Hot Air About Hot Air
How to buy a blow dryer
The world has five oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and the Ocean of Blow Dryers. The last one fits in a drug or beauty supply store but it's almost as easy to get lost on it as the other four. I'm going to throw you a GPS and a lifeboat. No one should have to navigate this monster alone.
Anyone attempting to investigate all the options when purchasing a blow dryer should either be given a medal or asked about their childhood. All you really need is a general overview to help you avoid the overly hyped and the garbage. Here it is.
All blow dryers do basically the same thing: blow air, and you wouldn't think there would be different ways to do it, but moving air is the stuff of airplanes and racing cars, it's quite amazing how one dryer can work so much better than another. I remember the first time I purchased a high-end dryer. I hoped it would look cool, dry the hair a little quicker than my previous dryer, and hopefully last a long time. Yes, it did look cool (at least in my own mind), but to my surprise, everything else about it made my old dryer look like something a Neanderthal would use to dry his fur. I was astounded how much faster the hair dried. But the strangest thing was that somehow, the hair just dried nicer, the style turned out better; that, I was not expecting. If you've got a dryer that has been hanging around your bathroom since pigs could fly, you too might be surprised at what an upgrade can do.
Here are a few tips that will help you tell a good dryer from a hunka junk:
Most dryers are rated at somewhere around 1800 watts, but check the box anyway, just to make sure you're getting at least 1600. More is good, you can always turn the dryer down if you require less heat.
You'll probably see some strange words on the packaging such as: “Ceramic, Tourmaline, Ionic, Infrared”. Any or all of these are good. They help dry the hair faster with less static electricity and less damage. Ceramic and Tourmaline create a more even heat. They also generate negative ions, which break apart water droplets in the hair, getting you to your breakfast sooner. These features really do make a difference, especially in the better dryers. Less expensive dryers often contain similar parts, but because the quality is poor, their effectiveness may be minimal.
If possible, I recommend getting a dryer with separate heat and air speed controls so you can turn down the air flow without loosing heat. This will be helpful next time you've got lovely curls atop your sweet head. To dry curls nicely, you need heat, but not much airflow. Don't worry too much about it if you find a dryer you like that doesn't have separate controls, you can always use a diffuser for your curls.
Some of the higher end dryers can be somewhat heavy. It's a lot easier for a stylist to hold a dryer than it is for you, so feel the weight of it. On the other hand, a dryer that is very light may not have the quality to hang around for five or ten years. Very light dryers are often made of weaker components and plastics.
Compare warranties. Find out what they'll do for you if your shiny new dryer decides to stop working in six months. Will they repair or replace it locally?, or will you have to send it to the moon?
Look for a dryer with a removable, cleanable lint filter on the air intake. Want to know the second fastest way to destroy your new blow dryer? Don't clean the air filter. If your dryer does not have a removable filter (boo, hiss), then you'll have to pick out the fluff that builds up on the air intake. Put on a really bad movie, pour yourself some horrible wine and spend an evening picking the fluff out of your dryer. Anything you do the next day will seem amazing.
Lastly, there's the noise issue. Each dryer has it's own song and some of them can be quite annoying. A quality dryer is not necessarily a quiet dryer. When you're moving a lot of air quickly, things get noisy. Chances are, you'll get used to whatever your new dryer has to say, but some of them I've heard are about as pleasant as magpies in the morning.
Now let's look at price ranges. I've broken it down into three general categories:
Low end: $25 - $50. In this range you might get ceramic and whatever ionic technology they use but the quality won't be that great, plus the ionic aspects of it may wear out quickly. A basic dryer is just fine if you've got fine, thinner hair, or find great amusement in spending the morning in the bathroom.
Midrange: $50 - $100. In this price range, if you get a good brand, you'll enjoy faster drying, less static and more shine. Plus, the dryer should last longer (but it's hard to say). We've all got dryers in a cupboard somewhere that cost us maybe twenty bucks and have been pumping out heat since Michelangelo first carved a duck. Who really knows how long things last?
This level of dryer will quite likely be a noticeable improvement over the low end dryers.
High end: $100-$400. Ever drive a really nice car? Ever eat very fine food? The differences between cheap and amazing are hardly subtle. You may decide to opt for a high end dryer and wonder what the heck I was chirping about, perception is always the first thing, but chances are you'll quite like that little marvel of engineering. If you've got thick hair and spend a lot of time styling, the power of a dryer like this is something you'll really enjoy. But as with the mid range dryers, there may be a few flashy looking pieces of do-do that cost a bunch but don't walk the talk, so stay with a known brand or ask a pro. You'll probably have to go online or to a salon to find a dryer of this quality.
I said I would help save you from the ocean, so I'm actually going to recommend a few dryers. I'm not an expert but I've seen plenty of dryers and have a general sense of what's what. Here are some blowers that are easy to find and seem to be of good quality.
In the low end, and in many a drug store, is Con Air; a pretty well made dryer for the money. Con Air also has a few models in the mid range that are worth looking into. Another line they produce is under the Babyliss name, which seems to be a step up. In my experience in the salon, anything from Babyliss is of good quality.
At high end, there's plenty of nice dryers, but again, I like, and am familiar with, the Babyliss Pro line. My own dryer is the Volare and it's amazing. It's so powerful that it took me a while to get used to it. Combs, magazines, people — all flying around the room, until I learned how to drive it! It may be beginning to sound like I work for Babyliss, but I don't, they're simply the hair appliances I've most often used and had good performance and durability from. Sometimes reliability in high-end dryer brands can be an issue, they've got all the power and all the features but lack a solid foundation. Again, ask your stylist what they like and use.
Having a well made dryer is like having nice art or shoes; it's not a life or death situation (although ugly art can certainly take you down for a while), but once you've had the pleasure, everything else just seems so … uninspired. A good dryer is well made, slips nicely into your hand, spits fire when you want it to and gets you out of the house 10 minutes earlier. And that means ten more minutes of snooze or rubbing Mr. Woofles' belly! Hmmm, ten minutes of snooze or belly rubs every day for probably ten years — plus nice hair? Best hundred bucks you ever spent.
A word about the Dyson blow dryers. I tried one and liked it (much to my surprise). At the time of this writing though they were having long term reliability issues. Pretty darn over priced too. But a very good concept and admirable out of the box thinking.
