Is the saying, “You get what you pay for,” true when it comes to choosing a hair blow dryer? Can a $30.00 hair blow dryer perform as well, or even better than, a $300.00 hair blow dryer?
Surprisingly, according to the Good Housekeeping Institute, spending $30.00 for a hair blow dryer makes more sense than spending $300.00. From the results of the Good Housekeeping Institutes’s tests, a $30.00 hair blow dryer outperformed a $300.00 blow dryer. Frugal women everywhere can now rejoice knowing that they do not have to spend hundreds of dollars for a great hair dryer with innovative features.
The Good Housekeeping Institute compared three ionic, tourmaline hair blow dryers as well as a standard ionic hair dryer without tourmaline. Tourmaline is a natural stone that is believed to help dry the hair faster while adding shine. Ionic hair dryers, which emit negative ions, are believed to also help the hair dry faster, lessen frizz, and smooth the hair.
Potentially, a hair dryer with the combination of an ionic emitting feature and a tourmaline stone could be an innovative product. This combination of features raises some interesting questions, which the Good House Keeping Institute answers. Does an ionic, tourmaline hair dryer perform better than a regular ionic hair dryer or is it all hype?
The first hair blow dryer compared by the Good Housekeeping Institute was the:
– RevlonRV544 1875 Watt Tourmaline Ionic Lightweight Dryer, with an average retail price of $30.00.
The second hair blow dryer compared was the:
– T3 Tourmaline Featherweight Professional Ceramic Ionic Hair Dryer with, an average retail price of $200.00.
The third hair blow dryer compared was the:
– T3 Tourmaline Evolution Professional Ceramic Ionic Hair Dryer with an average retail price of $300.
The fourth, and final hair blow dryer, compared was an unnamed ionic model that did not have a tourmaline stone inside the blow dryer. The Good Housekeeping Institute compared the four blow dryers for their performance in several categories including:
-How long the hair blow dryers took to dry the hair
-How well the hair blow dryers controlled frizz
-How noisy was the hair blow dryer
-How heavy was the hair blow dryer
-What kind of visual results did the hair blow dryer produce in areas such as shine, texture and frizz
-How the hair blow dryer performed in ease of use, features provided, controls provided, overall performance and satisfaction of the testers
The results of the Good Housekeeping Institute test concluded that all three ionic, tourmaline hair blow dryers dried the hair approximately 40% faster than the standard ionic hair dryer without tourmaline.
Surprisingly, the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer beat out the two more expensive hair blow dryers in overall performance. The Revlon RV544 was recommended by the Good Housekeeping Institute over the $200 and $300 hairdryers. This recommendation was based on both price and performance.
It should be noted that all four of the hair blow dryers had the same wattage of 1875. 1875 watts is considered the standard wattage for an effective hair blow dryer. Hair blow dryers with wattages of less than 1875, are generally not recommended by many hair care experts because they don’t produce an effective amount of heat. From my own personal observation, I found that the heat produced by 1875 watt hair dryers can surprisingly vary.
I recently replaced my standard Conair ionic, but not containing tourmaline, 1875 watt blow dryer with the Good Housekeeping Institute recommended Revlon RV544 1875 hair blow dryer. I found that the Revlon RV544 blow dryer performed wonderfully. The Revlon RV544 blow dryer did not perform miracles on my hair, but there were several notable improvements over my Conair ionic hair blow dryer.
At first I didn’t think that the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer was drying my hair any faster than the Conair hair blow dryer. But at a little under 10 minutes of blow drying with the Revlon RV544, I found that my hair was as dry as it was with 15 minutes of drying with the Conair hair blow dryer.
I found that my hair was somewhat smoother, softer and shiner with the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer than with the Conair blow dryer. It wasn’t a hair miracle or hair makeover, but it was absolutely visually noticeable. I also found that the Revlon RV544 dryer produced significantly more heat than the Conair dryer, which made styling a bit easier and quicker.
I tried the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer both with and without the usual styling product I use to smooth my wavy hair, “Garnier Fructis Style Smoothing Milk, Strong.” I found that I still needed the smoothing milk. Blow drying my hair without the smoothing milk didn’t produce as good of results as blow drying with it. I still needed the smoothing milk for additional smoothness and frizz control.
But the combination of the smoothing milk and the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer was superior to blow drying with my previous Conair model using the smoothing milk. I was, however, expecting a little more frizz fighting power from the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer. I had hoped that the Revlon RV544 would enable me to use less product or no hair product for smoothing my hair. I was a bit disappointed that I still have to use the straightening milk.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer. It is not a miracle product, but a very good, solid hair dryer that makes the hair look visually better than a regular ionic hair dryer. I would absolutely recommend this hair dryer and will repurchase it when this one quits working, hopefully not for many years. I did find that other people such as my husband, family members and friends noticed the difference in my hair without my having told them that I did anything differently. The comments were that my hair looked,”better,” “softer,” and “silkier.” That works for me!
I purchased the Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer from www.Amazon.com , for about $21.00, cheaper than the usually $30.00 suggested retail price. Do remember that with Amazon, orders over $25 often qualify for free shipping. It would be worth your while to add something else in addition to the Revlon RV544 dryer to your order to qualify for free shipping. Here is the link for the blow dryer at Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Revlon-RV544-Tourmaline-Lightweight-Silver/dp/B000FS05VG/sr=8-2/qid=1169764535/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-2884920-0063946?ie=UTF8&s;=hpc
The Revlon RV544 hair blow dryer comes with a removable diffuser attachment and a removable concentrator attachment. Besides the internal tourmaline stone and ionic emitting features, it also has a cold shot button for setting in styles. It has 2 speed settings, high and low, as well as two heat settings, high and medium.
For more consumer reviews for the hair blow dryers mentioned in this article as well as many more beauty, fragrance, hair, bath, body and various personal care products of many kinds, visit http://www.makeupalley.com
You must sign up for a free membership at Makeup Alley in order to read and post product reviews. I have been a member of this wonderful site for a while and have found it an invaluable resource. The reviews are very helpful, informative and honest. The forums are a wonderful resource also to ask questions and interact with other Makeup Alley members.
Makeup Alley is a must for women everywhere and I can’t recommend it enough. If you search for the Revlon RV544 reviews, you will learn that many consumers agree with The Good Housekeeping Institutes rating. At least one consumer reviewer, who tried both the Revlon RV544 and one of the several hundred dollar hair blow dryers, liked the Revlon model so much she returned the expensive blow dryer and kept the cheaper Revlon model.
Woman ask a lot of their hair blow dryers. We put our blow dryers as well as our hair though quite a bit of punishment. Many women use a hair blow dryer daily, or at the very least several times a week. We don’t just ask our hair blow dryers to dry our hair anymore. Hair blow dryers are now used not only to dry the hair but to assist in styling or straightening the hair. In the daily fight with our hair, the right blow dryer can be a wonderful tool.
With varying hair types, women have different needs that a hair blow dryer should meet. But the primary need, regardless of your hair type, is a blow dryer that will dry the hair thoroughly and quickly. With all the rushing around getting ready in the morning, an efficient hair blow dryer is a must. Many women who have not replaced their hair blow dryer in several years, may be greatly surprised at how much better some of today’s hair blow dryer models perform compared to those of yesteryear.
According to the Good Housekeeping Institutes test results, the recommended Revlon RV544 blow dryer can shave as much as 40% off your blow drying time. This may not sound like much of an improvement. For women like me who easily spend 15 minutes just blow drying their hair before styling, a reduction of 5 to 7 minutes off of blowing time is much welcomed.
The extremely heavy hair blow dryers of yesterday have now been replaced with much lighter ones. For women who spend a lot of time drying, stying or straightening their hair a lighter blow dryer makes the job a little easier and less fatiguing to the arms and hands. I found the Revlon RV544 to be fairly light and easily manageable.
Women with curly or kinky hair, have special hair blow dryer needs-weather they straighten their hair or not. Curly or kinky hair tends to get frizzy or overly fluffy very easily. As any woman with curly hair will tell you, it’s a never ending battle to control this frizz and tame their curls.
For curly or kinky hair, starting with the right shampoo and conditioner is a must. Specific hair styling products, often containing silicone, are also very useful both for straightening curls as well as for keeping curls under control without excessive frizz.
For specific product recommendations for your hair type, I highly recommend Paula Begoun’s book “Don’t Go Shopping For Haircare Products Without Me-3rd Edition.” Excerpts of the book, as well as the book itself, are available on Paula Begoun’s website http://www.cosmeticscop.com or at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shopping-Hair-Care-Products-Without/dp/1877988316/sr=8-2/qid=1169765055/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-2884920-0063946?ie=UTF8&s;=books
Many women with curly or kinky hair may be aware of products that assist with styling or controlling their hair. But these same women may not realize that the choice of which blow dryer to use is just as important as the products you use on your hair. Hair dryers with features such as being an ionic hair dryer (emitting ions) and using a tourmaline hair blow dryer (containing tourmaline, a naturally occurring stone) are essential to help control frizz and smooth the hair. These features are essential for both women who straighten their curls and for those who wish to de-frizz their curls.
The proper hair dryer won’t by itself completely accomplish de-frizzing and curl control for many women. But the proper hair dryer is nevertheless an essential tool. Many women with very frizzy, dry or damaged hair will still have to combine the use of a good hair dryer with the use of good hair products. But the combination of the proper blow dryer with the proper hair products will prove to be a wonderful solution for most women. Many women may begin loving their curls again after learning how simple it can be to tame them.
What about those women with straight hair or wavy hair? They too will still benefit from the smoothing effects of a high quality hair dryer. For myself, with somewhat wavy hair that is very coarse and moderately frizzy with fly aways- I’m finding that I love my hair for the first time in many years. I’ve finally stopped wanting to cut my shoulder length hair into chin length hair. Thanks to both the proper hair products and the wonderful Revlon RV544 hair dryer my hair now looks better than ever. For the first time in my life it’s actually a pleasure to dry and style my hair.
