When it comes to flawless hairstyling, blowouts are the way to go.

With a beautiful shine and unbeatable volume, blowouts are the perfect way to keep your hair looking healthy and gorgeous between cuts and colors. But unfortunately, this look only lasts about 3-5 days. With eight weeks or more in between haircuts, maintaining a blowout schedule that keeps your locks lookin’ fabulous can create quite the dent in your bank account. And let’s face it—most of us would rather funnel that money into our food budget for the month.

So, when InStyler sent Sweety High their AIRLESS Blowout Revolving Styler, I was beyond excited to give it a try.

The Product

The newest release from InStyler, the AIRLESS uses the signature revolving barrel that can be found in many of the brand’s other products to mimic the powerful combination of a round brush and blow dryer, without the need for both tools. Instead, the AIRLESS uses a heated barrel paired with natural boar and ionic bristles to style the hair. The heated barrel holds the style, while the bristles are designed to reduce frizz and deliver a beautiful shine to your hair. It also includes two-way rotation, a removable bristle pod, four heat settings and automatic shutoff. 

The Experience

I was pretty excited to rip open the product’s packaging and dive right into the trial. No matter what I do, I’ve never been able to get the hang of using a round brush with a blow dryer. Trying to coordinate using those two tools together was always way too difficult for me, so one product that merged them together sounded like the perfect solution to my problem.

The AIRLESS packaging was very simple and organized. It arrived in a rectangular box with a lid that lifted right off. The Styler and removable heat guard were both encased in a plastic mold on the inside, with a small instruction booklet and an insert with styling tips for actually using the AIRLESS. Three styles were suggested: the classic, the bombshell and the undone.

The classic style is the most straightforward. You detangle your hair and separate it into 1-2 inch pieces, starting with the lower layers. You use the AIRLESS in a similar way to a straightener, clamping it over your chosen strand of hair at the roots with the barrel underneath and the bristles on top. Then you simply close the barrel and glide it to the end of the strand, repeating the process until you’ve done every section of hair. The classic style is meant to result in a straight blowout look with shiny and polished hair.

The bombshell style follows the same process as the classic style, but the end goal is a higher-volume version of the classic blowout. To achieve this look, you simply close the AIRLESS over your hair at the roots, but this time you let the barrel rotate for a few seconds before gliding it down to the end of your hair. The result is still a straight style, but with slightly more volume and body.

The undone look introduces curls and waves into your blowout. To achieve it, you wrap one-inch sections of your hair around the barrel, close the AIRLESS and let it rotate for a few seconds without moving it. Then, you let the curl drop off the barrel. Depending on how long you hold the hair, the end result can range from loose waves to tight curls.

After reading the instructions and styling tips, I was ready to give this bad boy a try. I popped it out of the plastic mold, plugged it in and chose my heat setting. There are four settings available—295, 340, 385 and 430. Because my hair is fairly thin and fine, I chose the lowest setting.

(Before using InStyler)

There is one disadvantage to the AIRLESS. Because it doesn’t use a blow dryer, you have to be sure your hair is completely dry before using it, so you don’t burn or damage your strands. I often let my hair air-dry, so it wasn’t really an inconvenience for me, but if you want to style your hair directly after showering, the AIRLESS does require the added step of drying your hair first.

I decided to combine the classic and bombshell methods for my first style because they both result in a straight look. I followed the directions exactly, switching from holding the barrel at the roots for a few seconds, to immediately gliding it to the end of my hair, and found that the tool produced much of the same result as my straightener at home. However, I often have to go over my strands multiple times to achieve a completely kink-free look at home, while the AIRLESS produced perfectly straight strands on the first try in most cases.

I didn’t really notice a different when I let the barrel sit at my roots (the chosen method of the bombshell style). But my hair is very long, so it’s likely the added weight of the rest of my hair was flattening the entire look. It also took me a moment to adjust to the open heating barrel. I’m used to my straightener, which is thinner and less hot to the touch on the outside. It took a couple of tiny burns to my ear to remind me that I had to be more aware of this larger barrel.

The classic/bombshell look turned out fairly as-expected. My hair was straight, but it didn’t look much different from the times I used my straightener at home, despite an extra shine that I did love. I liked the end result, but I wasn’t completely wowed…yet.

(After straightening with InStyler)

Now, it came time for my favorite part—trying out the undone style. I was especially excited to try this style because I always prefer a tousled and wavy look to my hair. I think it complements my face more, but I’ve stopped attempting to curl my hair at all in recent months. I used to curl it with my straightener, but the longer my hair’s gotten, the harder it’s become to maintain a curl. Usually only the ends curl, creating an awkward look with my layered locks. It also doesn’t hold the curls very well, no matter how much hairspray I use. The easy solution is purchasing a curling iron, but the thought of adding another tool to my styling drawer sounds annoying. Plus, curling irons take forever on my hair, and I’m way too impatient to spend 45 minutes styling it.

The undone style was very easy to accomplish. By this time, I was used to the larger barrel of the AIRLESS, and wrapping my hair around it and waiting was just so simple. The styling tips suggests allowing the barrel to rotate for 3-5 seconds, but I found it took more like 7-10 to develop a really nice curl to my hair. This could partly be due to the length, and partly due to the fact that I was trying to curl it after already straightening it, rather than right after it air-dried.

I also used the two-way rotation more while attempting the undone style. It added more texture to my fairly thin hair by twirling the curls different ways, and it was so easy to change direction that it added no time at all to my curling process.

The end result was amazing. My hair fell in these awesome beachy waves that perfectly framed my face. They weren’t overly curly, but each strand curled all the way down, rather than just at the ends. The best part? The entire style only took me 15 minutes!

(Curled with InStyler)

Bottom Line

I absolutely love the AIRLESS revolving styler. At first, I was a little wary of the product. It seemed like a glorified straightener and I wasn’t completely sure that it was going to add anything to my hair. The straight style didn’t really abate my worries. Straight is straight and my hair did look shiny, so the AIRLESS was effective—but did that make it worth the $125 price tag?

After curling my hair with the AIRLESS, all my doubts melted away. Not only did it create wonderful volume and body in my hair, the curls actually lasted all day—and that was without hairspray. The ability to curl and straighten my hair beautifully with just one tool was the real selling point. Plus, both styles were accomplished in record time, which totally cemented my seat aboard the AIRLESS train.

Using this tool definitely takes some getting used to if you’re accustomed to using a typical straightener, and it does require the added step of drying your hair—but the myriad of styles you can create with just one lightweight product makes purchasing this item totally worth it.

 

The AIRLESS is great, but if you still prefer a classic curling tool, click HERE to see the best curling irons for your hair texture and length.