A beauty editor reviews the Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush

Not being skilled enough to manoeuvre a round brush and a hair dryer simultaneously, I am a blow dryer brush girl through and through. I’ve tried many during my career as a beauty editor and have a strong steer over what makes a good one. As such, this Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush review will take you through what is (spoiler alert!) one of my favourites on the market. 

You may have heard the name Drybar thanks to its blow dry bars, which are scattered across the USA (and now six locations in England and Scotland). But this brand's hairstyling tools are available to purchase for at-home use, too. The biggest blow dryer brush in the range is the Double Shot, a bumper-sized tool to dry and smooth hair – and one of the best hair dryer brushes on the market.

As I’m so familiar with this particular hot brush, I've shared my in-depth analysis of its capabilities to help you decide if it’s right for you. Below is my full Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush review to help verse you in how it works and how well it performs.

Our contributing beauty editor's full Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush review

Our first impressions of the Drybar The Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush

As I've said, I've used the Drybar Double Shot for a while. The first thing you'll notice when you open the box is its cheerful, bright yellow colour scheme – a signature for the brand. Offset with mid-grey, it’s a fun choice if you want something different from the many more black and/or white blow dry brush designs on the market.

Drybar’s Double Shot brush is an all-in-one deal, so there are no other attachments included in the box or available to purchase separately. The brush head measures 61mm, meaning it has the biggest head of the brand’s three blow dryer brushes. This makes it great for larger sections of hair or long hairstyles generally. (If you're after a smaller brush head like that seen in the Dyson Airwrap review, this isn't the model for you.) The larger, flatter sides of its oval shape are great for smoothing, while the overall size can create big, bouncy sections when curved at an angle. The brush head also features a mix of bristle types, which work to catch and hold your hair to dry and smooth it out. A smooth operator indeed. 

As I've said, I've used the Drybar Double Shot for a while. The first thing you'll notice when you open the box is its cheerful, bright yellow color scheme – a signature for the brand. Offset with mid-grey, it’s a fun choice if you want something different from the many more black and/or white blow dry brush designs on the market.-in ionic technology, a popular inclusion in many of the best hair dryers that works to reduce frizz in your hair for a smoother finish. So far, so good. 

How does Drybar's The Double Shot Blow-Dryer Brush perform?

Onto the crux of my Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush review – how well does it perform? Blow dryer brushes are all designed to be easy to use, but this tool feels especially so. Thanks to its low weight, styling doesn’t feel like an arm workout, and I found that it glided through my hair with ease.

When used on the highest setting it also dried my hair quite quickly, requiring only a few passes through my hair when damp to get it completely smooth and dry. The finished results were also noticeably smooth and shiny, no doubt thanks to that aforementioned ionic technology, but I also think the distribution of the vents comes into play here. 

I like hot brush heads to be on the larger size, partly because I have a lot of hair, so it ticked my boxes on that front, too. Thanks to the flat sides, the brush can easily create both straighter styles with a bit of movement or, when continuously rotating it or wrapping sections of hair around the brush, a more rounded bouncy blow dry look. 

In the interest of balance, there are some areas that could be improved. The dense bristles’ varying length makes for a very sleek finish, catching all of your hair to dry and style it. But the downside to this is that any strands that come loose and get tangled up in the brush are more difficult to remove than they would be from a brush with fewer bristles – but that’s hardly the end of the world and, if anything, it incentivises you to clean it more regularly. As is the case with many blow dryer brushes, Drybar’s Double Shot is also a bit noisy on its highest speed setting. 

How does the Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush compare?

As 2-in-1 hair dryer brushes go, this is my favourite all-in-one tool that has no other attachments. I have quite a lot of hair, so the large brush head speeds up the drying process. It doesn't feel like it's frying my hair. However, if you want something that does more than simply create a smooth blowout, tools like the Dyson Airwrap or Shark FlexStyle offer more versatility in terms of style options. 

Size-wise, The Double Shot is also pretty large, which may not be a necessity for everybody. From Drybar, The Half Shot would suit those who don't want such a small brush head. (Even smaller is The Single Shot, but this is currently only available to buy in the US.) If you aren’t a fan of bright yellow, there are no other options on offer here as it’s the brand’s signature colour. The T3 AireBrush Duo also has a smaller barrel and comes with the added bonus of a second brush head.

Should you buy the Drybar Double Shot Blow Dryer Brush?

I'm sure it's clear by now that I recommend this blow dryer brush, but there's a reason I've used it to style my hair time and time again – several, in fact. I like the large brush head, it’s easy to use, it dries hair fairly quickly, and it yields a smooth finish.

Not only that, my DIY blow dry skills have even been complimented after using it; I’ve even been asked if I’ve just been to the salon for an actual blow dry on more than one occasion. In an ideal world, yes, more attachments would mean more styling options, but I’ve recommended that several people try it – and that’s about as good an endorsement as you’ll get from me.

So if, like me, your preference is a larger barrel, you want sleek and shiny results, and your budget for a blow dryer brush is around the £130 mark, I can't see why you wouldn't get on with Drybar's The Double Shot. It's on my shortlist of the best on the market (and believe me, I've tried a lot of them!).