The test of professional hair dryers

Why hair dryers?? Not every American apartment has a coffee machine and even a drip coffee maker, not all men use an electric razor, not all housewives whip something with an electric mixer, but hair dryers blow out and girls and grandmothers, and many characters of the stronger sex. Because a hair dryer is an important beauty tool.

So here we are, checking out professional hair dryers for household use from the most renowned manufacturers of home appliances.

For our tests we took six models with high power ratings. Maximum – the Braun SPI 220 0 DF. Biggest hair dryer: Bosch PHD9769, smallest: Valera SN 9 000 RC. the cheapest model is Philips HP 4997, the most expensive is Rowenta CV 8545.

And who are the judges??

To assess the professional qualities of hair dryers was invited hairstylist with years of experience Alexandra SOLTAN. She not only worked with each hair dryer, but also revealed to us some professional secrets.

According to the expert’s opinion, the Rowenta CV 8545 and Bosch PHD9769 have the most “professional” look. They have the most convenient mode switches.

The Bosch PHD9769 and the Valera SN 9000 RC have the most successful concentrator heads.

The biggest choice of temperature modes and heating speeds – at Panasonic EH 5 573. Interesting inclusion of “cold blowing” in Bosch PHD9769. The Rowenta CV 8545 has the cleverest, most thoughtful packaging.

What styles are there?

In our country, mostly represented by hair dryers-pistols: devices with a handle and the body connected to it at an angle. If we consider in the complex such concepts as size/weight/power, it can be divided into travel hairdryers, household, professional for household needs and professional for salon workers .

On the road hair dryers, we tell in one of the next issues of the magazine, about professional models for hairdressers told specialized publications, but today we dwell on the description of professional hair dryers for domestic use.

The professional at home

Hair dryers of professional stylists are different in that they should be able to work for a long time without interruption. With today’s loads of hairdressers have to change the hair dryer for a new one on average once every two years.

Hair dryers for hairdressers are sold in specialized salons, among the manufacturers there are many names, unknown to ordinary consumers, but well known to professionals, such as Parlux, Velecta, Paramount, TEK, Gamma Piu, Wahl Moser, Ermila , Tecnoelettra etc. But there are also companies that produce hair dryers for professionals, as well as hair dryers for domestic use, for example, Valera.

At the same time, the desire of average consumers to have at home the same hair dryer as in the salon, led to the fact that the companies-manufacturers of household appliances began to produce hair dryers, on their main characteristics are not inferior to the professional devices.

Now some models of such well-known manufacturers as Bosch, Rowenta, Philips, etc. can compete with hair dryers for salons in such parameters as power, quality of cold blowing and ergonomics.

Instead of a heart – a fiery motor

Stylist’s tip: Short hair does not require maximum temperatures because there is a risk of scalp and hair burns, so use a lower temperature. For home styling to give extra volume, it is recommended to “raise” the hair with a brush. It is important that the air in the hair dryer goes from the roots to the tips of the hair, so it is better to bend forward a little.

Household professional hair dryers usually have an AC motor. It stands for “AC motor. In addition to hair dryers, it is used in some types of appliances, such as blenders and even freezers.

The main quality of the motor – a long service life. For example, the manufacturers of hair dryer Valera indicate that the life of a hair dryer with this motor is 2000 hours.

A Panasonic company has established a service life of up to 7 years for your hair dryer now some manufacturers claim such a life for washing machines, etc. . large household appliances .

Naturally, the companies make such commitments and openly voice the resource of operation of devices only if they are absolutely sure in the quality of their products.

At the same time, manufacturers of professional hair dryers for salons usually do not indicate either the service life of hair dryers, or the type of motor. Apparently, this is due to the fact that they do not need to prove anything, while manufacturers of household appliances have to win the right to call their equipment professional.

Powerful, very powerful, superpowerful

The main feature of a professional hair dryer is its high power. The number 2000 W is usually mentioned in the specs. Do you need such a high power? For the hairdressing professional, who has all the right styling skills – no doubt about it. After all stylist need not only beautifully styled hair, but also to cope with this task quickly to have time to serve as many clients as possible.

Tips stylist: To quickly dry long hair before styling, bend your head while blow drying, combing hair from back to front. Then set your hair back and style your bangs.

As for the establishment of beauty at home, with such high power, and hence the speed of work can not have time to beautifully arrange your hair: they dry before you give the desired shape of hair. But it is not necessary because of this to abandon the devices with high power, and here’s why.

First of all, you need to read ALL of the technical parameters carefully. You can find that the maximum performance is achieved by the hair dryer at 240 volts. In America, however, mostly 220 V, and sometimes, as everyone knows, even lower, at best – 210 V, at this voltage power hair dryers will be somewhere on the lower boundary specified by the manufacturer, and is 1700 – 1800 watts.

Secondly, a hair dryer should have a maximum drying speed. This is the mode you need to use to dry very wet hair quickly.

Everyone has a situation in life where they need to dry their hair very, very quickly. Therefore, even the potential ability of the hair dryer to develop high speed is important. True, and in a hurry we should not forget about the beauty and health of the hair, so we do not recommend abusing the high temperature of heating, especially the owners of very short and thin hair. For styling, it is worth to switch the temperature and airflow speed to lower levels.

Thirdly, the fact that the hair dryer is a high-powered, indirectly indicates that the device installed a quality motor, which means that your hair dryer will serve you for a long time.

Hairdryers with different modes

Stylist tip: Keep a hair dryer at least 20cm away from the nozzle.

How many temperature/speed combinations are needed for a hairdresser to work properly?? Almost all professional salon appliances offer four temperature settings in combination with two speeds – a total of eight combinations. Professional hair dryers for the home have three heating temperatures combined with two speeds – a total of six combinations. It is interesting that the Panasonic hair dryer, designed for home use, has four heating modes combined with three speeds – t. e. You can choose from twelve possible combinations!

Concentrate

Tips stylist: Do not forget to fix the style of each strand of cold air, using the function “cold blowing” for this. Some hairdressers prefer not to switch modes, and turn the hair dryer to the hair of the air intake grid. This is not a good idea to do at home, as it can be dangerous.

The main nozzle for a hair dryer – the concentrator: a nozzle that narrows the air flow. Stylists usually work with just such a nozzle and several brushes of different diameters. What are the concentrators??

Professional concentrator length – from 5 to 7.5 cm, the ideal width – 6-9 mm. The shape of the nozzle – with slightly rounded side edges. The narrower nozzle is designed for careful styling of each curl, wider – for gentle styling, when using it reduces the probability of accidental burns of the scalp and hair.

If the concentrator is very wide – more than one centimeter – it is very difficult to style individual strands with it, because it dries the hair around. Another important characteristic of the concentrator: the ability to rotate freely on the body of the hair dryer, which allows you to set it to the strand of hair at any angle. This allows you to model your hairstyle and choose the most comfortable position for your hair dryer in your hand.

Diffuser

Stylist’s tip: By the way, the air intake grille should be removed and rinsed with water occasionally, dried, and then put back in place.

I’ve never seen a stylist use the diffuser. Maybe that’s why such a nozzle is mostly an attribute of hair dryers designed for home use.

So why do you need a diffuser?? It brings to mind many anecdotes about the importance of PR and advertising.

The diffuser is good, but not properly advertised. Who will remember now that it was created to dry hair faster, because in all the commercials the diffuser serves to increase the volume of hair on the head.

Trying to increase, of course, is possible if you “grab” the nozzle more hair and rotate the diffuser so that they slightly curl around it. But it will leave the ends of the strands straight and make your hair look a little strange.

Some experts recommend using the diffuser to those who have had a perm. But don’t expect miracles here either. Anyway you have to practice to get a satisfying result in front of the mirror.

So why do many hair dryers in their arsenal have this nozzle? But it’s simple: it seems to nice ladies, that the more nozzles, the better, and they can’t do without a diffuser.

But still, if you need to dry your hair in record time, use the diffuser, because it can be used to dry almost half of your head at once.

Ergonomics

Ease of use is an important capability, and a hair dryer is no exception. That is why manufacturers are trying so hard to provide a hair dryer of different buttons. More details about the ergonomics of each hair dryer you can read on the following pages, here we will pay attention to the general points.

Optimally, if before buying, you can hold the hair dryer in your hands and assess whether it is comfortable, whether you do not think it is too heavy, whether it “pulls out” of your hands. Press the buttons, rotate the nozzle, try to take it off and put it back on. You may think that these are small details, but they determine the quality. So, let’s note the greatest strengths of each hair dryer:

Bosch PHD9769 – you don’t have to hold the cold blower button, the mode is activated and deactivated by pressing the button. The soft coating of the case makes it pleasant to the touch.

Braun SPI 2200 DF – both the cold air button and the Satin ion button as well as the satin protect button are backlit.

Panasonic EH 5573 – there is a panel on the hair dryer handle to remove the static electricity from the hair.

The Philips HP 4997 is minimalistic: No flashy details, but it is all very functional.

Rowenta C V 8545 – the air intake grid is attached to the body with magnets, so it is unusually easy to remove and reinstall. The “Auto-Stop” function allows you to pause for a few minutes without shutting down the modes: just put the hair dryer down, it shuts off automatically.

The Valera SN 9000 RC – the manufacturer’s patented Rotocord system ensures that the power cord is never kinked.

Ionization

A very fancy mode. Interesting in that you can’t see it with your eyes or touch it with your hands, and its operation is at best indicated by a light bulb.

We have to take the word of the manufacturers, who claim that our hair dryer has a negative ion generator and that it’s good for our hair: it reduces the static electricity, promotes health, adds shine.

We hope that in the near future, when the economic crisis is history, we will be able to test in the laboratory how many ions are emitted and how they work.

So far, we’ve been guided by the instructions for our appliances.

Let’s add that ionization will not perform miracles: it will not get rid of dandruff, sick hair will not make it healthy, it’s just a touch in the variety of means of self-care.

Safety

We’re so used to electricity all around us that we sometimes forget that even a simple appliance can be fatal if it’s plugged in and not used properly. And the hair dryer is also used in proximity to water: bathrooms, wet hair, etc. d.

That’s why hair dryer manufacturers devote a big part of their manuals to the description of safety measures. Few of us read these sections, and in vain, because it deals with vitally important issues.

All matters relating to safety of household appliances are described in detail in GOST R 5 2161.1-2004 “Safety of household and similar electrical appliances.

Part 1. General requirements” and GOST R 52161.2.23-2007 “Particular Requirements for Skin and Hair Care Devices”. There you can learn a lot about what the internal wiring should be, and about the currents in the leakage, etc. d. All devices that come into our country officially are tested for safety standards. We will pay attention to clear and simple points: the rules of operation and protection against overheating.

First, our intention was to test after how long each hair dryer would overheat and automatically shut off. But all devices sent to us showed themselves real fighters: each of them worked for an hour on maximum mode at maximum temperature, and none of them overheated!

We thought this would be enough time, because all the hair dryers we tested were designed for domestic use, not for salons.

As for the rules of operation, they are described in detail in each manual. Of course, it is worth remembering not to use the hair dryer in the bathtub or near water-filled containers.

The instructions for the Panasonic hair dryer in general sounds a ban on using it in the bathroom or other room with high humidity. Other instructions allow the use of a hair dryer in the bathroom, but require MUST unplug the hair dryer from the socket after use.

One more important warning is contained in all instructions its obligatory condition is foreseen by GOST P 52161 .2.23″ and sounds like this: “For additional protection it is advisable to install a residual current device RCD with a rated operating current not exceeding 30 mA…”.

Let us explain, the main task of RCD – to protect people from electric shock and against fire caused by current leakage through the worn insulation of wires and poor quality connections.

RCD is a necessary thing, but we are not sure that everyone, having bought a new hair dryer, will run to install RCD: too remote the threat of fire because of the hair dryer. And we are all the more pleased that the makers of

Panasonic

have installed a special cutoff device with a current rating that ensures that the current consumption does not exceed 30 mA.

It is important to note that all the hair dryers we have tested have all the required labels and warnings. We ask you to spend a few minutes reading the instructions, so you do not repeat the fate of the hero of the movie “What Women Want,” the more that bathing in the bath with a hair dryer can lead to more dire consequences than reading other people’s thoughts.

Weighing

We weighed our hair dryers ourselves on a Tefal EasyGlass BC5070 B1 electronic scale. The scales are extraordinarily exact, therefore we measured in the following way: we put a bowl on the scale, zeroed its weight, put a hair dryer with a wire, but without the hair dryer head in the bowl – and weighed up.

Our results are higher than the manufacturers stated weight of the hair dryer, precisely because all dryers are equipped with high-quality and long power cords, the weight of which we took into account. That is why the lightest hairdryers were the ones with short wires.