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Revlon Pro 2-in-1 styler: two-minute review
The Revlon Pro Collection One Step Dryer and Volumiser is a brush dryer that disappoints in terms of looks but delivers when it comes to performance. If you want something purely to create a voluminous blow-dry look, this could well be the best hair styler for you.
This brush dries your hair, smooths and shapes it all in one go, meaning you don’t need a separate hair dryer, and can style one-handed if you want to eat your toast or (for the ambitious) do your makeup at the same time. The oval shape makes it easy to create extra lift at the root, while the large size means you can tackle bigger sections of hair one go.
It’s rather heavy and not especially well balanced, but it’s so efficient that you hopefully won’t need to use it for long enough to get arm-ache. For drying, you have a choice of two settings: lower powered and less hot, or higher powered and hotter. The latter is irritatingly noisy, but since the former dried my hair plenty fast enough, I just stuck with that setting.
While there are a few compromises in terms of design, I had absolutely complaints about the results. This styler consistently left my hair bouncy, smooth and voluminous. If you want more versatility, there are plenty of multi-stylers that enable you to create different looks. Be aware, though, adding more options will also bump up the price; this dedicated brush dryer is extremely budget-friendly. Read on for my full Revlon Pro Collection One Step Dryer and Volumiser review.
Revlon Pro One Step review: price & availability
- List price: $48.88 / £49.99 (regularly discounted)
The Revlon Pro One Step is available at a range of third-party retailers, including the likes of Amazon, Boots in the UK and Walmart in the US. List price seems to vary depending on where you look, but it’s typically in the region of $48.88 / £49.99. This brush styler has been out for a while now, and it’s rare to see it sold at full price these days.
That’s great value for what you’re getting here. While this tool lacks the versatility of a multi-styler, those can end up being a false economy if you end up just using one or two of the functions. If you just want to create bouncy blow-dry styles, it’s a great buy.
Revlon has now brought out a slightly more premium version called the One-Step Volumizer Plus. This has a different-sized, detachable brush, and ‘charcoal-infused nylon pins’, but Revlon is not entirely clear on what these are meant to do.
- Value for money score: 5 out of 5
Revlon Pro Collection One Step review: design
- Traditional looking brush dryer with oval-shaped
- Rotating switch controls temperature and windspeed
- Rather heavy and not particularly well balanced
The Revlon Pro resembles an oversized barrel brush with a chunky handle. At the bottom of this handle – where it meets the 2.5-meter cord – is a single switch that you rotate to select a temperature and speed setting. One rotation enables the cold shot function. A second rotation switches to the lower of the two speed settings, while a final rotation switches to the faster of the two. The heat increases between the speed settings, too.
Instead of having a perfectly rounded barrel, the cylinder is oval, with two slightly flatter, longer sides. This shape helps help lift the hair from the roots and give it more volume.
In a market filled with ever-more stylish hair tools, the Pro Collection One Step isn’t much to look at. Revlon’s bright pink color scheme feels like an unwelcome throwback to the original models. It’s also heavy at 850g, with the long brush design preventing the weight from feeling evenly distributed.
This design choice, however, does make it more compact than a traditional barreled dryer, while saving the hassle of having to take a separate brush when traveling. Plus, its performance soon helps you forget the Revlon Pro’s weight and style shortcomings.
- Design score: 3.5 out of 5
Revlon Pro Collection One Step review: performance
- Dries and styles hair impressively quickly, even on low-power mode
- High-power mode is annoyingly loud
- Left my hair smooth, voluminous and shiny
Even on the lowest of the two speed/temperature settings, the Revlon Pro dried my medium-length fine hair in an impressive three minutes and four seconds. That goes some way to negating its heavy, bulky design – you won’t need to be using it for long. The large size also means you can dry and style big sections of hair in one go. What’s more, because it styles as it dries, my arms didn’t ache from holding a brush and separate dryer at awkward angles – as is the case with some of its rivals – and I didn’t have to do anything to finish my style once it was dry, saving even more time.
This latter point is in part due to the Revlon Pro’s ionic technology, and partly because the temperature remains constant throughout. Unlike with traditional dryers, the Revlon Pro is always at the same distance from the head because the hair is wrapped around it; you can’t accidentally place it too close on one section and too far away on another. This means it dries the hair evenly and gently.
The ionic technology then smoothes the hair and the rounded design shapes it. Throughout my testing, I was consistently impressed with just how voluminous, shiny and smooth my hair looked after using the Revlon Pro.
I didn’t see a noticeable difference in drying times on the hotter, faster setting, and would often dry on the slower mode to help prevent causing unnecessary heat damage. The faster setting is also incredibly, annoyingly loud, annoyingly. In terms of decibels, it’s not drastically different to rivals but the tone of the sound is sharp and grating.
Finally, what I feel is the most significant benefit of the Revlon Pro is the fact you can use it one-handed. When time is tight in the morning, or you just fancy an extra few minutes in bed, you can apply make-up at the same time as drying your hair. Believe me, I do this regularly. If that’s a little too ambitious, you can enjoy a cup of tea or eat toast at the same time. This, for me, is a game-changer.
- Performance score: 4 out of 5
- First reviewed: October 2019
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