Dyson Airwrap™ styler vs ghd Glide – who will the battle of the must-have hot air tools?
Colour-treated hair needs extra care, so when it comes to buying styling tools that make you look fabulous but also blast your delicate hair with heat – you need to be careful.
In Best hot air brush for coloured hair, we talked you through the best hot air brushes around this year and why the devil you need one. (TL;DR they’re less damaging than straighteners but do the same job, and more.)
Now we put the best two on the list, ghd Glide vs Dyson Airwrap Head to Head to find out which one you really need in your life.
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Table of Contents
What is a hot air brush?
Hot air brushes are a plug-in heat styling tool of dreams. These clever little marvels work by blowing hot air through a vented barrel to style your hair while you brush it dry.
Part hair dryer, part hair brush, they’re fast winning our hearts with its ability to style our dyed tresses using only one hand.
Hot air brushes are kinder to your hair than straighteners because they don’t clamp it between two hot plates that heat and damage your hair.
Dyson Airwrap™ styler or ghd Glide- which is the winner for coloured hair?
Time saving, colour-saving, money-saving, achy-wrist saving…whatever your reason to get involved with a hot air brush, you can’t go wrong. Let’s compare the two most popular hot air brushes in the universe today.
TOP PICK!
Dyson Airwrap™ styler
The best for everyday use.
Beautiful design and great results of the smoothest, silkiest hair from those clever engineers at Dyson. However, it’s the fact that this uses air and not heating elements to give us salon-worthy results that makes this our best hot air brush for coloured hair.
Ok, it’s more expensive than the ghd Glide, but you get so much more for your money in terms of quality and versatility. And you’ll never have to use another styling tool again. This is the stand-out best hot air brush for us, and anyone who cares about their coloured hair.
Dyson Airwrap™ styler
They say:
- Powered by the Dyson digital motor V9.
- Intelligent heat control measures airflow temperature over 40 times a second and regulates heat, to ensure it always stays below 150°C.
- The ‘Coanda effect’ attracts hair to the barrel, then wraps it for you.
- No clamping, gloves or awkward winding mechanisms.
- Combines powerful airflow with controlled heat, to dry and style your hair from damp – with no extreme heat.
What’s in the box?
Loads!
- 30mm Airwrap barrels – For creating volume and curls
- 40mm Airwrap barrels – For creating bigger volume, curls and waves
- Firm smoothing brush – For straightening thick, frizzy hair
- Soft smoothing brush – For straightening medium to fine hair
- Round volumising brush – For volume!
- Pre-styling dryer – To make sure your hair completely dry before styling
- Storage case – Your box of tricks
- Non-slip mat – For table tops
- Filter cleaning brush – To erm…clean the filter.
How do I use the Dyson Airwrap™ styler?
We were surprised to find the actual Airwrap styler is a lot lighter than it looks, even with the attachments.
The ghd Glide was much bulkier to hold and heavier to manoeuvre in comparison. The cord is a good length so you have the flexibility to move it around your head. The attachments themselves are pretty intuitive to use and pop on and off.
Like Dyson’s Supersonic hair dryer, the AirWrap uses the same tiny but powerful motor, which has been engineered within an inch of its life to be magically powerful yet quiet.
The motor creates the ‘Coanda effect’ which means instead of heat, it uses a jet flow of air that attracts your hair to the barrel, wrapping it around to create amazing results. This also means you don’t have to pre-dry your hair with a hair dryer like the Glide, as this take care of it all in one go.
It styles your hair so you don’t have to!
What’s also amazing is how your hair is literally sucked in flat against the barrel of the Airwrap, no snags or worrying that your hair will get caught in the ends. The eye-popping array of attachments mean you can make waves, curls and sleek, smooth tresses, all with one tool.
It also means your wrists get a break as you’re no having to twist and wrap the hair yourself! This is a hot air brush like no other so you’ll need to think differently about how you use it. The results are well worth it.
Reviewers say:
“I bought this a month ago, initially to just try and had intentions of returning it because of the price. However, it is so worth every penny its the best hair device I have ever owned whether its for the curling or blow drying this airwrap is incredible!”
“Bought this last month and I absolutely love it. I haven’t used straighteners for a month my hair already starting to look better.”
“I cannot rate this highly enough. The technology is phenomenal. I have spent so much money on bits of kit for my hair and most end up unused or they destroy my hair. This product works. It’s expensive but you will never need to buy anything else so it’s worth it. Don’t hesitate. Buy it.”
We say:
We’re all about caring for coloured hair and what’s perfect about the Airwrap Styler styler is that it certainly does just that.
As well as regulating itself to make sure the heat never goes above 150 degrees – some hair straighteners can go up to 240 degrees!- its appearance in your life means there is no more need for colour-frying straighteners, curlers, or wavers. It cleverly uses air, not heating elements which further preserves your colour like no other hot tool.
Because of all of this, it is expensive. If you want to save a few bob, you can buy the kit by your hair type. The Airwrap Smooth + Control, is for thicker, frizz prone hair and the Airwrap Volume + Shape adds volume and shape to limp, flat hair.
Pros.
- Extremely versatile (for smooth, curly, short or long hair)
- It gives gives great volume, unlike straighteners.
- It doesn’t heat up your hair or have as much contact as straighteners so it’s less damaging.
- Great for travelling – you can just air dry your hair and finish off with one heat styling tool.
- Cool air setting to seal your colour in and prevent fade.
- It comes with enough attachments to make it replace your hair dryer, curling tongs AND straighteners.
- Great for everyday use as it’s not as damaging.
Cons.
- Not as good as ghd Glide for straightening hair.
- Not as easy to use out of the box as ghd Glide.
- The price!
Read more about the Dyson Airwrap™ styler in our in-depth, Spotlight review.
Ghd Glide brush.
They say:
- Professional hot brush for second day styling.
- Dual action ceramic technology and ioniser tames hair in seconds.
- The heater technology heats to the optimum 185°C styling temperature to guarantee gorgeous, healthier looking locks.
- Advanced anti-static ions eliminate frizz.
- Professional length 2.7m cable.
What’s in the box?
- The er…just the Glide brush.
How do you use the ghd Glide Brush?
The ghd Glide Brush is from those masterful hair heat experts at ghd. Queens of the straightening irons, they’ve developed this award-winning marvel that takes everything that works about their straighteners and packs it into a brush.
This is a straightening brush rather than a hot air brush. So there are heating elements rather than flashy hot air motors like the Dyson Airwrap.
Glides through hair to eliminate frizz.
You need to prep your hair first by drying it with a hair dryer. It doesn’t heat up as quickly as we would have liked it to. Taking a few minutes for the red light to stop flashing. The Airwrap doesn’t have any elements to heat up so you can use it right away.
It’s super easy to use as you just use it like- a brush! It smooths flyaways and elminates frizz as you use it thanks to the mix of short and long natural bristles. It’s not rounded like the Airwrap Styler so it straightens your hair more, and it’s easier to reach the hard-to-style bits at the back of your head. What’s not to like?
Reviewers say:
“This brush is my favourite new tool! Some days I air dry, I can run this through my hair in about 3-5 sections and I instantly look polished. On days when I heat style, I can finish with this brush for extra shine and smoothness after blow drying straight. I’ve only had it for a couple weeks and I’m sold.”
“I have long, fine, coloured hair, but lots of it. This brush is amazingly fast, and I can get my hair straightened in 4 minutes. I love the look of my hair after it is done, and it feels silky, rather than dry like with an iron.”
“I have thick, dense, colour treated and highlighted shoulder-length hair that air dries into a crazy bunch of waves. I look like a troll. This brush really gives me smooth, shiny hair without leaving it flat. “
“Years of problem hair and this is the BEST hair tool I have ever tried. GHD for the win!”
We say:
We love the ghd Glide hot brush for making the whole hair drying/straightening/styling experience seem so easy.
Like their infamous, award-winning straighteners, it has ceramic technology that heats up the brush consistently to the optimum styling temperature of 185ºC for healthier looking coloured hair.
The ghd Glide Brush doesn’t straighten our hair as well as straighteners, but hot air brushes don’t tend to anyway. But it straightens our hair more than the Airwrap did. It is MUCH easier than straighteners to use, however, particularly on the back of your hair. And it beats the Airwrap again for this.
Overall, this is a great alternative to straighteners as it’s kinder on your colour. But the Dyson Airwrap™ styler wins hands down for exquisitely smooth hair, versatile styling and ensuring that you will never need another styling tool in your life again.
Pros.
- Better for your colour than a straightening iron.
- Easy to use.
- Reaches the hard to reach areas of your hair.
- Keeps the temperature at a colour-saving 185 degrees.
- Cheaper than the Dyson Airwrap.
Cons.
- Not as versatile for different styles – curls and waves are out.
- Uses heating elements which damage your colour.
- Not as quick to as heat up.
- Still need to use a hair dryer.
TOP PICK!
Dyson Airwrap™ styler
The best for everyday use.
Beautiful design and great results of the smoothest, silkiest hair from those clever engineers at Dyson. However, it’s the fact that this uses air and not heating elements to give us salon-worthy results that makes this our best hot air brush for coloured hair.
Ok, it’s more expensive than the ghd Glide, but you get so much more for your money in terms of quality and versatility. And you’ll never have to use another styling tool again. This is the stand-out best hot air brush for us, and anyone who cares about their coloured hair.
