I'm a slave to hair straighteners. Aside from a brief spell in lockdown when I airdried my hair, I've used straighteners every day for the last 20 years or so – even if it's just to tidy up my fringe when I'm wearing my hair naturally curly.
Given my dedication to straighteners, nobody was more shocked than me when I realised I hadn't touched my tongs in three weeks. Why? Because I am now the proud owner of ghd's 'Duet Blowdry' and it has completely changed my hairstyling routine. Thanks to my new toy, I can achieve Sabrina Carpenter's volume-boosted bangs in less time than it takes to memorise the lyrics to 'Espresso' (ie. very fast).
I'm no stranger to a blow dry brush, having used Hot Tools' 'Black Gold Brush & Dry Volumiser' for the past few years. I know my way around these wet-to-dry stylers, yet I was still hugely impressed by ghd's foray into the blow dry brush arena.
Limiting heat damage
The new tool promises zero heat damage, because specifically designed airflow heats the barrel of the brush to 120 degrees, meaning it's the heat in the surface of the barrel that smooths my hair, not direct heat.
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As you can probably tell from the fact I've been straightening my hair for over two decades, heat damage isn't something I'm majorly concerned about. I care more about speed and style longevity, as well as how easy a blow dry brush is to use, and this gets major points for all of these elements.
Trying the ghd 'Duet Blowdry'
All of the impressive techy and design elements of the tool are available on ghd's website. You don't need me to relay these to you. Instead, I want to share how I got on using it, and how my hair looked.
Sleek design
The first thing I noticed was how sleek the tool is. My other blow dry brushes have hairbrush style bristles that can tug and tangle my hair, whereas the 'Duet Blowdry' has heated snag-free bristles which glide through wet hair without any tugging.
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Quieter than usual
The second huge plus point with this tool is the noise levels. It's much quieter than other blow dry brushes I've used. It's still as loud as a hairdryer, but some of the tools I've trialled in my search for true hair tool love have sounded like planes taking off. The Duet Blowdry is a gentler noise, sure to delight my partner when he's trying to sleep or watch TV when I'm drying my hair.
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Quick styling
Even on first use, my hair was transformed from wet to smooth and straight in less than half an hour – cutting about 15 minutes off my usual styling time. The tool promises to use 40% less energy than a traditional method of hair dryer and brush, and I can see why.
It makes light work of smoothing my strands, and there was no need to go over any areas with my straighteners.
Better volume
As a child of the 90s, who dreamed of Jennifer Aniston's poker-straight hair in season six of Friends, the promise of three times more volume wasn't of interest to me. However, I did come to appreciate the bounce this tool gave to my fringe. It gives the voluminous, Sabrina Carpenter-style bangs I could only dream of in the past.
My other blow dry brushes feel fairly clunky where I try to style my fringe, meaning I'd normally blast it with my hairdryer then go over it with straighteners, so ghd's latest offering seriously cuts down the amount of time I spent applying heat to the front of my hair, which is naturally more delicate and prone to breakage anyway.
The elephant in the room
The one downside to the 'Duet Blowdry' is the price. At £379, it is at the almost unaffordable level of Dyson's £479.99 'Airwrap'.
For what it's worth, I think it's worth the money, and believe it's worlds better than Shark's 'Speed Style' – yes, the Shark tool is much more affordable at £149.99, but when I use it, I still need to run my straighteners over my hair, which I think defeats the purpose of a blowdry brush.
So, if you're in the market for a new hair tool, I can't recommend ghd's Duet Blowdry enough, for super smooth, voluminous, friss-free hair in super-short time.
