A great hair styling software is one which’s principally insurance coverage for constantly respectable, if not wonderful, hair days. An excellent hair styling software can try this whereas epitomizing the low effort, excessive reward way of life.

With that in thoughts, there are two issues it’s essential learn about your reviewer up high: One, the ends of my hair are useless and dry and in want of reducing such as you would not imagine. Two, I’ve by no means in my life thought-about myself to be “good at hair.”

Now let’s get into the overview of one of the vital well-liked hair instruments in the marketplace — the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer.

revlon one step on a pink and red background

The web <3s the Revlon One-Step.
Credit score: Mashable Picture Composite / Revlon

If you happen to’ve began to maneuver your cursor over the again button, maintain it for a sec. Let’s not neglect the entire conceit of the Revlon One-Step is that it makes it simple to realize a salon-style blowout from the consolation of your private home. So in concept, the One-Step ought to have been capable of get me to a constantly wonderful (or no less than respectable) hair day, useless ends and minimal talent be damned.

Do not you find it irresistible when concept and observe align?

Sure, it’s true, the ravings concerning the One-Step on TikTok don’t lie. My hair really appeared styled with the assistance of this scorching air brush (perhaps not fairly professionally, however positively skillfully). That is to not say that is one hundred pc the proper, holy grail hair product it’s essential exit and purchase proper now. It has its cons, and no less than considered one of its claims feels a little bit deceptive. However earlier than we get into all that, let’s begin with the fundamentals of what the One-Step really is.

What precisely is the Revlon One-Step?

For the hair uninitiated and the candy souls who do not sink hours of their day on TikTok, the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer is a scorching air brush that is presupposed to dry your hair and provide you with quantity in the identical step (therefore, its very simple identify). It isn’t Revlon’s newest crack at such a scorching software (overview for the One-Step Plus coming quickly), nor the one scorching air brush in the marketplace, however it’s the one which went viral.

The software itself seems largely like a normal spherical brush with a 4.25-inch barrel and a big deal with with the three warmth settings at its base: cool, low, and excessive. The comb itself has a mix of nylon pin and tufted boar bristles you sometimes discover on spherical brushes — the nylon penetrates most kinds of hair whereas the boar gives that sought-after smoothness. The wire is six ft lengthy and swivels on the backside, so it by no means actually tangles round itself. As an added bonus, the One-Step retails for $59.99, but it surely’s not exhausting to search out for $30 or much less.

bottom half of revlon one step

You twist the knob on the base to regulate the warmth sittings, which helps decrease the probabilities of by accident altering the temp.
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

Clearly, this one brush has the facility to exchange the outdated song-and-dance of determining the right way to maintain a blow dryer in a single hand and use a spherical brush within the different. As somebody who by no means found out how to do this and do one thing apart from blast myself with scorching air and make my hair frizzier, I used to be excited that this product may get rid of each steps.

Although the temptation to lookup tutorials beforehand was sturdy, I needed to actually put the One-Step’s intuitiveness to the take a look at. I spritzed my my hair with water so it was barely damp, utilized warmth protectant, turned it onto the low setting, and began styling away. Whereas I would not say I found out the right way to get a ton of added quantity, inside 10 minutes, I had hair that appeared sort of blown out with ’90s sitcom-esque flips. And that was with no tutorial on strive primary.

woman with styled hair

Apologies for the lighting, however I merely didn’t count on for my hair to look this good proper after use primary.
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

However the hair dry harm potential…

As soon as I did determine to dive into suggestions for the right way to use this product, my awe lessened some.

Ostensibly, the One-Step ought to exchange a blow dryer (because the hair dryer half is half of its very lengthy identify). However TikTok tutorial after TikTok tutorial advisable not utilizing the One-Step on utterly moist hair to keep away from frying it. It’s true although, that even with normal hair dryers, beginning with dripping-wet hair means exposing the hair to extra (and certain greater) warmth for an extended time frame. Nonetheless, in case you’re attempting lower down on time or cannot wait to air dry, the styling course of is likely to be greater than the one step you need.

Utilizing any sort of scorching software in your hair commonly is not the healthiest transfer, however the One-Step’s design implies that scorching air will get far more shut and private than it will with a standard blow dryer. Revlon’s instruction guide would not say something about ready in your hair to dry, but it surely does point out that for the quickest outcomes, towel-drying and brushing the hair earlier than getting into with One-Step is the way in which to go.

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I additionally suggest utilizing a warmth protectant with each use, particularly in case you assume you’d use the One-Step commonly. The guide additionally instructs to make use of the low setting for nice or skinny hair and excessive for thick and coarse, however I might positively attempt to see how cool you may go — my medium thick, barely wavy hair was a lot pleased with the low setting.

bottom half of revlon one step

It is giving 85 percent-air-dried-frizz.
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

revlon one-step next to a blue blow dryer

A mere 12 minutes later, it is giving model, poise, and an entire lack of self-consciousness on the variety of selfies I needed to take for this overview (all courtesy of the low setting).
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

General, it is higher to think about the One-Step as a styler moderately than a hair dryer (though its dry instances have been spectacular. I am simply already liable to dry ends and I barely use warmth on my hair, so I am actually not attempting to hurry the harm course of).

Past its styling and drying capabilities, the Revlon One-Step can be identified for being the forerunning dupe for the Dyson Airwrap. Which brings us to the subsequent query on everybody’s thoughts:

Is the Revlon One-Step really Dyson Airwrap dupe? 

Personally, I’ve by no means used the Dyson Airwrap, a hair software that’s each $600 and consistently offered out. Folks justify the Dyson’s insane worth as a result of it could possibly dry, straighten, volumize, and curl hair. As a substitute of 1 connected barrel, it comes with six interchangeable heads, considered one of which is a spherical volumizing brush not not like the One-Step’s.

If we break down the pure numbers, the Dyson’s six heads come out to about $100 every (clearly, this isn’t a precise math, however indulge me). Let’s dock an extra $10, half for enjoyable, and half to account for the flexibility of the bottom. So that will imply the one spherical brush would approximate out to $90, making it nonetheless a full $30 greater than the One-Step at its MSRP, which once more, it normally sits far beneath.

dyson airwrap and revlon one-step on blue background

The Dyson Airwrap and its six heads versus the Revlon One-Step.
Credit score: Mashable Picture Composite / Dyson and Revlon

In fact, the Dyson is fairly distinctive and its versatility is a part of the enchantment. Plus, folks love the movies of the way it curls hair. I really like these movies, and the One-Step merely cannot replicate that (I did see some movies of individuals “curling” their hair with the One-Step, however my knot-prone locks may really by no means).

It’s price noting, although, that in 2018, our reviewer wrote, “If I may purchase a extra moderately priced model of the Airwrap, simply with the [smoothing] brush head, I might.” Whereas she wasn’t speaking concerning the spherical brush head, she was speaking a couple of software that would present quantity, shine, straightness, and a little bit of that blowout magic with ease.

In different phrases, she was searching for the One-Step. So, in case you’re most into that side of the Dyson, the One-Step is by far, probably the most reasonably priced and efficient dupe in the marketplace. If you happen to’re most into the curls and flexibility, both save up, or keep on with your present scorching software arsenal. 

Methods to get probably the most out of the One-Step

Although the educational curve is not in any respect steep with this product, there are some things you are able to do to get the most effective model with the least harm.

Earlier than you flip the One-Step on:

  • Let your hair air dry some. Microfiber towels are nice for getting a fast and mild dry. As soon as your hair is no less than half dry — I discovered that the chilly and damp candy spot labored greatest for me — it is time for the One-Step to work its magic.

  • As per Revlon’s directions, operating a brush via your hair previous to hitting it with the One-Step is not a foul thought, simply to get out any notably nasty knots. The nylon bristles do an honest job throughout, however you need to decrease the period of time you let the warmth keep in your hair.

  • Use warmth protectant. That is your mantra with the One-Step. Even in case you solely use the low setting, even in case you solely use the cool setting, and particularly in case you want the recent setting, warmth protectant is essential.

It is also price noting that you could technically use the One-Step on dry hair, but it surely works greatest when hair is barely damp. I am an evening shower-er, so I at all times moist my hair with some water within the mornings to get issues going.

If you happen to’re actually in a pinch, I used to be capable of get smoothing model on utterly dry hair, however I needed to hit it with the best warmth setting, and it did not really feel as variety to my hair (sorry hair, I needed to do it for science). I am unsure hair sorts even barely extra wavy than mine would get respectable smoothing on utterly dry hair, so in case you can, add a little bit water to the combo beforehand.

woman showing half of her head of wavy hair

My second-day utterly dry hair began like this.
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

woman with completely styled, straight hair

And ended like this, due to the One-Step’s excessive setting.
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

Through the styling:

  • Begin with the best setting you may. Revlon recommends utilizing the cool setting to lock your model in, however we noticed folks on-line with curly hair use it as a primary cross earlier than getting into with a low setting (as a substitute of going straight to excessive) to attenuate the quantity of warmth utilized to hair.

  • One other approach to decrease warmth publicity is by sectioning the hair. It takes extra time, however sectioning gave me the most effective model and helped me be certain that I wasn’t going over the identical parts of my hair over and over. You actually do not even should be exact about this — I simply threw half up in a claw clip and referred to as it a day.

  • If you happen to’re searching for bouncy, flippy ends, nailing the method down is likely to be a bit tough at first. I discovered that rotating the comb some once I bought to the underside third of the hair strand, working considerably slower, and brushing via the ends of the hair earlier than rotating again up one final time labored most instances for me. (I ought to say, too, I’ve layered hair that lends itself to those sort of enjoyable flips — it was positively harder to realize on the longest items of hair.) For rotating, you may also seize the cool tip of the comb for extra leverage throughout twisting and brushing, however I most well-liked holding each my fingers on the deal with.

As for the widespread critiques…

Clearly, this product is not good. The web actually had some complaints (there are, in any case, round 285,000 evaluations on the One-Step’s Amazon web page alone they usually’re not all utterly glowing). Listed below are a number of that got here up fairly a bit:

  • It brings an excessive amount of warmth: With all of the discuss of how scorching this scorching brush will get, there was part of me that anticipated my hair to actually mild on fireplace throughout the first use. And although considerations about warmth harm are actual, that didn’t occur then, or the second, third, or some other of the succeeding instances I used it. The excessive setting was positively scorching, and I would not use it commonly if I may keep away from it, however the low setting felt fairly normal for a styling/blow dry expertise.

  • It’s means too loud: Yeah, it packs some decibels, however what blow dryer would not? I did not need to use the One-Step early within the morning as a result of I dwell in an condominium with skinny partitions, however I really feel the very same means about utilizing my regular blow dryer. The cool and the excessive setting positively have been the loudest, so in case you assume you may keep on low for probably the most half, you in all probability will not discover that this brush is that a lot louder than a blow dryer.

  • The heft makes it exhausting to make use of: This grievance concerning the One-Step being heavy genuinely has me questioning if I am stronger than I understand, not in a psychological fortitude sort of means, however in an especially literal means. It simply merely wasn’t all that heavy? Granted, I believe the longest it took me to do my hair was quarter-hour or so, however I by no means discovered my arms feeling even sort of drained. The traditional blow dryer and spherical brush combo is far more of a exercise, imo.

revlon one-step next to a blue blow dryer

The One-Step did not really feel all that heavier than my blow dryer, but it surely weirdly felt bulkier.
Credit score: Mashable / Bethany Allard

  • Fantastic hair ought to beware: If in case you have very nice, skinny hair, this brush does present warmth and stress that it may not like all that a lot. I consulted a buddy of mine with nice, skinny hair who’s been utilizing the One-Step for a while, and she or he mentioned it did not appear to break her hair any greater than an everyday scorching software would. With that mentioned, she at all times makes use of warmth protectant and goes in on barely damp hair with the cool or low setting, and says she would not use the One-Step rather than a standard hair dryer.

My very own ultimate gripe, that I did not see too typically expressed on-line, was that this brush has some bulk. The pinnacle would not detach from the deal with (not like the marginally extra up to date One-Step Plus), so it can take up an honest quantity of area underneath your toilet sink — not far more than a blow dryer would, however once more, you do not need to use this as a blow dryer substitute, so anticipate having these side-by-side.

Is the Revlon One-Step price it?

I am nearly optimistic I wasn’t even maxing out this hair software’s potential (I by no means fairly found out the important thing to constant quantity) and I used to be nonetheless tremendous pleased with how my hair appeared — and I want it wavy 9 out of 10 instances.

Getting bouncy, easy, and glossy hair has actually by no means been simpler for me — I even have hair that, although naturally wavy, usually agrees with being straightened and smoothed out. And once more, my hair is layered in such a means that sort of lends itself to creating simple flips and bounce (I am sorry this feels like an egregious humble brag, I’m merely attempting to report the info). My roommate, however, has naturally modern, straight, non-layered hair, and once we tried the One-Step to attempt to give her extra form and bounce, nothing actually occurred.

However as all these movies on the web present, it seems just like the One-Step would not simply work for one sort of hair. Principally, in case you’re somebody who finds your self wanting a refined coiffure no less than a number of instances a month, the value level of the One-Step is admittedly exhausting to beat. Whereas it isn’t an absolute hair important, for these keen to filter the cupboard space and religiously apply warmth protectant, it does simplify getting that blown-out look.

It is probably not a Dyson, however for its claims and worth level, it is actually not attempting to be. So when you have 30-something {dollars} to spare and a need for modern locks, it is price giving the One-Step a couple of look.