5 Things to Look for When Purchasing a Blowdryer.
Every once and a while I will be helping a client with our smoothing products, letting them know how our Smooth Infusion line helps combat frizz and smooth out wave and curl and I will get the best compliment! Clients will will say, "Well, your hair doesn't need that. It's so smooth." Whenever I hear this I always laugh. As little as two years ago my hair was UNRULY!! I would spend almost an hour blow drying it and within 30 minutes my waves would be back and not beautiful Botticelli waves but a frizzy, hot mess! I hated my hair!
While many things have helped my hair woes, including awesome Aveda products, one thing that has changed my life is having a better blow dryer. Having the correct tools can turn a frizzy haired girl from a hat lover to a smoothed out vixen. Here are some things to look for when purchasing a blow dryer.
1. The power! This will help the hair dry faster. Remember how I said it took me almost an hour to dry my hair? This is why. No power! Look for something with a higher wattage. 1800 or higher for thinner hair. Many professional blow dryers have wattage as high as 3600. While these blow dryers are more expensive they are wonderful for thick, curly hair! They will cut drying time in half which means less damage!
2. Ceramic and Tourmaline are your friends! If your goal is to smooth your hair, look for a blow dryer that has ceramic and tourmaline technology. Ceramic technology helps control the heat of your blow dryer so it distributes the heat more evenly. Tourmaline is an awesome mineral that helps smooth hair by sealing the cuticle and retaining moisture. In other words it combats frizz while helping your hair retain needed moisture.
3. A cool shot button! This magic button helps "set" the style. For instance if you are using a round brush to smooth the hair for more volume and bounce use the cool shot button once the hair is dry to set the style.
4. Attachments! In order to smooth hair your blow dryer should have a nozzle attachment. This helps concentrate the air flow so it blows directly on the area you want to smooth. When drying the hair point the nozzle downwards to reduce flyaways. If you wear your hair curly sometimes like I do, you will also want a diffuser with your blow dryer. This will help spread out the air flow of the blow dryer.
5. Heat and power controls! Use the higher setting to remove most of the moisture from the hair. The lower setting then can be used to style once with hair is about 90% dry. This is a great feature if your hair is damaged. We don't all need to blow dry our hair on high heat, high power. Look for a blow dryer that has multiple setting for heat as well as a high, low setting.
A good blow dryer doesn't have to be expensive. If you shop around a good hair dryer can be purchased that possesses many of these qualities from a major retail store. However, professional hair dryers are made to blow dry the hair of as many as eight clients a day, five days a week. That's over 2,000 heads dried in a year! As you can imagine this tool will last you a long time! Not to mention the higher wattage many professional hairdryers provide. Some favorite professional brands here at the salon are:
T3
BaByliss
Dyson
Solano
If you are still hesitant or need more advice, come in and see one of our talented stylists. They can give you tips on styling tools such as blow dryers and flat irons and well as tips on using them properly to achieve maximum results. I would not be where I am today in my own hair happiness if it wasn't for the tricks and suggestions of my lovely MFX team. So go forth and make great hair yours! (with the right tools of course)