The Best Hair Dryers

Buying Guide for Hair Dryers

Why buy a hair dryer?

Even the most heat-styling-averse person will experience at least one moment when they’re short on time and need to dry their hair quickly. Having a quality hair dryer that produces consistent heat can reduce drying times. A good blow dryer can also work as a styling aid beyond simply removing water from your hair. You can achieve a sleek blowout with the right attachments or gently set curls with a diffuser.

What should you look for in a hair dryer?

• Wattage: The blow dryer wattage indicates how fast the dryer works, so choose one with at least 1,500 watts—the higher the wattage, the faster your hair will dry. Dryers with lower wattage may be cheaper, but you’ll have to replace them more often.
• Type: Typically, hair dryers are described as ceramic, ionic, tourmaline, or some combination of those elements. Ceramic hair dryers, usually made with clay, produce an even infrared heat that helps preserve moisture and luster. An ionic hair dryer produces negatively charged particles that will break up water into smaller droplets, allowing hair to dry faster without getting frizzy. Tourmaline, a semi-precious mineral, coats parts of the hair dryer and can reduce drying times by up to 40%.
• Settings: Pick a hair dryer that has low-, medium-, and high-heat settings, as well as a cool blast setting. Fine or thin hair needs a low setting, while thicker hair needs a high setting to dry it. Switching to the cool blast setting when your hair is slightly damp will keep it from overheating.
• Weight: It may seem obvious, but you should pick a lightweight dryer to not tire your arm out while styling your hair.
• Attachments: Curly hair needs a diffuser attachment, while straight hair benefits from a concentrator nozzle. A comb attachment can be used to loosen curls as well. A good hair dryer will have multiple attachments to make your life easier.

What’s the best way to prep your hair before blow-drying it?

Always start with a heat protectant. Heat damage is a real risk if you have straight, wavy, curly, or coily hair. A heat protectant will help minimize the risk of heat damage, manifesting in more textured hair types as sections of hair that refuse to return to its original texture or curl pattern. You can detangle your hair with a brush or comb as you dry.

Our Picks for the Best Hair Dryers

Pros: Whether you have curly or straight hair, you should like the Revlon 1875 Watts Infrared Heat Hair Dryer. Along with being incredibly affordable, you’ll appreciate that it comes with a vent and diffuser attachment as well as three alligator clips to help you section and work through your hair. The infrared heat helps to dry your hair faster without sacrificing your hair’s natural moisture levels or shine. You’ll get two speed settings as well as a cold shot button.

Cons: While you’ll get consistently fast drying times, the straightening attachment struggles to stay connected to the blow dryer when using it. Conversely, the diffuser can be difficult to remove.

Bottom Line: If you’re short on time, the infrared heat can make drying your hair take significantly less effort. It has a reasonable price and is high quality.

 

Pros: The oval barrel is 4.25 inches wide for creating nearly effortless volume in less time. Customizing the volume you want is easy— keep the dryer brush near the roots longer. The advanced ionic technology helps decrease frizz while adding shine to your hair. Nylon pin and tufted bristles allow you to detangle your hair as you dry and style so you won’t pull or cause breakage. The dryer brush has three heat/speed settings and a cool option to customize your style and dry time. The swivel cord makes it easy to style without getting caught up or tangled in an electrical mess.

Cons: This brush can deliver the results you want and expect if you first use a regular blow dryer to dry your hair 70 to 80%.

Bottom Line: Creating a blowout with volume at home is no easy task and usually takes a while, but this hair dryer brush makes it much faster. The oval shape creates volume, while the ionic technology creates shine and protects your hair from heat and frizz while styling.

 

Pros: This hair dryer is sleek and made of ceramic. It comes with two attachments that help create the flawless style you love at the salon. The power of this hair dryer is also professional-grade. At 2200W, you can dry your hair thoroughly in less time. Even with the power, the noise is softer than other options. You’ll have to worry less about hair damage thanks to the ceramic tourmaline grates that create far infrared heat to dry your hair from the inside out. This hair dryer includes different speed and heat settings, including cool. The removable filter allows you to easily clean out hair, lint, or other debris to keep your hair drying running at its best.

Cons: This hair dryer does not come with a diffuser attachment.

Bottom Line: Expert blow drying can be hard to replicate at home, but this professional-grade hair dryer makes it much more achievable. The powerful heat is combined with ionic technology and infrared heating to give your hair greater shine and health, while the attachments help add precision and volume to your style.

 

Pros: Traveling with a hair dryer can be a pain. Thankfully, this Conair folding handle hair dryer is designed to fold down into a manageable footprint that can easily fit in your luggage or a carry-on bag. More importantly, it offers dual voltage, meaning you can take it abroad.

Cons: Compactness is excellent, but it also means the heat and speed settings are combined. Similarly, there are no attachments included.

Bottom Line: Whether you’re hitting the friendly skies or want to maximize space in your bathroom, this Conair hair dryer is a great space-saving solution that works effectively to dry all hair types with dual voltage support.

 

Pros: This lightweight hair dryer comes with a diffuser for curly hair, a detangler comb attachment, and a concentration attachment, plus clips and accessories to make it easier to separate your hair while drying. The heating grates are made of ceramic tourmaline, which creates a better heating experience for your hair while also helping to minimize frizz. This hair dryer also features three heat settings, two speed settings, and a cool shot button. You can easily remove the filter for easy cleaning to promote the longevity of your hair dryer.

Cons: The power and heat settings buttons can be pressed accidentally due to their positioning on the hair dryer.

Bottom Line: Adding more opportunities to get your perfect hairstyle are easy thanks to numerous attachments and accessories that can concentrate heat, diffuse it for curly hair, detangle hair, or clip it for drying in sections.

Final Thoughts

Blow dryers are an essential hair product when you need your hair to be dried quickly and efficiently. Finding one that works best for your hair type and needs can instantly take your hair from drab to fab. Whether you need one to keep your curls from frizzing or to travel with on the go, there are plenty of selections to keep you and your hair happy.