Are hot air brushes bad for your hair?

They can be if used on soaking-wet hair or on the highest heat setting repeatedly. Across the reviewers we read, the consistent advice is to rough-dry hair to roughly 70–85% first, use a heat protectant, and stick to the medium setting. Specialist hair subreddits surface real breakage complaints, particularly from people with fine or previously bleached hair, so the tool is not risk-free.