Cult US brand Drybar has launched its hair styling collection in the UK – but will it blow us away?

Best: Overall

Rating: 9/10

Packaged in a box with an opening flap, this styling iron comes with an instructions booklet and two-year guarantee. The vibrant yellow straighteners have a professional length 9ft grey cord and mirror finish titanium plates, bringing both a practical and bougie hair tool aesthetic.

When plugging them in, we would have liked a heat resistant stand or mat, but you can rest them on top of their box. They have a digital reader light signalling whether the iron is switched on or off, as well as power and temperature + or – buttons on their inner plate. An automatic switch off kicks in at 60 minutes, relieving the panic that we’d left them on when going out. The temperature is displayed, and can go up to 230C. We went for a comfortable 180C, which was reached within seconds.

Closing the plates and running them down our fine hair, we immediately saw poker straight strands that looked shiny too. Their slimline 1in width helps you cover your hair from root to tip and created a precise straightened finish to our tester’s long locks. The style held firmly in place overnight and throughout the next day, even while we were at a blustery outdoor event. You can also add waviness by pulling down and twisting strands away from your face.

Best: For root volume

Rating: 9/10

Designed for use before drying, we applied the foam from its nozzle applicator aerosol bottle directly onto our damp locks. Working the vegan mousse into roots, it absorbed easily, with a cream-like consistency and didn’t leave any crunchiness. Small spritzes of mousse come out one at a time, so we weren’t overwhelmed with a big lump and there was no excess to wipe off. This also gives you more precision when covering the hair, while giving stray baby hairs some extra lift.

While drying our hair, the vanilla, jasmine, and sandalwood scent spread was potent, bringing salon-like vibes. The overall finish was evenly distributed height from our crown to our front hairline, and a noticeable softness without any remaining residue whatsoever.

Best: For tousled waves

Rating: 8/10

We tried Drybar’s 1.25in barrel curling iron, which also comes as a 1in size. The sunny yellow tong has a two-year consumer guarantee just like the straighteners. Its yellow clamp matches the handle, while a contrasting grey 9ft long cord and ionic mineral infused barrel stay true to the Drybar colour scheme. Comfortable to hold, there is a rubbery clamp control button which lifts to place strands under, with the cute message “peace, love and blowouts” printed on it. A power button joins temperature control options and a digital display to show the heat. After turning the tool on, we let it warm to 177C. Heating up in seconds, once the display had stopped flashing, we knew it was ready to use. Wrapping strands around the tong was easy, and we didn’t burn our fingers because the clamp allows enough room to both wind and secure hair.

We liked brushing curls through and found the iron created beachy waves that mimicked a professional finish. By increasing the heat, we found you can create bigger, bouncier curls. While you could separate into sections, we liked tonging random parts of our hair to add a tousled effect. From our testing experience, we’d say this tool is for relaxed curls rather than a tightly wound corkscrew. Some of the bounce dropped overnight, but we could still see waviness after waking up. The fact they have an automatic switch off feature after 60 minutes brings us peace of mind too.

Best: For a hair refresh

Rating: 8/10

After spraying the powdery formula onto our greasy do, we instantly noticed its fresh, floral scent. White residue is inevitable when first applying dry shampoo, and the challenge can be getting it to rub in. While brushing the product through, the vegan powder – made from micro-fine rice – did indeed disperse quickly. Fluffing up any flatness, we were impressed by how well it rubbed in with little effort. A small spritz went a long way, adding volume and removing any oiliness.

Available in a few scents including coconut colada, we loved the woody citrus notes in the “lush” version as they reminded us of a brightening perfume. Its this luxe scent that really brings the salon experience to your home. You can shop other versions of this dry shampoo too, including brunette and invisible options.

Best: For a smoothing blow-dry

Rating: 8/10

Presented in a box with two concentrator nozzle attachments, we also found a two-year consumer guarantee and operating instructions.

Just like Drybar’s other hair tools, this hair dryer come with a two-year guarantee and operating instructions. We did spot that within each box there’s a plastic insert, which doesn’t feel particularly necessary and could be improved on from a sustainability perspective. As directed by the leaflet, we watched a handy video on the Drybar website and learnt some hair drying tips, such as gripping hair in a certain way to create waves and body. The bright yellow hair dryer has a grey cord and detailing, and its slimline shape feels smooth in our grip, while being quite lightweight too.

You can choose the width of the nozzle depending on your hair length and thickness, and we alternated between both. There are three heat and two speed intensity settings, as well as a cool air button, and its powerful 1875W motor meant we saw a much faster drying time than other models we’ve tried. The 9ft cord is also a welcome feature, as it allowed us to move the tool near our bedroom mirror.

We aren’t the best at creating a professional looking blow-dry (even with the instructions), but we were pleased with how smooth our hair looked after use, when its natural state is frizzy and flyaway.

Best: Heat protection on dry hair

Rating: 8/10

Designed to be applied onto dry hair, we love the ease of this vegan spray for a last minute styling or refresh (particularly if you forget to add heat protector at the drying stage). Plus, it can protect hair from heat up to 232C. After shaking the aerosol bottle, we lifted sections of our hair and generously spritzed from top to bottom. The scent features coconut, amber and vanilla, and although we found it quite strong on application, it did settle as the formula dried. The mist is fine and was invisible once dry on our locks, with the applicator evenly dispersing the formula to make this a quick and easy product to use ahead of heat styling.

Best: Multi-tasking hair spray

Rating: 8/10

Available in different size and fragrance options, we sampled the biggest 118g blanc scent bottle. This has a sweet coconut and vanilla fragrance that we picked up on immediately, as well as warming amber. Pushing down on the aerosol spray nozzle, and spraying about five inches from our hair, we saw an even cloud of mist rain down. Gently adding texture, we could feel only a subtle veil of product. Yet the style of our strands, whether straight or wavy, was held in place. The vegan spray offers definition, volume and hold minus any stiffness, and the creamy scent lingers on strands too.