This Wacky $400 Hair Drying Vacuum (Yes, Vacuum) Gives a Great Blowout
The RevAir is a hair-drying vacuum that excels at gently stretching, straightening, and smoothing Type 3 and 4 curl patterns—thick, dense, curly/coily/kinky hair—in record time. After eight months of testing it on my daughter and myself, I am convinced that, for some people, this pricey hair tool is absolutely worth it.
This utterly absurd-looking appliance is the first hair-styling tool I’ve tested that I feel comfortable recommending for anyone who has hair long enough to get sucked up into the handheld, heat-producing wand, no matter their hair texture and curl type.
However, for those of us who have hair that is thick, dense, curly/coily/kinky, extra long, fragile, or some combination, it’s not hyperbole to call the RevAir revolutionary. It’s unusually gentle on hair—and it speeds up the overall styling process from damp hair to your desired look.
It’s pricey, it’s bulky, and it works—quickly and gently. For hair that’s fragile or difficult to blow dry with a conventional hair dryer, the RevAir is worth considering.
How it works
The RevAir uses “reverse air” technology (vacuum suctioning power and heat) to simultaneously dry, stretch, straighten, and smooth hair. It’s useful for folks who often wear their naturally curly hair straight—as I did for 20 years, before having children and finally letting my natural curl pattern shine more frequently. It’s also useful for those of us who rock our natural curls but want a gentle option to straighten our hair for length checks or the occasional blowout look, or in preparation for braiding. I’ve even found this tool useful to quickly stretch and dry twist outs (video), which notoriously can take days to air-dry. And it’s especially useful for tender-headed kids.
No one is more surprised by this wholehearted recommendation than me. I initially started testing the RevAir with extreme skepticism and disdain, fully expecting to use it and dismiss it instantly, thus relegating it to the already crowded Competition section of Wirecutter’s hair dryers guide.
Big and bulky
The device is huge. Unless your home belongs on MTV Cribs, your bathroom countertops or cabinets probably aren’t large enough for this gauche, microwave-sized machine, an aesthetic conundrum that might cause Marie Kondo devotees to question the meaning of life. But despite its humongous footprint, the RevAir sparks more joy than almost any other appliance I’ve ever owned. Its inimitable performance on my hair far outweighs its visual flaws. I would store it in the trunk of my car if I had no other space for it.
And although the entire contraption weighs a whopping 10 pounds, the hose-attached wand you hold up to your head is only around 2 pounds. The wand is heavier than our hair dryer picks, but it generally requires less maneuvering to use (you feed your hair into the wand instead of raising the wand to meet your hair).
Fast and easy
I used the RevAir to straighten my daughter’s long, thick 3A/3B curls in a mind-boggling 15 minutes, without a single complaint from her. That’s half the time it took me to dry her hair with the Dyson Airwrap, and with much less hair shedding and a better styling result.
As for me, my dense 3C/4A kinky curls fell into straight formation within 25 minutes the first time I used the tool on myself, a time record I’m not sure even my beloved stylist of two decades can match with her brush and her Dyson Supersonic Professional Edition, a costlier variant of another upgrade pick in Wirecutter’s hair dryers guide. (I have the kind of hair that requires booking two back-to-back appointments at Drybar to get enough stylist time to complete my lewk.) As I’ve become more adept at using the RevAir, I can now knock out a full-head blowout in 20 minutes flat. Although it’s not as perfect as a professional blowout, my hair stays healthy and gets straighter than it has with any other method I’ve tried.
The RevAir can dry your hair completely in a fraction of the time any other method would take, but that alone does not necessarily make it worth the steep price. Because the RevAir treats every vacuumed section of hair to the exact same air pressure, it stretches hair evenly. In addition, because it dries, straightens, and smooths at the same time, no brush or brush attachment required, it puts less tension on the hair, and thus creates less opportunity for breakage or other damage.
As with most standard hair dryers, you’ll need another tool for curled or flat-ironed looks.
It’s pricey, but you can catch it on sale
Hundreds of dollars is a lot of money to spend on a single-purpose tool, but the RevAir does often go on sale. And though it feels sturdy, but if anything goes wrong in the first year, it’s covered by a 12-month “Never Be Without” warranty. That means if yours breaks down, the company will send you a replacement before you even return the faulty machine. It’s also free to return for any reason during the first 30 days after purchase (minus original shipping costs, if any).
This article was edited by Tracy Vence and Annemarie Conte.
Further reading
How to Dye Your Hair at Home (Even Though You Probably Shouldn’t)
by Lesley Stockton
If you’re up for temporary solutions, these are the stylist-approved at-home hair dye options that are less likely to damage your hair.
The Best Hair Straightener
by Hannah Waters and Tiffany Kelly
We've tested 11 hair straighteners on four heads of hair, and we’ve found that the GVP Ceramic Titanium Digital is the most maneuverable full-size flat iron.
The Best Pubic Hair Trimmer
by Dorie Chevlen
The Panasonic Electric Body Hair Trimmer and Groomer for Men ER-GK60-S is the best powered tool for grooming pubic hair.
What’s the Best Vacuum for Pet Hair?
by Sabine Heinlein
We recommend six vacuums that have the tools, power, and maneuverability to tackle pet fur in your carpets, on your couch, or in your car.
