Best Round Brush? 1,811 Ulta Reviews of Olivia Garden and Drybar

Review-analysis guide: 1,811 customer reviews read on Ulta (November 5, 2026), sorted and counted by us; product details from Ulta's product listings checked November 5, 2026.

By The Beauty Read · Checked November 5, 2026 · AI-assisted research and editing

Across 1,782 usable Ulta round brush reviews, the boar-blend Olivia Garden Turbo Vent Combo drew snagging or pulling complaints from 16%, more than three times the rate for the nylon-bristle Olivia Garden Ceramic + Ion Thermal (5%). Drybar's Round Ceramic Brush drew handle complaints from 21 of 112 reviewers, and the Thermal had the lowest share of one- and two-star ratings (6%).

Which round brush snagged hair, and whose handle drew complaints

We read every review on Ulta's pages for three round brush picks, written from October 2009 to September 2026. Olivia Garden's Ceramic + Ion Thermal Hairbrush carries most of that record with 1,237 usable reviews. Its sister brush, the Ceramic + Ion Turbo Vent Combo, has 433, and Drybar's Round Ceramic Brush, reviewed only since June 2016, has 112. [9] [10] [11]

Smoothness was the top praise on all three pages, from 23% to 27% of reviewers, so it does not separate them. Trouble does. The Turbo Vent Combo drew snagging, tangling or pulling complaints from 69 of 433 reviewers (16%), and 30 said bristles fell out or a part broke. Its one- and two-star share, 18%, is three times the Thermal's 6%.

Drybar's weak spot is the handle, which 21 of its 112 reviewers (19%) found heavy, awkward, uncomfortable or slippery, against 1% to 2% on the Olivia Garden pages, and 26% gave one or two stars.

Ceramic vs boar round brush: what changed when the bristles did

Both Olivia Garden brushes have vented, ceramic-coated aluminum barrels, according to Ulta's listings, so the clearest difference between them on paper is the bristle. The Thermal uses nylon soft-tip bristles. The Turbo Vent Combo uses what Olivia Garden calls a special blend of ionic and 100% boar bristles, and Ulta lists both nylon and boar among its materials. [1] [2]

In the reviews, the boar blend drew more praise for grip and more complaints about snagging. Grip or tension praise came from 12% of Turbo Vent Combo reviewers, about twice the Thermal's 6%. Yet 16% said it tangled, snagged or pulled hair, against 5%, and reports of shed bristles or a broken part ran 7% against 1%. Among fine-haired reviewers the snagging gap grew, to 14 of 54 (26%) on the Turbo Vent Combo against 12 of 124 (10%) on the Thermal. [9] [10]

Smoothness and gliding praise ran close (27% and 18% for the nylon Thermal, 23% and 16% for the boar blend). None of this makes one bristle better for your hair. These are different brushes in different sizes, and our tags cannot isolate the bristle, so on the ceramic vs boar round brush question the counts only show how often each one caught hair.

How each brush felt in the hand and on the hair

Drybar's handle split its reviewers, 14 praising it and 21 disliking it, and 20 of those 21 complaints described it as thin, short or slippery. Ulta's description promises the opposite, an ergonomic, lightweight handle with a soft-touch finish and thumb grip that it says prevent slipping. 16 of the complaints came in the 60 reviews since 2020, against 5 of 52 before. None of Drybar's reviewers clearly compared an older version, so we cannot say whether the handle changed. [11] [3]

The Olivia Garden pair drew far more handle praise than complaints. 14% of Thermal and 11% of Turbo Vent Combo reviewers praised a light, comfortable handle, and only 7 and 8 complained.

Heat complaints came mostly from the Thermal, where 33 reviewers said the brush got too hot, burned fingers or scalp, or that its bristles warped or melted. They have risen lately, 16 of the 208 reviews written since 2020 (8%) against 17 of 1,029 before (2%). The metal end cap is an old complaint, not a new one. Of the 22 heat reports since late 2018, 14 named it, mostly against the neck or face, and so did 6 of the 11 older ones. The Turbo Vent Combo drew 4 heat complaints and Drybar none. [9]

The Turbo Vent Combo is named for its vents, and its listing says large vents maximize heat distribution for faster styling. Yet it drew the lowest share of faster-drying praise, 10%, against 16% for the Thermal and 12% for Drybar. [2]

Barrel size and hair type: what short, long and curly hair reported

Ulta's pages offer very different size ranges. The Thermal comes in eight barrels from 1/2 inch to 4-1/4 inches, and the Turbo Vent Combo in three, 2, 2-1/2 and 3-1/4 inches. Drybar's page lists three, which Drybar names Half Pint (1-3/4 inch), Full Pint (2-1/4) and Double Pint (2-3/4), and its listing says to hold the brush vertically for curls and horizontally at the crown for volume. [1] [2] [3]

Size praise came from 12% of Thermal reviewers and 10% of Drybar's, who said the barrel size suited their hair or length, against 4% for the Turbo Vent Combo. Short-haired Thermal reviewers said so most often, 36 of 114 (32%). Its 40 long-haired reviewers, a small group, stood out on speed, with 14 (35%) saying it cut drying time against 16% of all its reviewers.

Hair texture showed up in the smoothing numbers. Among 140 Thermal reviewers with curly, wavy or coily hair, 89 (64%) praised a smooth or less frizzy result and 4 reported snagging. If you want a round brush for curly hair you plan to blow out straight, that is the deepest record here. The Turbo Vent Combo had 44 curly-haired reviewers (57% smoothness praise) and Drybar 19.

Our tags did not record which size each reviewer bought, so these numbers cannot pick a diameter for you. Size complaints were rare (25 for the Thermal, 5 and 6 for the others), and the short- and long-haired groups on the other two pages (24 and 15, 4 and 10) are too few to read anything into.

An Olivia Garden brush review that leans on 2011 to 2017

The Thermal's record is long and mostly old. 854 of its 1,237 usable reviews were written from 2011 through 2017, and only 62 since 2024. Ulta's page now carries a brand video introducing a New Generation of the brush, so older reviews may describe an earlier version. [9] [1]

Its listing claims Tourmaline Ion technology that, in the brand's words, hydrates the cuticle and eliminates frizz and flyaways, plus a retractable sectioning pick. Those are Olivia Garden's claims. Reviewers praised smoothness (27%), gliding (18%) and volume (16%), and 16% said they rebought it, bought another size or called it a favorite for years. [1]

One- and two-star ratings climbed from 4% of reviews through 2015 and 6% from 2016 to 2019 to 11% since 2020 (22 of 208), while repurchase mentions rose to 21% from 15%. Snagging barely moved, 4% before 2020 and 5% since. Only 9 reviewers mentioned an older version, and 5 of them said a newer brush was worse, 4 of those since 2018. Just 4 said they were stylists or did hair for others.

Buy it if you want a long record of smooth blowouts with few snags (5%) and the lowest share of low ratings here (6%). Skip it if a hot tip near your neck is a deal-breaker, since it drew 33 of the 37 heat complaints on the three pages.

The Turbo Vent Combo grips harder and catches more hair

Olivia Garden pitches the Turbo Vent Combo to soften, shine and curl. Curl or bend at the ends came up in just 5% of reviews, against 8% for the Thermal. [2]

Its 433 usable reviews run from December 2009 to September 2026, 368 of them before 2020. Snagging ran 15% to 17% in each period we split, and the one- and two-star share went from 18% before 2020 to 23% in the 65 reviews since. [10]

Grip praise, at 12% (53 reviewers), was the highest share of the three, and 23% praised a smooth finish. Price or size was a real drawback for 12, and 7 compared it with an earlier version, 2 of them unfavorably.

We would buy it only if grip matters most and your hair rarely tangles, because its 12% grip praise is about twice the Thermal's. Pass on it with fine hair (14 of 54 reported snagging).

Drybar round brush reviews: smooth results, a disliked handle

Drybar's Round Ceramic Brush has the thinnest record here, 112 usable reviews from June 2016 to November 2025, only 6 of them from 2024 on. [11]

Ulta's description likens the vented ceramic barrel to a curling iron inside your brush, credits ionic technology with less frizz and more shine, and says the bristle design allows exceptional tension and control. [3]

Results praise landed near the Thermal's, with 24% for smoothness, 19% for gliding and 16% for volume. Grip praise was thin for a brush sold on tension, with 5 reviewers praising it and 5 saying hair slid off. Repurchase was rare, 3 of 112, and 9 (8%) said price or size was a real drawback, the highest share of the three.

Skip it if a slim handle bothers you, since about one in five reviewers disliked it, or if you want a long track record, because its sample is under a tenth of the Thermal's. It makes sense if snagging is your main worry, since only 2 of 112 reviewers reported it, though that rests on a small sample.

What we set aside, and five round brushes we only counted

Our read of the three pages on November 5, 2026 went newest first, and every card showed its exact posting date. Of the 1,811, 29 came out: 15 with no real content, 5 repeats, 3 that said the brush was free or carried a Staff badge, and 6 about shipping or another product, not yet used or not in English. [9] [10] [11]

No month stood out as a launch or sampling wave. The busiest held 30 of the Thermal's 1,262 reviews (March 2011), so we set aside no date window. Drybar's 30 brand-site cards, posted from June 2021 to March 2024, stay in because their one- and two-star share (27%, 8 of 30) matched that of the 82 written on Ulta (26%, 21 of 82).

We also looked at where the reviews came from on five other Ulta round brush pages and left them out, because too few were written on Ulta or too many arrived at once. EcoTools' Volumizing Blow Dry Round Hairbrush showed 331, 317 from EcoTools' own site; Kitsch's Medium Thermal Round Brush 78, 71 from Kitsch; Fromm's Elite Thermal 2 inch 98, 75 from Fromm, 37 of them marked as sampling; BaBylissPRO's Nano Titanium 2 inch Vented Boar + Nylon 83, 79 posted in May and June 2026; and Conair's Quick Blow Dry Round Brush 92, 70 posted in 2026. We did not read or tag their text. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Our Amazon links for all three brushes are paused until we confirm each one's Amazon listing and seller, so every product detail here comes from Ulta's listings.

Keep reading

• Hair dryer: the Conair InfinitiPRO drew the most value praise, 26% of 291 usable Ulta reviews
• Hair dryer brush: Drybar's Double Shot drew fast-drying praise from 34% of 423 Sephora reviews
• Curling iron: the T3 SinglePass Curl X drew the fewest breakage reports, 7% of 138

Frequently asked questions

Is Olivia Garden brush worth it?

For the Ceramic + Ion Thermal, the reviews lean yes. Of 1,237 usable Ulta reviewers, 27% praised a smooth result and 16% said they rebought it or owned another size, while its top complaint, snagging, came from 5% (57) and 6% gave one or two stars. The Turbo Vent Combo, with 433 usable reviews, is a harder call, with 23% smoothness praise against 16% snagging complaints and 18% low ratings.

Olivia Garden vs Drybar round brush: which did reviewers rate lower?

Drybar's. 26% of its 112 usable reviewers gave one or two stars, against 18% (80 of 433) for the Olivia Garden Turbo Vent Combo and 6% of 1,237 for the Ceramic + Ion Thermal. Drybar's most common complaint was the handle (19%), while both Olivia Garden brushes drew snagging most (16% and 5%). Smoothness praise was close on all three, and Drybar's sample is small.

Does a round brush damage hair?

Customer reviews cannot measure hair damage, only how often a brush caught hair. Snagging, tangling or pulling came up in 16% of Turbo Vent Combo reviews, 5% of the Thermal's and 2% of Drybar's. Heat complaints, including burned fingers or scalp, came from 33 Thermal reviewers, 4 on the Turbo Vent Combo and none on Drybar. Shed bristles or broken parts (7% on the Turbo Vent Combo) describe the brush, not your hair.

Which round brush for fine hair drew the most volume praise?

The Olivia Garden Ceramic + Ion Thermal. 53 of its 124 reviewers with fine or thin hair (43%) praised volume or lift, against 11 of 54 (20%) for the Turbo Vent Combo, where 14 fine-haired reviewers also reported snagging. Drybar had only 14 fine-haired reviewers, too few to judge.

What did reviewers report about a round brush for thick hair?

Among the Thermal's reviewers, 100 said they had thick or coarse hair, and 43 of them praised a smooth result, 25 faster drying and 3 reported snagging. On the Turbo Vent Combo, a smaller group of 39, 11 (28%) praised the grip and 5 said it snagged. Drybar had 11 thick-haired reviewers, too few to judge.