BaByliss Style Secret Air review - the £120 styler is the best tool we've tried this year

I was really hoping to find the solution to my hair tool woes in this BaByliss Style Secret Air review. Even equipped with the best curling iron and years of practice, I rarely get the results I want. So, when I was asked to test a brand new styling tool that does all the hard work for you, I jumped at the chance.

As someone who's always on the lookout for the best curling irons for fine hair, I was intrigued to see how the BaByliss Style Secret Air performed. I'm not particularly keen on fancy hair tools; I've still not mastered how to use the Dyson Airwrap properly, so the promise of this simple curling tool was very appealing to me.

The 2-in-1 hairdryer and styler promises to control and wrap the hair around the barrel for quick and easy results - but is it too good to be true? As a self-confessed hair tool novice, I tried the BaByliss Style Secret Air for myself.

Our beauty writer's full BaByliss Style Secret Air review

Our first impressions of the BaByliss Style Secret Air

I'll be honest - when I first pulled the BaByliss Style Secret Air out of its box, I was intimidated. On first impressions, it looks more like a handheld food blender than a styling tool.

What became clear from the instructions was that the BaByliss Style Secret Air was a safe and easy way to create wavy hairstyles, making it ideal for those who struggle to produce curly hairstyles with a traditional tong or have never mastered how to curl hair with straighteners.

The clever tool automatically wraps hair around the whizzing heated barrel, producing fast and tangle-free ringlets. It also allows you to choose from four heat and airflow settings, four timer settings and three rotation directions, meaning you can create a variety of hair looks from Hollywood curls to beachy waves.

How the BaByliss Style Secret Air performed

Equipped with my best hair styling products, I sectioned my hair into four sections and selected the highest temperature setting (200 degrees) and the longest heating time in the hopes of achieving something that resembled bouncy blow-dry. I also selected the correct curl direction for each side of my hair, curling away from my face on either side. It all sounds a bit complex, but the instructions make this easy, and it's intuitive as you're doing it.

I took small sections of hair and pulled them through the slot in the styler, making sure that the ends of my hair were slanting down the side furthest away from my head. This was the hardest bit to get to grips with at first, but after I figured this out, it was a breeze. I then pressed the 'go' button, and the clever heating chamber sucked all my hair up and whizzed it around for a few seconds before releasing after four beeps.

After removing my hair from the chamber, the most gorgeous bouncy ringlets were produced - I was seriously impressed. Full of shine, a lack of frizz and tight curls, the results the BaByliss Style Secret Air produced were enough to rival my beloved Cloud Nine Curling Wand.

What impressed me the most about the BaByliss Style Secret Air is that it's so quick and efficient. While my hair is thin and doesn't take long to dry or style normally, I managed to curl my entire head of hair in about 20 minutes. It also gave me incredibly shiny hair, normally only achieved by adding copious amounts of hair oil post-styling. The above photos are my hair immediately after styling and brushing through with a wide-tooth comb and a generous misting of hairspray.

Because my hair is fine, my curls tend to drop out no matter what I do. While the above ringlets looked amazing, they unfortunately didn't last all day. While they did lose some shape, some relaxed waves remained and impressively survived a battering from Storm Benjamin. If that isn't a true testament to the longevity of the curls produced by the BaByliss Style Secret Air, then I don't know what is.

How does the BaByliss Style Secret Air compare?

For those who have tried the BaByliss Wave Secret Air before, you might spot some similarities with the BaByliss Style Secret Air - and I'm not just talking about their near-identical names.

The main differences are that the previous iteration features a larger ceramic curl chamber that automatically draws in and wraps the hair to create loose, voluminous waves. It includes a cool air system that helps set the style immediately after heating. It's particularly well-suited for longer hair and those looking for soft, flowing waves.

In contrast, the BaByliss Style Secret Air uses a 25mm ceramic barrel with a rotating mechanism to create different looks, either more defined curls, beach waves, or a blow-dry effect. It combines heat and airflow for styling and offers more versatility with four heat/airflow combinations, including an air-only mode for gentler styling and minimal heat damage to your hair. The transparent barrel (not seen in the Wave Secret Air) offers full visibility and has technology that essentially spits your hair back out should you use too large a section, to protect hair from tangling.

While they're very similar tools, they're not exactly the same - BaByliss Style Secret Air, for me, has the edge. It's a smarter device that offers both versatility and a simpler styling process.

BaByliss Style Secret Air: our verdict

Despite being initially terrified of the BaByliss Style Secret Air, I have come to love her. She turned out to be one of the best hair tools I've ever tried.

The results it produces completely rival tools that are three times its price tag, and while it might take a couple of practice sessions before you feel confident, once you understand how this whizzy styler works, you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed.

For a humble £120, the BaByliss Style Secret Air is a bargain that blew me away - it's the best tool I've tried all year, and it's even more impressive that it's the cheapest.

If you're someone who struggles to curl with a classic tong or straighteners but wants something that produces salon-worthy results, then add this genius styler to your Christmas list. You totally deserve it.