Store the tool on a flat surface or hang it up; don't leave it buried under towels while it's still hot. If you treat the motor with a bit of respect and keep the vents clear of lint, it'll last significantly longer than the horror stories on the internet suggest. It’s a tool, not a miracle, but for the price of a few lattes, it’s probably the most efficient way to look like you’ve actually got your life together on a Tuesday morning.