I don't know about you, but I personally never feel more confident than when I leave the salon with my freshly styled hair perched over my shoulders in professionally tousled waves. Over the next few days (much longer than, say, washing my hair) I painstakingly apply dry shampoo and volumizing spray to keep my hair in its new style. Because I know my hair won't look this good until I leave for my next appointment.
Despite trying every dryer on the market (yes, even *that* dryer) that feels the same, I have never been able to blow my hair out. Instead, it became a mess that couldn't be saved except for pins. That is, so far.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting celebrity hairstylist Chaz Dean at QVC's Master Beauty Class. There he was demonstrating how to use the Brush Dryer Styling Tool, a new line of hair care products from WEN (PSA: Blow Dryer Brush is a 20). Get a percent discount at QVC today). At first, as always, I was skeptical whether this could actually be the miracle dryer that saved me from a life of praying for my hair to dry properly.
WEN by Chaz Dean Brush Dryer Styling Tool — $275.00
Selling price: $220
include:
- heated brush base
- 38mm brush attachment
- 51mm brush attachment
- Diffuser attachment
- silicone mat
- 4 alligator hairpins
- cleaning tools
- Drys hair and smoothes it evenly.
- Provides three attachments for a variety of styling options
- To prevent heat damage, never exceed 240°F.
- Makes salon-quality explosions more accessible.
- lightweight
- Carefully considered design
- It's pricey when not on sale, but it's cheaper than many other popular hair dryer brushes.
- Takes up a significant amount of storage space.
Detail
But I became even more hopeful as Dean thoroughly walked me through how he developed the WEN dryer to solve all the problems I felt with other dryers. First of all, basic dryers are very light. When using some dryers, I often feel like I am exercising my arms due to the weight, so I was grateful for this tactile feel.
Second, WEN dryers are designed to protect hair from heat damage, something that has put me off using other dryer brushes in the past. WEN dryers have two dryer speeds (low or high) and three heat modes (cold, low heat, high heat) but never exceed 240°F to prevent hair damage, Dean says. As someone who has had hair damaged by heat damage for many years, knowing that it would protect my hair made me even more eager to try it.
Another major pro for me: The dryer brush comes with three tools (a 38-millimeter brush, a 51-millimeter brush, and a diffuser) designed to suit curly hair like mine, giving you a salon blowout look for any hair type.
The craftsmanship of each brush made the beauty in me do a happy dance. Dean said he decided to stick to his vegan beliefs by replacing the typical boar bristles with cruelty-free nylon bristles, which are more common than on other brush dryers. (To be exact, I encountered 9,500~10,000 for 38mm and 16,000~17,000 for 51mm). Dean tells me that the high number of bristles is intentional. Blow dryer brushes can cause heat damage when strands come into contact with a hot barrel, but with this many bristles, your hair can't actually touch the barrel, Dean says. genius.
What happened when I tried the WEN dryer brush?
With all this information, I decided to put aside my pessimism about my own hair styling skills and choose a WEN dryer. First, I applied WEN Styling Cream, Olaplex Bonding Oil, and WEN Nourishing Mousse to my hair and divided it into sections using the alligator clips that came with the dryer.
I took my first few passes using the 51mm brush attachment and was shocked at how soft my hair looked. So I continued working in good spirits. Every time I stopped for an ablation, I placed the dryer on a silicone mat that Dean had designed so it wouldn't get damaged or roll around in the sink (he really thought of everything).
It took about 30 minutes to dry my thick hair, and the results were very impressive. Did I have the same quality blowout that my stylist gave me? No, of course not. But do my high standards give me enough hair to leave the house? totally. Plus, my hair was so soft, which I wasn't expecting. Overall, I am excited to continue my practice with WEN dryers. finally Help us learn how to achieve a salon-quality blowout.
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