Purchasing a new hair tool can be an overwhelming process. I recently purchased a new hair dryer for myself and it can be confusing what to purchase if you don’t know what you’re looking for. I decided to gather all the information I found so hopefully the hair tool section is a little less bewildering and you can get the tool you need!
First, here is a breakdown of the materials mentioned to be in hair dryers
Ceramic:
Ceramic heats up quickly and evenly. This is incredibly important when buying styling tools like curling irons or straight irons.
Tourmaline:
Tourmaline is a semi-precious mineral which generates negative ions when heated. These negative ions are said to make your hair less frizzy and add shine, but I couldn’t find any real lab-proven scientific research on this. The only information I found was on websites selling Tourmaline bracelets to cure all your health problems with the “negative ions”, so this could just be hearsay.
Ionic Technology:
Negative ions supposedly break up the water molecules and close your hair’s cuticle, but there isn’t any definitive research I could find on this.
From general consensus, Tourmaline or Ionic seems to make your hair less frizzy, so those “buzzwords” are good to have on the dryer you purchase.
A/C, D/C, what does it all mean?
A/C Motor Hair Dryers are larger & heavier, last about twice as long, are quieter and more powerful.
D/C Motor hair dryers are smaller & lighter, not as powerful, don’t last as long and are a little louder.
For most situations, I would recommend getting an A/C motor hair dryer as it lasts longer and drys your hair faster. Most dryers you can get at the store will be D/C motors because they are lighter and cheaper, and most people don’t need as powerful of a hair dryer as a professional who styles all day would.
A higher wattage can mean more power in the dryer so your hair could dry faster, but you want to make sure you buy a dryer that will not overload your home electrical circuit.
Other things to consider:
Is there a diffuser that comes with it?
Even if you don’t have curly hair, it is nice to have a diffuser. You can scrunch your hair, or if you just want the dryer to do a slower dry a diffuser is a handy tool to have.
What’s the warranty or return policy?
For professional tools a 1-year warranty is pretty standard, but check with the retailer that you’re purchasing from too because returning to the retailer might be more convenient than going through the warranty process.
How many heat/power settings are there? How easy is it to hold in my hand?
If you blow dry your hair every day, you will want a hair dryer that doesn’t give you an arm workout to use. You want to be able to quickly change settings and get your hair dry fast. One feature I didn’t realize I needed until after I purchased my hair dryer is a cool shot button that doesn’t need to be held down to work. I prefer to have a cool shot button that can just click on and off.
The dryer I ended up with is the T3 Featherweight 2 dryer as seen below. My only regret is that it doesn’t come with a diffuser, and the cool shot button needs to be held down to work. If I needed to purchase a new one now, I would buy the DryBar Buttercup dryer.
Sources:
http://www.modernsalon.com/article/20880/ceramic-ionic-tourmaline-what-does-it-all-mean
http://www.maximumfx.com/5-things-to-look-for-when-purchasing-a-blow-dryer