We, in fact, did not wake up like this—the best hair tools are the secret behind achieving our styling goals. While it’s essential to have a solid hair care routine, heat tools equip you with your own mini salon at home, taking frizzy hair to sleek and smooth, or flat lengths to bouncy blowouts. “Learning to use the right tools for your specific hair type and goals will allow you to work with your texture to achieve optimal results and preserve your hair health,” says pro hairstylist Jeremy Tardo. Like in makeup, proper tools can make or break your style.
But where to begin when picking from the many heat stylers out there? There are curling irons, flat irons, multi-stylers, and more (oh, my!). To take the guessing game out of it, we’ve tapped pro hair stylists to curate the creme de la creme per tool category—and what styles you can achieve with these best sellers.
Vogue’s Favorite Hair Tools
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Below, show the best hair styling tools (no matter what’s your desired look)—Oh, and before you get to styling, don’t forget the heat protectant!
Vogue’s Hair Tools Guide
Best Multi-Stylers
When it comes to effortless styling, multi-stylers are the ultimate one-stop shop. Let’s be honest: most of us mere mortals can’t achieve a salon-worthy blowout with just a standard blow dryer, a hair brush, and sheer willpower. Leading the pack, as always, is Dyson’s iconic Airwrap. The brand has outdone itself with the next-gen Airwrap Coanda that doubles down on air styling power to curl, straighten, and smooth hair. “No matter your hair type, you can achieve any look with it,” celebrity hair stylist Irinel de Leon previously told Vogue.
Less than the half the price but no less worth owning is T3’s multi-styler, which comes equipped with the essentials—a curling barrel, full-size round brush (perfect for longer lengths), and a traditional dryer head—for a chic and streamlined alternative.
Best Curling Irons
Are curly and wavy hair calling your name? Let’s talk about the best curling irons in the game. Celebrity hairstylist Clayton Hawkins reaches for GHD’s curling wand to craft Botticelli-inspired ringlets worthy of a Renaissance portrait. It’s also a favorite of Vogue beauty commerce writer Conçetta Ciarlo, who swears by it for achieving an effortlessly loose and wavy bob. “It’s so easy to use, and the results last—even on my coarse hair,” she says. “The barrel is narrow enough for shorter styles, but works just as well on longer lengths.”
Meanwhile, senior beauty commerce writer Kiana Murden is all about Pattern Beauty’s tourmaline ceramic curling iron—a revelation, she admits, after years of curling-tool confusion. “I appreciate the multiple wand attachments to achieve different curl sizes—whether you’re creating a blowout look on your sew-in or defining your natural hair texture,” says Murden.
Best Straighteners
When it comes to hair straighteners, experts say the plates should glide smoothly across strands to avoid creasing while protecting hair health. Celebrity hairstylist and barber Nigella Miller names Babyliss as one of her go-to options for it’s ability to deliver a frizz-free finish. “It gives me the perfectly sleek look I’m after,” she says. “With 4C hair, I need a straightener that heats up enough to smooth out my curls—without having to go over each section multiple times.”