My John Frieda Hot Air Brush Review – Too Good To Be True?

It’s time for my John Frieda Hot Air Brush review – because at first sight, it looks like a great tool:

• really affordable
• uses a protection technology
• works for any type of hair

But honestly – at this price, it seems too good to be real. So is this hot brush that useful – or there’s a scam behind?

I tried to dig deep into this product and here’s the truth I found out.

Note: This review is based on my personal experience with John Frieda’s brush.

 

So Let’s Get To The Review

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Full Name: Hot Air Brush by John Frieda

Sizes: There are 2 versions: 1 inch and 1.5 inches

Best Actual Price: Around $40

Cheapest Place To Buy: Ebay or Amazon:

• Ebay has the lowest prices (if you find the right seller)
• the prices from Amazon are quite constant

Designed For: Straightening or curling any type of hair.

It’s great if your hair tends to be frizzy – because it has a special technology that prevents it.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Worth Buying?: Pretty much yes. It’s a good tool for these money, but it’s surely not perfect.

So I wouldn’t recommend it for thick or damaged hair. But in other cases, it’s worth buying – especially at this price.

 

What I Liked About It

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• Controls frizzy hair really well
• Adds some extra volume (even to thin hair)
• Really cheap – compared to most similar tools
• The brush is really soft so it doesn’t tangle hair

 

What I Didn’t Like About It

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• Heating button is badly made and uncomfortable
• Pretty small and short for thick hair
• Doesn’t protect the hair too well (in my case at least)
• I also couldn’t see any extra shine, as they claim
• Only 1 and 1.5 inches sizes
• Pretty slow – you need at least 30 minutes to style all your hair
• Only American voltage – so you can’t use it in Europe or Asia

 

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#1. Technology (9 out of 10)

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In my opinion – a tool’s technology is the equivalent of a product’s ingredients.

For this reasons, it’s one of the most important aspects.

Now – John Frieda’s brush has 2 special technologies. So let’s take them by turn.

1. Ionic Technology – here’s why it’s so special:

• there are positive ions in the atmosphere
• these ions cause frizziness and static electricity
• John Frieda’s brush produces negative ions
• these negative ions neutralize the positive ones from the atmosphere

That’s the reason why many hot brushes make your hair frizzy:

• they don’t have any ionic proprieties

On the other hand, John Frieda’s brush manages to solve this problem due to this special technology. But that’s not all:

2. Ceramic Technology – it’s better for protection:

• distributes the heat evenly all over the brush
• in this way, there are no hotter spots
• so your hair is better protected

Now – this brush has a coating of both ceramic and titanium. It’s actually a combination of these 2.

In case you didn’t know – titanium offers a better protection than ceramic.

Conclusion: These 2 technologies of John Frieda’s brush are great – especially for a $40 tool.

The only downside I can find is that the coating isn’t all titanium. That would have protected the hair even better.

 

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#2. Brush & Features (8.50 out of 10)

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Leaving aside the technology, here’s what you should know about the brush end:

1. The bristles are really soft.
2. That’s one of the reasons why the hair doesn’t get frizzy (besides the ionic technology).
3. It also increases your hair’s volume.
4. It works using an airflow.
5. Has 2 heats and a cool setting.
6. Looks a bit cheap (it’s very light and feels like it can break easily).

Now – John Frieda’s tool claims to have 3 major features:

• anti-frizz protection (I’ve already discussed it)
• extra volume
• ultimate shine

To be honest – I don’t really agree with the last one. But more on that later on.

Anyway – I do admit this tool is great for frizzy hair and it also adds some volume. After all, it’s a brush – and brushing your hair alone adds extra volume.

Conclusion: I’m not the biggest fan of the brush end, because it doesn’t seem very high quality.

But considering it has soft bristles and does its job (at least for a while) – I can’t really complain.

 

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#3. How To Use It (9 out of 10)

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Basically, you can use John Frieda’s tool for 3 major things:

• straightening
• curls or rather waves
• smoothing frizzy hair

In these 3 situations – it works really good.

Now – I don’t recommend using this tool on wet hair. Even the label recommends having your hair at least 80% dry before you use it.

Truth it – it also works on wet hair and styles it really nicely. But you run the risk of hair damage – if you do it often.

So if you’re looking for a styling tool that works directly on wet hair, I wouldn’t recommend this one. 

In case you were wondering how exactly you should use this tool – here’s how I do it:

1. Turn it on and choose one of the 2 heats.
2. I recommend using the low heat until you get used to it.
3. There’s also a cool mode – but it’s not very effective from what I saw.
4. Take one strand of your hair.
5. Add the brush from the root all the way down to the end.
6. If you want a curl, roll up the ends and hold it for about 10 seconds.
7. In case the curl doesn’t look too well – do it with the highest heat mode.
8. You can also change to cool mode before you release the curl.

What I personally don’t like is that there’s one button for all 3 heats. You have to switch it – but it’s pretty badly created:

• the bottom is low heat
• the middle is high heat
• cool mode is the top switch

So it’s pretty uncomfortable until you get used to it. You always feel like switching to top for the highest heat – which is actually in the middle.

Plus – when you use the high heat, the handle gets pretty hot. So holding it isn’t that easy.

 

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#4. How It Works (7 out of 10)

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To be honest – John Frieda’s product wasn’t my favorite hot brush ever:

• I liked some of its features
• it really disappointed me from other points of view

So let me sum up how it worked for me.

1. The Positive Side – at some chapters, it’s really good:

• protects my hair from usual tangles and frizz
• creates some nice curl patterns
• really smooths frizzy hair

Besides – I could get the curls I wanted with the low heat. I didn’t have to use the highest setting.

However, my hair is naturally curly – so that might explain.

If your hair is very thin and soft – the low heat might not be enough.

2. The Negative Side – here’s what bothers me most:

• no extra shine – as they claim to have (at least in my case)
• I noticed some damaged ends several weeks after using it
• so no great protection
• not so good for straightening hair

Now – as I have naturally curly hair, this tool created nice curls for me.

But when it came to straightening my hair – it wouldn’t last a lot. The hair would become wavy a few hours after.

Conclusion: After trying it out – I realized it’s not so amazing.

If your hair is straight, it’s not going to create amazing curl. But it will straighten your hair really nicely – and it’s the opposite for curly hair.

So it’s not the kind of miraculous tool – as I initially thought.

 

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#5. Sizes (8 out of 10)

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You can find John Frieda’s tool in 2 versions:

• 1 inch
• 1.5 inches

Now – I have the largest one and I have the feeling it’s pretty small. Here’s what I mean:

• if your hair is thick, you can’t roll up a large hair strand
• instead, you need to take a small one 

Let’s say you need about 30 seconds per hair strand (though you might need more).

If your hair is thick – you would surely need at least 30 minutes to finish.

So the 1.5 inch version seems too small to me. There’s no point mentioning the 1 inch one – which is even smaller.

Conclusion: I wish they had a larger size as well.

The 1.5 inch version is okay for thin or average hair. But if yours is thicker – I don’t really recommend it. You will need too much time to style your hair with this brush.

 

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#6. Price (10 out of 10)

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Honestly, when it comes to price – this tool is hard to beat:

• the 1.5 inch version costs around $40
• shipping is also included
• you can get an even better price on Ebay

Now – there’s something I need to mention.

On Amazon, I managed to find the 1.5 inch size for around $40-$45. 

But surprisingly, the smallest version (1 inch) costs about the double – around $80.

So if you decide to get John Frieda’s hot tool – I strongly advise you to get the larger version:

• much cheaper overall
• easier to use – since it’s longer

Conclusion: Overall, the price of the 1.5 inch tool is really good – most of us probably afford it.

 

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#7. Other Opinions (9 out of 10)

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I decided to take a look at other customer reviews – so that I can give an honest verdict about this tool.

Note: I only considered those reviews that were authentic.

So here’s what I found out:

1. The reviews were mostly positive.
2. People were praising it most for the low price.
3. In terms of how it works, I found mixed opinions.
4. Some people said it worked just like salon tools.
5. Others complained it broke off short after they received it.

But here’s one interesting fact:

Most negative reviews complained about the bad quality – not about how it worked.

Now – I doubt anyone paid attention to hair shine, as I did. In my case, there wasn’t any – even though the label promised.

But I’m sure most people did pay attention to the volume and frizziness.

So if there weren’t lots of complaints – John Frieda’s tool is surely not bad.

 

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#8. Final Conclusions

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Here’s what I would remember about John Frieda’s hot brush:

1. Great For Frizzy Hair – actually, it’s one of best tools I tried at this chapter:

• uses a special ionic technology
• prevents static electricity
• makes hair look smoother

Now – if your hair isn’t very frizzy normally, you probably wont’t see any difference. But otherwise, there should be a change.

2. Works Differently For Hair Types – here’s what I mean:

• creates nice curls for curly/wavy hair
• smooths hair perfectly if it’s naturally straight

However – if your hair is normally curly, this tool won’t straighten it too well. That was my own case – and the hair started getting wavy in a few hours.

On the other hand, the curls it creates for straight hair aren’t that nice either.

So it works differently – depending on your hair type.

3. Quite Cheap – compared to other tools, John Frieda’s product is very affordable:

• costs around $40
• you can buy it from several retailers

To be honest, it’s one of the most affordable hot brushes I tried.

Plus – it has 2 pretty good technologies, so it’s surely not a bad quality tool.

 

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My Verdict – Is John Frieda’s Brush Worth It?

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Short answer: Pretty much yes.

It’s not my top recommendation – but at this price, it’s worth giving a shot.

Overall – it’s a great tool, especially because the 2 technologies it has. But it also has some downsides:

1. Doesn’t protect the hair as it claims (in my case at least).
2. No extra shine.
3. Doesn’t curl straight hair too well (or straighten curly hair).
4. You need a pretty long time to style all your hair (especially if it’s thick).

Other than that – I have mostly praises for John Frieda’s hot brush.

As I said – it’s not my favorite tool ever, but I must admit it’s a great option for these money.

I wouldn’t recommend it for:

• thick hair
• different curl patterns
• people who need a wet+dry tool
• hair that it damaged or prone to damage
• people who want a quality tool

But other than those categories – I think it’s a good choice, especially for the short term.