After six weeks of holding out on lock-down stress shopping, the Sephora Spring Sale broke my resolve. With 20% off, the Drybar Blow dryer brush, The Double Shot, was practically calling my name. A little backstory, I have been blowing out my own hair since I was about 12 years old. It was impossible for my mom to find hairdressers who could figure out how to properly style my curly mane. From chemical straighteners, to every new “perfect straightening” tool that ever hit the market, I had tried them all. Even though now I have pretty much perfected my blowout routine, I still can’t resist the call of a new tool claiming to make styling faster and easier.
So here I am, ready yet again to be my own guinea pig on the quest for better, easier hair! I’ll walk you all through all the steps and give you my first impression review below.
Since this was my first time trying the Double Shot I wanted to stick to as much of my usual blowout routine as possible to compare results. (Scroll all the way to the bottom for my video of my go-to “At-Home Salon Blowout Routine”)
I started off by brushing my 3-day-old curly hair with my Tangle Teezer to get out as much of my dead hair as possible (to keep it out of my shower) and to loosen out any tangles. This ensures that my hair is an unencumbered as possible to receive and absorb the shampoo and conditioner. Whenever I am going to blowout my hair I always use my Living Proof No Frizz Shampoo & Conditioner. To avoid any greasy residue I never apply the conditioner at my roots but rather work it into the ends and move up from there.
Once I’m out of the shower I wrap my hair in a cotton t-shirt. This is to remove as much of the excess moisture as possible. I’ll leave my hair in that wrap while I tend to my usual skincare routine. Before I blowdry my hair I will generally add some sort of thermal protectant to my damp hair. Lately I have been loving the Sedu Moisturizing Thermal Primer (I can’t find it anywhere so I think it’s actually discontinued) and the Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil UV/Heat Primer. Then I will use my Tangle Teezer again to smooth tangles and section my hair into about 8 sections.
First Impressions
Then it’s on to the main event! Here are some of the pros and cons I noticed during my first time using the Double Shot:
- The Brush is Big. Its not the biggest brush head I have ever used but it is definitely larger than the round brush I usually use. That required some adjustment and maneuvering. Also the handle, which likely houses all the motorized mechanisms for the blow dryer, was thicker than a usual brush handle. So while my arms were less tired than they usually are, it was still a little tough on my wrists to work with.
- It is as powerful/hot as a regular blow dryer. I’m always skeptical of something that tries to do more than one task. It just seems like it won’t be good at one or all of the tasks it is trying to do. That was not the case here. I found the blow drying element of the brush to be as powerful and hot as my Buttercup blow dryer. This was crucial in keeping the drying time on par (and even shaving off a few minutes) from my traditional blow out method. The only drawback to having a blow dryer built into the brush is that the air blows out from the brush as opposed to a blow dryer blowing the hot air down onto the brush. It was really noticeable how much more flyaways I had with this blowout than I get with other blowouts. Some of that could be remedied by changing the angle or approach of the brush but I found that it ended up flattening my hair instead of giving me the volume I was hoping for.
- A bit of an effort to smooth the roots. One of my biggest concerns/reservations about tools like this is always my roots. My curls are very tight close to my scalp so I usually have to concentrate a lot of my energy there to get them as smooth as possible before literally blowing through the rest of my hair. A combination of the brush size and the mechanics of the air being blown outward, made it a little difficult to really get to my roots the way I would have liked. I felt I had to go over areas much more frequently and even considered just grabbing my regular blow dryer to get those roots once and for all. But I stuck with it, tried alternating an over brush and an underbrush to get all sides of my roots. In the end it is probably hardly noticeable at all to anyone seeing my hair that the roots aren’t *perfect* but it is one of those things I’m sure we can all relate to, were it will only bother me because I know its not perfect.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked using this tool. Despite the few stumbling points and slight learning curve that comes with it, I found it overall to be a very easy tool to use. I will say my hair did not come out as voluminous or full as I would like. But I was able to get my signature loose curls on my ends, smooth my edges and roots and tame *most* of the flyaways. I don’t know if this will totally replace my trusty Buttercup Blow Dryer and Round Brush but I think it will definitely come into heavy rotation in my regular blowout schedule.
If you want to see my first impressions in real time check out my First Impressions Review: Drybar The Double Shot video here:
If you want to see my go to At-Home Salon Blowout Routine check it out here:
