In the words of Fleabag: “hair is everything”. It’s the difference between a good day and a bad day, how confident we feel and whether our outfit sings or whimpers. With that in mind, a good blow dry can be make or break.

Whatever your hair type, heading to the salon and having a professional work their magic on your strands to produce the hairstyle of your dreams is unmatched – and is incredibly difficult to recreate at home, especially if, like me, you find the gymnastics of manoeuvring a round brush and hairdryer challenging. But thankfully, brands are constantly innovating so creating the ultimate blowout at home without damaging your hair is easier and quicker than ever before.

One such brand that’s at the forefront of this innovation is ghd. Legendary in the world of hair, this signature brand is most famous for its hair straighteners and in 2022 launched the first-ever version that could be used on wet hair without leading to breakage and damage. Now, it has released its next pioneering invention: the duet blow dry.

The first ever two-in-one hair dryer brush promises to take all hair types from wet to blow-dried without any heat damage thanks to heat-air Xchange technology which uses airflow to heat the barrel and create a salon-worthy blowout. Sounds pretty good, but does it work? I was lucky enough to get my hands on the tool a couple of weeks before launch to put it to the test.

How I tested

It took me around seven minutes to get around my entire head while testing the duet blow dry (Olivia Perl)

The first thing to note is I have quite a lot of fine, wavy hair that sits around two inches below my shoulders and tends to get quite frizzy when blow-dried. Over the course of two weeks, I used the duet blow dry after washing my hair instead of letting it dry naturally or blow drying with a regular hair dryer and round brush.

Each time I only used the ghd volumizing cream (£18.95, Lookfantastic.com) as a heat protectant and used the same shampoo and conditioner on wash day. When using the tool, I was looking out for how it felt on my hair, how it dried, how my hair felt afterwards and whether it gave me that salon blowout at home.

Ghd duet blow dry

Best: Ghd duet hair dryer brush

Temperature: 120C

What’s included: Heat resistant bag and cleaning brush

Why we love it

Speedy results

Lightweight

Our wet hair didn’t sizzle

Noticeably less frizz

Bristles didn’t snag on our hair

Take note

It’s a large tool

Expensive

We recommend still using a heat protectant just to be on the safe side

The tool itself is quite big with a large round head and fuss-free design with nothing more than just the on and off switch and power cord to note. When I initially turned it on, it was as loud as a regular hair dryer, but the airflow sounded softer thanks to the heat-air Xchange technology. I had to wait around 10 seconds for the two beeps to tell me that it had heated up and was ready to start styling.

I always use heat protection when I style my hair, and I wouldn’t recommend anything different with this tool, despite the promise that it will take your hair from wet to dry with no heat damage, why take the risk? The one I opted for was also by ghd, which has a volumizing element on top of protecting my strands against the heat of the brush.

My first impression was that the soft, plastic bristles didn’t catch on my hair, even when it was wet. The tool itself wasn’t heavy to hold, and I found it easy to guide through my strands, twisting and turning the brush to create movement and enhance the natural volume of my hair. I don’t dry my hair when it’s sopping wet, so I allowed it to dry about 20 per cent before I started styling, but I noticed that any dampness had disappeared after just a few strokes, and, in its place, I was left with smooth, shiny and frizz-free strands – impressive on my naturally wavy hair.

Compared to other hot brushes I’ve used, it didn’t scorch my hair and I was relieved not to hear the dreaded sizzle that I used to get when I’d accidentally start straightening my hair before it was completely dry. Instead, it felt like it was gently drying and styling, even though it only took around seven minutes to get around my entire head which is a vast improvement over my normal blow-dry time. Even better, the lack of frizz was noticeable and on top of that, my hair looked voluminous and peppy.

Once finished with my super speedy blow dry, my hair felt soft – similar to that in-salon feeling that always makes my heart sing. One thing that took me by surprise was that when you flick the switch off (which I accidentally did a couple of times whilst I was styling) the air runs through for a few seconds before it switches off, and that air sounds a lot like a plane taking off.

It’s a pricey investment at nearly £400, but thanks to its genuinely groundbreaking technology and impressive results I saw that matched the promises of more volume, no frizz and more shine, I think it’s worth the investment.

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The verdict: ghd duet blow dry brush

I’m really impressed with this hair dryer brush from ghd. The soft bristles don’t snag on your hair and the low temperature means your hair doesn’t feel like it’s frying when you’re taking it from wet to dry.

It basically cuts out the middleman, wrapping together all of your blow-drying appliances into one lightweight, fuss-free tool. It’s seriously easy to use and gives something as close to a salon-worthy result at home as possible in less than 10 minutes (for my hair type and length, it may take longer if you have curly/coily or really thick/long hair). It is pricey, but this is one of the best hot brushes I’ve used, even without the added wet-to-dry element, so it feels worth the heftier price tag.

So, if you’re all about high-quality results in as little time as possible, then you’ll be adding this hair tool to your routine, pronto. I know I am.

For more hair tools to achieve salon-worthy results at home, read our review of the best hot brushes