You may be interested to know that not all hair dryers are created equal. Hair varies dramatically from person to person – from frizzy, curly, and poofy to straight, thin, and dry, there are endless variations of hair types. It stands to reason that one hair dryer couldn’t be the perfect drying solution for every type of hair.
Naturally, it can be difficult to find out which hair dryer suits your hair type, but we’re going to help you out in that regard, to help you improve the health, look, and feel of your hair. Now, this is not going to be a product round up – rather, this piece is going to focus on what qualities you need to look for in a hair dryer depending on your hair type.
Frizzy hair – Tourmaline Dryer
Frizzy hair can really dampen your day. It sucks to deal with, and it can make you frustrated enough to consider yanking it all out at the roots. However, we do not recommend this course of action. Instead, consider going for a dryer made with tourmaline.
Tourmaline is a crystalline boron silicate mineral and it is known as a semi-precious stone in geological circles. It’s a really pretty Cyclosilicate, but you’re not getting it to make your dryer look cute. You’re getting it because of one of the neat things a tourmaline hair dryer can do.
It’s a type of ionic hair dryer which uses negative ions to dry your hair faster. Tourmaline specifically works well with drying and taming frizzy hair quickly, while limiting the heat damage you will take from blow-drying your hair.
Tourmaline dryers tend to be high quality, which makes them more expensive. That’s the major drawback. These dryers can be good for other hair types, but if your hair is thinner, absolutely do not use the higher heat settings.
Thick hair – Ionic Dryer
Tourmaline dryers are ionic dryers that specialize in taming your frizzy head-jungle. But what about if you just have thick hair?
In that case, a regular old ionic dryer is your best bet. They allow you to dry your hair quickly while maintaining its natural shape and volume, so you can go about your day.
Since we’re discussing thick hair, I’ll bring up the three settings on your blow dryer, and what they are for. So, pretty much every dryer ever has three options: lukewarm, scorched earth, and “cool”. A lot of dryer manufacturers like to brag about how hot their max power is, like burning your hair is somehow a good thing.
Here are what the settings are actually for:
- High heat: This one is for thick hair specifically. Thicker hair requires a bit more power to dry it off properly. You should use this setting if you have thick hair and a lot of it.
- Low heat: This setting is for thinner hair. It won’t dry as fast but it’s also much less intense, causing less damage to your hair. Fine hair is delicate, you need to treat it carefully.
- Cool: When your hair is almost completely dry, you’re supposed to switch to this setting to finish drying off and styling your hair. It’s not just for aesthetic reasons – this setting is supposed to help you avoid overheating your hair, which leads to damage.
Fine or dry hair – Ceramic/Porcelain Dryer
Fine hair is easily damaged by heat. That’s the biggest downside to it. Compared to thick hair, it’s annoyingly fragile and requires a lot of care to prevent you from burning it through your regular routine. That’s why you should use a dryer made with ceramics or porcelain.
Ceramic/porcelain dryers are designed to provide more consistent air flow. The material limits the heat damage caused by dryers, making it the perfect companion for people who bear the fine hair curse.
Ceramic dryers also don’t really dry out hair as earnestly as ionic ones, so if you have dry hair, you should use a ceramic dryer.
Long or resilient hair – Titanium Dryer
Titanium hair dryers are pretty cool. These ones are generally the hottest ones you can get, as titanium is capable of getting really hot, really fast. It’s also really good at allowing you to precision control the temperature and heat distribution.
If you have really long hair, or your hair is fairly thick and resilient to damage, you could use a titanium dryer. However do be careful – if your hair is prone to heat damage, this type of dryer can and will cause you trouble.
Dryer attachments and what they can do
There are a couple of things you can stick on the end of your hair dryer to make sure it does everything you want it to do. We’re going to talk about two in particular. They are the concentrator nozzle and the diffuser.
- Concentrator nozzle: If you guessed that his attachment concentrates heat distribution, you’d be correct. But you may be wondering why you’d ever need to use this kind of attachment. Well, the reason is quite simple. A concentrator nozzle can help control frizz, for starters, but it’s also really good at helping you straighten out your hair. If you use a straightener frequently, you may want to consider getting the concentrator nozzle.
- Diffuser: A diffuser does two things. First, it holds the shape of your hair steady while it dries, and second, it nerfs the air flow somewhat, distributing it far more gently across a wider surface area. You would use a diffuser if you have curly, wavy or voluminous hair. It’s good for styling, but it really excels at preserving your hair’s shape and volume during the drying process.
Some final things to consider
- Wattage: If you’re trying to tame a majestic mane of thick hair, then you’ll need a high-powered dryer, so you should one with higher wattage. If you have thin hair, you don’t need to worry about that. A lower watt dryer will do you just fine.
- Weight: you’re holding this thing up, waving it around, and keeping it in motion. If the dryer is heavy, you’re going to have a bad time. You should aim for a lighter type of dryer if you have a lot of hair that takes a long time to dry.
Picking out a hair dryer isn’t rocket science. You know your hair. It grows out of your hair, after all. Just look for the type of dryer that best fits your needs. For better results, consider a good heat protectant spray, just use it before blowing dry your hair and you’ll be fine. Remember to be wary of heat damage, and take good care of your hair.
