The REVLON One-Step Volumizer Hair Dryer and Styler is worth buying if your hair dries into an in-between wavy texture you can’t do much with. The 2.8 in oval barrel smooths damp hair and adds volume in one pass, with no round brush to catch knots. Buy it.
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How this review was made: written from my own video review of this product. Every opinion here is my own, from using it myself.
Quick Verdict
One pass on still-damp hair and the wavy in-between texture I couldn’t do anything with turned into a blowout. The back is stubborn, so I turn it off and let the section cool five seconds. It looks like I had my hair done.
Buy if you:
- Keep catching your hair in knots with a round brush
- Have mid-length to long hair that dries wavy and shapeless
- Want volume plus smoothed ends without holding a dryer in the other hand
- Finish with a curling iron on the bottom and want a clean base first
Skip if you:
- Want it to hold instantly, the crown section needs an off-and-cool pause or it drops
- Style bone-dry hair, this is a damp-hair tool
- Have short hair, the 2.8 in barrel is built for longer lengths
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| Barrel | 2.8 in oval |
|---|---|
| Heat settings | Cool, Low, High |
| Bristles | Nylon pins and tufted bristles |
| Best for | Mid-length to long hair |
| Use on | Damp hair, dries and styles in one step |
| Color | Black |
My Hair Dries Into A Style I Can’t Use
I’d just blow-dried my hair and it did what it always does, settled into that wavy, shapeless in-between texture that’s too frizzy to wear down and too undefined to call a curl. Not straight, not curly, just there. The REVLON One-Step Volumizer Hair Dryer and Styler is what fixes that for me in a few passes. It smooths it out and gives me like a blowout look.
I use it while my hair is still a little bit damp. That matters. Dry hair doesn’t reshape the same way, and this is built to dry and style in one step rather than finish something already set.
The Crown Is Stubborn And Needs A Five-Second Pause
The area around the crown doesn’t hold on the first pass. That’s the one friction I hit every time. I’ll roll the section, then turn the one step volumizer off and let it cool for five seconds while the hair’s still wrapped around the barrel, and then it just seems to hold. Without that pause the lift drops out almost immediately.
It’s not a deal-breaker, but it means this isn’t a thirty-second tool. It’s a few minutes of working section by section, with a little patience at the top.
What The One Step Volumizer Replaces
It replaces a dryer in one hand and a round brush in the other, which is where I kept running into trouble. I was catching my hair in knots trying to twist a brush and aim a dryer at the same time, especially at the back where you’re working blind. With this I’m holding one thing. So much easier.
The price moves, so check the listing before you buy, it’s fluctuated enough over the past few months that timing matters. Over 20,000 units sold last month and a #553 rank in Beauty & Personal Care puts this firmly in mainstream territory, which usually means Amazon reprices it aggressively.
It Isn’t A Straightener And It Isn’t A Curler
People expect one of two extremes and this is neither. It doesn’t flat-iron hair poker straight and it doesn’t make ringlets. The oval barrel with the rounded edges smooths the length while lifting at the root and turning the ends under. That’s the whole look.
Sometimes I’ll leave it straight like that. Other times I’ll come back with my curling iron and add some curls on the bottom, using this as the smooth base underneath. It just looks really nice. It looks like I actually had my hair done.
Who It Suits
It suits anyone doing their own hair at home with mid-length to long hair, which is what the 2.8 in barrel is sized for. If you’re looking for something that’s easy to do yourself and you don’t have to worry about trying to get a brush back there, this is it. The back is the part I’d struggled with most and it’s the part this made simplest.
If your hair’s short, the barrel is too wide to grab much. And if you want something you can run through dry hair at the end of the day, this isn’t the tool, it wants damp hair to work with. If both of those describe you, this won’t fix it, but if you’re working with damp, mid-length or longer hair, it’s the right tool.
Pros
- Smooths the wavy in-between texture into a blowout shape
- Gives me volume at the root, not just smoothness
- One-handed, so no more catching hair in knots with a round brush
- Makes the back of the head manageable on my own
- Works as a clean base if you want to curl the ends after
Cons
- The crown section won’t hold unless you switch it off and cool it for five seconds
- Needs damp hair, not a dry-hair touch-up tool
- The 2.8 in barrel is too large for short hair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use it on hair I’ve already fully dried?
You can, but you won’t get the same result. It’s made to dry and style damp hair in one step, and that’s when the shape actually sets. On bone-dry hair you’ll smooth it a little without much lift.
How do I clean the bristles?
Unplug it, let it cool, then pull the shed hair out of the nylon pins and tufted bristles with your fingers or a comb edge. Do it after every few uses, because trapped hair blocks airflow through the barrel.
Is there a smaller version for shorter hair?
Yes, this 2.8 in barrel is the larger one and Revlon positions it for mid-length to long hair. If your hair sits above the shoulder, look for a narrower barrel in the same line so you can actually wrap a section around it.
What’s the cool setting for?
Setting the hair so it holds its shape. It’s the same idea as the off-and-wait trick I use on the crown, cooling the section while it’s still curved around the barrel locks the shape in rather than letting it fall.
Get it now
REVLON One-Step Volumizer Hair Dryer and Styler
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