The Hot Tools From Your Teens Are Making A Comeback — & They’re So Good

Many seem to think being a beauty editor is akin to being a makeup artist or hairstylist. Perhaps it is for some, but certainly not for me. Sure, I can tell you exactly how to draw a cat-eye and perfect a six-strand braid, but you're dreaming if you think I will ever be able to dip a little brush into a pot of gel liner and make something other than a complete mess.

One of the many things I can't do? Figure out how to hold and operate a damn round brush and a blowdryer in any other hair section besides the very front. I've tried a few times in the same way I've tried to understand algebra, which is to say, not very hard.

Not that you'd know it. Years ago, I discovered the secret to easy blowouts at home: the spinning hot air brush. Yes, it looks like a gimmick from an infomercial. And it's kind of flimsy and doesn't have a temperature gauge. And you definitely won't find it in an actual salon. But I found love in the John Frieda Salon Shape Hot Air Brush the first time I used it and I've been reaching for it ever since on mornings before big interviews and nights before fancy events.

But if the flippy ends and volume at the roots that spinning brushes deliver so well isn't your thing, no problem. Meet the hot straightening brush. Plug it in, run it through your rough-dried hair or smoothed-out curls, and voilà — smooth, straight, frizz-free.

Ahead, find four of the best hot tools that require absolutely no skill, yet convince everyone you're the friend to ask for help with wedding day hair touch-ups.