Hair Styling Tools for Wavy Hair

Wavy hair is the type that can go either way, which sounds like an advantage until you are buying tools for it.

By Scooter M.Published September 7, 2026Last updated September 7, 2026

How this page is funded: the buy links below are affiliate links, and Heat Index earns a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Nothing on this page was supplied by a manufacturer, and commission plays no part in the ranking — read the full disclosure. Picks are chosen from published specifications, not from hands-on testing; the method is written down so you can check it.

Wavy hair sits between straight and curly and behaves like both depending on how it is handled. Left alone it goes wavy and often a bit frizzy. Blown out with a concentrator it goes straight. Diffused it goes curlier than you expect. Waved with a tool it goes properly beachy.

Which makes the buying question different from every other page here. Wavy hair does not need a specialized tool. It needs tools that can do more than one thing, because you will want more than one thing.

What wavy hair needs, in order

Both attachments. A concentrator for smoothing and a diffuser for enhancing. Most dryers ship one and not the other, and that is the thing to check.
A cool shot, because whichever direction you take it, the finish holds by cooling.
Moderate power. Wavy hair is rarely dense enough to need 2,000W and rarely fine enough to need a 140F floor.
Something that makes waves deliberately — a waver or a large barrel — because natural waves are usually uneven and the fix is to redo them properly rather than to fight them.
Frizz control, since wavy hair is prone to it. Mostly technique rather than a tool.

Quick picks

Ranked, with the reasoning underneath. Tap any row to jump to that write-up; tap the price to check it on Amazon. Prices come from the live layer, never from this page.

#	Product	Best for	Type	Price
1	No photoDrybar Buttercup Blow Dryer1,875W at 1 lb 2 oz, which is the combination almost nothing else in the category manages, plus a 9-foot cord that changes how you can stand.	A full-power dryer that is genuinely light	1,875W ionic dryer	Check price#ad
2	No photoBed Head Wave Artist Tourmaline Ceramic Deep WaverA three-barrel waver produces the S-bend directly instead of asking you to curl and then brush it out, which is a completely different and much faster route to the same look.	Beachy waves without curling anything	Deep waver	Check price#ad
3	No photoRevlon One-Step Volumizer PLUS 2.0A 2.4-inch oval barrel at 1,100W and 15 ounces: the tool that made at-home blowouts a normal thing, in its most refined version.	A first blow-dry brush that does not need technique	One-step dryer brush	Check price#ad
4	No photoDyson Airwrap i.d. Multi-Styler and DryerIt wraps hair around the barrel with airflow rather than heat, and it holds below 302F while doing it. That is a genuinely different mechanism, not a better version of a curling iron.	Curling with air instead of a hot barrel	Coanda multi-styler	Check price#ad

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#1 · A full-power dryer that is genuinely light

Drybar Buttercup Blow Dryer

1,875W at 1 lb 2 oz, which is the combination almost nothing else in the category manages, plus a 9-foot cord that changes how you can stand.

Published specifications for the Drybar Buttercup Blow Dryer, each linked to its source
Power	1,875 watt motorsource
Settings	3 heat settingssource
Weight	1 lb 2 ozsource
Cord	Professional 9 ft cordsource
Attachments	Two concentrator nozzlessource
Warranty	2-year limited warrantysource

What those numbers mean

Full wattage at 1 lb 2 oz is the specification to notice. The Conair AC dryer with the same nominal power weighs twice as much, and weight is the variable that decides whether you finish the blowout.

A 9-foot cord is not a luxury feature. It is the difference between standing where the mirror is and standing where the outlet is, and it is why salon dryers all have them.

Two concentrators and no diffuser tells you who this is for. It is a smoothing dryer for a blowout, not a curl tool.

What it does well

1,875W at 1 lb 2 oz, the best power-to-weight ratio here
9-foot professional cord
Two concentrator widths in the box

What it does not

No diffuser, so curly routines need a separate purchase
Only three heat settings and no published temperature
Priced well above equivalent-wattage drugstore dryers

Skip this one if: Skip it if you diffuse rather than blow out. There is no diffuser in the box and the whole tool is designed around a concentrated smoothing stream.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

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#2 · Beachy waves without curling anything

Bed Head Wave Artist Tourmaline Ceramic Deep Waver

A three-barrel waver produces the S-bend directly instead of asking you to curl and then brush it out, which is a completely different and much faster route to the same look.

Published specifications for the Bed Head Wave Artist Tourmaline Ceramic Deep Waver, each linked to its source
Temperature	High heat up to 400Fsource
Technology	2X tourmaline ceramic technologysource
Barrel	Deep wave barrel for beach or sculpted wavessource
Voltage	Dual voltagesource
Dimensions	14.3 x 2.5 x 4.6 insource

What those numbers mean

A waver clamps a whole section at once and puts the bend in with one press. Curling the same section and brushing it out takes several times as long and is much harder to keep even.

The trade is that the wave shape is fixed by the barrel. You cannot make it looser or tighter; you get the S-bend the tool makes.

400F is high for what this is doing. Waves set with a lot of contact area and hold well below the maximum, so treat the top of the dial as headroom rather than a starting point.

What it does well

Produces the wave directly, far faster than curl-and-brush-out
Very even results because the whole section is clamped at once
Dual voltage

What it does not

The wave shape is fixed by the barrel and cannot be varied
400F is above the thresholds in the research
Bed Head does not publish how many temperature settings this model has

Skip this one if: Skip it if you want defined ringlets or a polished curl. A waver makes one shape, and that shape is a bend rather than a curl.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

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#3 · A first blow-dry brush that does not need technique

Revlon One-Step Volumizer PLUS 2.0

A 2.4-inch oval barrel at 1,100W and 15 ounces: the tool that made at-home blowouts a normal thing, in its most refined version.

Published specifications for the Revlon One-Step Volumizer PLUS 2.0, each linked to its source
Power	1,100W motorsource
Barrel	2.4-inch oval barrelsource
Settings	Four settings — low, medium, high and coolsource
Barrel materials	Ceramic, titanium and tourmaline, with ionic technologysource
Weight	15 ozsource

What those numbers mean

An oval barrel is doing something a round brush cannot: the flat faces smooth while the curved ends bend the end of the section. That is why one pass produces both smoothness and a bit of shape.

1,100W is modest next to a standalone dryer, and it should be. This tool is in contact with your hair rather than held six inches away, so the same wattage delivers far more heat to the strand.

Fifteen ounces is the specification that decides whether you finish. A brush you hold at head height for twenty minutes is an endurance event if it is heavy.

What it does well

Combines the dryer and the round brush, which removes the two-handed coordination problem
Oval barrel smooths and shapes in one pass
A genuine cool setting for setting the style
15 oz, light enough for a long session

What it does not

Revlon does not publish an actual temperature for any setting
A one-step brush cannot match a separate dryer and round brush for control
2.4 inches is too large for short hair or a fringe

Skip this one if: Skip it if your hair is soaking wet and very thick. These brushes are designed for hair towel-dried to roughly 80 percent, and starting from wet is where people conclude they are underpowered.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

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#4 · Curling with air instead of a hot barrel

Dyson Airwrap i.d. Multi-Styler and Dryer

It wraps hair around the barrel with airflow rather than heat, and it holds below 302F while doing it. That is a genuinely different mechanism, not a better version of a curling iron.

Published specifications for the Dyson Airwrap i.d. Multi-Styler and Dryer, each linked to its source
Motor	13-blade impeller spinning at up to 110,000 rpm, generating 3.2 kPasource
Heat control	Intelligent Heat Control keeps the temperature below 302Fsource
Heat settings	Three precise heat settingssource
Ions	Ionizer adds negatively charged particles to the airflow to reduce staticsource
Connectivity	Bluetooth to the MyDyson app for a personalized curling sequencesource

What those numbers mean

The Coanda effect is the actual product. Fast-moving air over a curved surface pulls nearby air, and hair, along with it — so the barrel wraps the section for you and sets it with airflow rather than by pressing hot metal onto it.

A published ceiling below 302F is the number that justifies the price to anyone with fragile hair. Compare it to a 455F curling iron doing the same job.

It works on damp hair by design, which collapses the dry-then-style sequence into one step. That is where the time saving comes from, not from being faster per section.

What it does well

Sets curls below 302F, far under any conventional iron
Dries and styles in one pass from damp
Three published heat settings and a stated ceiling
No hot metal in contact with the hair

What it does not

The most expensive tool in this registry by a wide margin
Curls set with air drop out faster than curls set with a hot barrel
A large attachment set to store

Skip this one if: Skip it if you need curls that survive a humid day at work. Air-set curls are gentler and looser, and on hair that resists holding a curl they will fall out well before an iron-set curl would.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

The three directions

What wavy hair can be turned into, and which tool does it
Direction	Tool	Notes
Straight and smooth	Concentrator plus a round brush, or a blow-dry brush	Wavy hair straightens more easily than curly hair; often no iron needed
Defined and curlier	Diffuser on low speed	The curly-hair technique works on waves and produces more pattern than you expect
Deliberate beach waves	Waver or a 1.25 in iron	Evens out a natural wave that is uneven — usually the real complaint

That third row is the one people underestimate. The usual frustration with wavy hair is not the wave itself, it is that the wave is uneven — good on one side, flat at the crown, straight underneath. A waver makes it consistent, which reads as much better hair rather than as styled hair.

The frizz problem

Wavy hair frizzes because it has enough bend for the cuticle to sit slightly raised along the wave, but not enough curl for strands to group tightly and protect each other. It gets the disadvantages of both neighbors.

Do not touch it while it dries. Same rule as curly hair, same reason.
Direct air root to tip. Air traveling the other way lifts every cuticle scale. This is what a concentrator is for.
Cool shot at the end of each section, which is what closes the cuticle back down.
Decide which direction you are going before you start. Half-diffusing and half-smoothing produces the worst of both.

There is more in best dryers for frizzy hair, which covers what a dryer can and cannot address.

Every page for wavy hair

Hair dryers — look for one that ships both attachments.
Best tools for beach waves — the waver route and the curl-and-brush-out route.
Blow-dry brushes — the smoothing direction, in one step.
Flat irons — for when you want it properly straight.
How to get a blowout at home — the full technique.

Questions people actually ask

What tools does wavy hair need?

Versatile ones. Wavy hair can be smoothed, diffused into more definition, or waved deliberately, and most people want all three at different times — so a dryer that ships both a concentrator and a diffuser is worth more than a specialized tool. Note that some premium dryers, including the Drybar Buttercup, ship with two concentrators and no diffuser at all.

Should I diffuse or blow dry wavy hair?

Whichever finish you want that day, but pick one before you start. Diffusing on low speed brings out more pattern than most people with waves expect. A concentrator with a round brush or a blow-dry brush takes it smooth. Doing half of each produces the worst of both, which is the most common wavy-hair mistake.

Why is my wavy hair frizzy but not curly?

Wavy hair has enough bend for the cuticle to sit slightly raised along the wave, but not enough curl for strands to group tightly and shield each other — so it gets the disadvantages of both neighbors. Directing air root to tip, finishing with cool air, and not touching it while it dries addresses most of it.

How do I make my natural waves more even?

Redo them deliberately rather than trying to coax the natural pattern. Natural waves are usually uneven — good on one side, flat at the crown — and a waver or a 1.25-inch iron makes them consistent in a few minutes. Consistent waves read as good hair rather than as styled hair, which is usually the actual goal.

Sources

Every figure on this page traces to one of these. If a number here disagrees with the manufacturer, the manufacturer is right and we want to know — tell us.