When the Dyson Airwrap first came on the scene, like every person with a head of hair, I was intrigued. But it seemed to my immediate eye that the tool was only for long, luscious hair. Every tutorial I saw paled in comparison to the hairstyles I could achieve on my fine, short hair. A few years passed before I finally got one of the elusive tools in my possession, and it quickly became one of my favorite beauty devices of all time. In a few minutes, I can perfectly style my bangs and give myself a smooth blowout. And the Airwrap does so in significantly less damage than other hot tools. However, I don’t get all that excited to tell people it really is worth the hype considering just how damn expensive it is. A $600 hair tool just isn’t in the cards for a lot of people. This had led me to years of testing Dyson Airwrap dupes in effort to find one that truly can stand up next to the original. My most recent obsession? Ella Bella’s 6 in 1 Professional Hot Air Styler.
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About the tool:
With six attachments, this all-in-one air styling tool was made to replace virtually every other device in your cabinets. It features a hair dryer, two rotating curling irons (one for each side of your head), and three hair dryer brushes (one oval, one round, and one paddle for straightening). Similar to the Dyson Airwrap, this device uses hot air, not heated plates, to style, which helps minimize heat damage. The air flow on this thing is pretty damn powerful, reaching speeds of 110,000 RPM. And there are three temperature modes and two speed levels to help you tailor your styling to your hair type and needs (typically, the thicker your hair, the higher the temperature should be; and the same goes for speed). The device also boasts a “noise reduction design” so it sounds a little quieter than others.
About my hair:
My hair is truly as baby-fine as it comes and dries naturally straight. For this reason, it’s usually very soft and silky (love), but refuses to hold a style for longer than an hour or so (hate). I also color my hair (nope, not a natural redhead), so it’s damaged and prone to breakage. I’m growing out my bob haircut right now, so it’s a little past my clavicle—á la the clavi cut—and I have bangs that always require heat styling to look good. Currently, my go-to styles are typically a smooth blowout that makes my ends look less stringy in the bob grow-out period, or soft waves that add movement and texture. All this to say: The Ella Bella Styler has a lot of work to do (sorry!).
Initial thoughts:
I received an initial rendering of this tool nearly a year ago, and it quickly became my go-to Dyson Airwrap dupe. In fact, I keep it at my desk at the office to style my hair after morning workout classes. The brand just released this slightly upgraded version that I hadn’t used yet, and upon first impression, it looks significantly higher quality. When I opened the carrying case and felt the tool, it’s lightweight (aka easy to hold for a long time if you are working with much more hair than I am) but looks luxe. The packaging is
Pros:
- As I said, the packaging feels way fancier than an Amazon hair tool. And the carrying case really comes in clutch for storage. These devices are naturally bulky, making it a real challenge to find a place to stash them in my bathroom. But because this already comes in a chic case, I didn’t feel like I had to shove it in a drawer and hide it away.
- Sometimes, high air flow can make my hair look like a frizzy, tangled mess. But the smoothing technology paired with the adjustable speed settings counteract this, so my hair always looks really silky.
- The 32mm curling wands are a great size for a variety of hair lengths. It fits my short hair well, but there was a lot of space on the plate that could fit longer hair. And the diameter helps create soft, voluminous curls. If you play with how much hair you feed into the wand, that can definitely impact the size of your curls. A small section will create a tight-ish curl, a bigger section will create a soft wave. But don’t worry if you’re used to looking like Shirley Temple when you curl your hair. Because of the air flow, your curls always look fairly natural, never too tight.
- Offering two round brushes is a game-changer for me, especially because the small one is fantastic for styling bangs or face-framing layers. In fact, I actually prefer this over the Dyson for bangs, because the round brush is a teensy bit smaller. It’s also a boar-bristle style that helps smooth out my hair and reduce flyaways. The larger, oval-shaped brush would be amazing for blowing out longer hair (but it’s a bit too large for me).
- All of the attachments are gentle on fine, damaged hair, which really helps cut down on any breakage (something I experience with a lot of hot air tools, especially hair dryer brushes).
- It has a cool shot to help set your style, and this is imperative for increasing the longevity of my curls. I usually curl my hair for 15 seconds, then press the cool shot button continuously for about eight seconds, turn off the device, and let my hair down.
Cons:
- Like the Dyson, this is only applicable for U.S. outlets and will likely break if you try to plug it into a converter abroad. This isn’t the end of the world, but just keep this in mind if you’re a traveler or were thinking this could be an inexpensive option to bring on your summer vacay.
- You also have to really make sure to click the attachment in place and lock it before you turn the device on. The first few times I used it, I didn’t do this, and the round brush promptly flew off the second the air started flowing and flung across the room (lol).
- You really have to use styling products to hold your curls in place a long time. This is common for air stylers, though, and unfortunately comes with the territory. But if you are looking for something that you can style your hair with and wear for days on end, this probably isn’t it.
My results: Does it live up to the hype?
Totally. At under $150 (a true fraction of the cost of the original Airwrap), the Ella Bella 6 in 1 tool is a pretty solid option if you’re looking to spend less money but still get a high-quality tool. I especially love how it works on my short, fine hair, but I could see someone with long hair falling in love with this too. I’ve already stashed mine in the green room at the office for midday touch-ups, and two people have asked if they could try it.
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Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan with more than seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing hair stories.
Beth Gillette is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers skincare, makeup, hair, nails, and more across digital and print. She can generally be found in bright eyeshadow furiously typing her latest feature or hemming and hawing about a new product you "have to try." Prior to Cosmopolitan, she wrote and edited beauty content as an Editor at The Everygirl for four years. Follow her on Instagram for makeup selfies and a new hair 'do every few months.
