Bombshell Ceramic Thermal Round Brush — 53mm

The widest ceramic barrel, and the smoothing one. At 53mm the hair wraps across a shallow curve, so a section comes off straight and polished rather than curled. This is what stylists finish long hair with.

If you want a blowout that falls flat and shines, this is the barrel. If you want a bend at the ends, go down to 43mm — a wide barrel cannot make a small shape, and no amount of technique will change that.

Not a short hair brush. Above the shoulder there is not enough length to get round a barrel this wide, and you will be dragging rather than shaping.

How it is measured

The 53mm is the barrel itself, engraved on the end of the brush, which is how thermal brushes are sized. That is not the same convention as the wooden round brushes in this range — those are measured bristle tip to bristle tip. Do not compare the two numbers directly.

Ceramic does the opposite of wood

A birch barrel stays cool, so the hair only ever meets one heat source. A ceramic barrel is designed to take heat from the dryer and hold it, and the section sets in the shape it cools in — the same reason a pressed shirt keeps its crease.

That is also why it settles frizz. Heat softens the bonds inside the hair while the section is wrapped and under tension, and the shape it holds is the shape it had when it cooled.

Neither material is better. They are two tools for two jobs, and anybody telling you otherwise is selling something.

How it is built

The barrel and the ferrule are moulded in one piece. No collar, no glue, and therefore no seam at the neck — which is exactly where round brushes usually snag and where they usually fail.

Vented right through, so the dryer air reaches the section instead of going around it.

How to use it

Dry down to slightly damp first. Damp hair is malleable; dry and cool, it is already set and you are only fighting it.

Take wide sections to match the barrel — a narrow section on a wide barrel wastes most of the brush. Aim the dryer along the hair toward the ends rather than into the bristles, and let each section cool completely before you release it. The shape is set by the shape it was in when it cooled, not by how hot it got.

Looking after it

Clear the shed hair from the base of the bristles regularly. Hair left sitting there works the bristles loose.

Wash it through with shampoo and water if you use it daily, and let it dry before you put it away.

Where it came from

Peter Louis spent twenty-three years behind a chair in Manhattan — a salon on 57th Street, and years of blowouts before that, nine in the morning until ten at night. A supplier would bring a sample, it got used on clients, and it went back with a list of what was still wrong. That went on for years until one came back right.