Are the Viral Thermal Brushes Worth the Hype?

Blowouts are difficult to do at home and expensive to get at a salon, so what’s the solution if you like a big, bouncy, shiny hairstyle? Enter, the thermal brush, the latest hair tool taking over social media, where users start out with clean, dry hair in their natural texture, and end up with glossy waves. Fans swear the brush is also much quieter than a blow dryer and requires way less skill to get the blowout effect.

“Thermal brushes have evolved a lot,” says Laura Polko, hairstylist and John Frieda House of Frieda Ambassador. “They used to be primarily for coily hair that needed edge control, and now they have evolved to be for all hair types.” According to Polko, thermal brushes work by getting all the way up to the root of the hair, and having a heat source in the center of the brush itself that is evenly distributed throughout the tool. All you need to do is wash and dry your hair, divide it into sections — starting at the undermost layers first — and then run the brush all the way from the root of the hair to the ends. When you hit the ends, you can curl and wave the brush upward to add a blowout-worthy bounce. 

Popular thermal brush brands such as Wavy Talk use negative ion technology that seals cuticles and boosts shine. Another brush, from Bondi Boost, works similarly, using negative ions and infrared technology to penetrate the inner layers of the hair for smoothness. Even though this technology is advanced, “you definitely want to use a heat protectant prior to use because it can be a little more damaging than if you were just using a blow dryer,” Polko says. She recommends using a leave-in conditioner that has heat-protectant qualities before styling and a frizz-fighting cream after to seal in moisture.