I may pretend that I’m immune to the influence of TikTok, but the WavyTalk Thermal Brush has just proven that I am definitely not. After months of scrolling past rave review after rave review, I caved and spent $46 on it despite being a beauty editor with a closet full of luxury hair tools I usually receive free of charge. I don’t like to admit it, but TikTok was right about this one.
This heated round hairbrush is the star of, I kid you not, tens of thousands of videos highlighting its ability to deliver a near-effortless, high-volume blowout on hair types ranging from thick and kinky to fine and straight. As its affordable price suggests, it’s a very simple tool: a heated round hairbrush with a one-and-a-half-inch barrel and two heat settings (350 and 410 degrees Fahrenheit). It doesn’t tout any hi-tech features. It doesn’t blow air to dry the hair, even though it looks like it should. Hell, the model I have doesn’t even turn itself off after a certain time frame (a hot tool feature I’ve never risked going without because I’m a forgetful girlie). But do not let that prevent you from experiencing its near-unbelievable efficiency.
I don’t know what secret magic the WavyTalk Thermal Brush contains, but it’s given me the most voluminous hair I’ve ever had. For context: I have very fine hair that’s also very flat at the top. Lately, I’ve been styling my hair exclusively in wavy blowouts with a round hairbrush and blow-dryer, a technique that gives me lots of texture and volume but often falls flat pretty quickly, even if I flip my head upside-down after and douse my hair with texture and holding sprays.
But the first time I used the WavyTalk brush, it delivered similar results but in half the time—and, magically, my results held up through an entire night out in New York City with fewer styling products (just a texture spray and some pomade for flyaways) than I’ve previously been using. Most people use this brush to straighten their hair and give it a little bump inward or outward at the ends, like a classic ‘90s blowout, but I take a slightly different approach, using an outward twisting motion to achieve waves like I normally would while drying my hair with a round hairbrush. I also brush upward a bit at the roots to accommodate for my hair’s lack of God-given vertical. And because this brush seems catered to hair that’s much thicker and longer than mine, I have to work in really big sections because if I don’t, my hair will slip right off the brush. That may sound like an annoyance, but it means I can style my whole head in less than 10 minutes.