The best hair dryers for 2024, tried and tested with expert advice from an A-list stylist

Table Of Content

• Best for volume: GHD Air 1600W Professional Hair Dryer
• Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer
• The 11 best ‘unsexy’ skincare products that are better than the luxury stuff
• Heat + Speed Settings
• The Lightweight Rusk W8less Beats All the Pricey Hair Dryers I’ve Tried. And It’s Under $100.
• Best Lightweight Hair Dryer
• What makes a blow-dryer the best tool for styling hair?

You can usually buy compatible attachments separately even for budget hair dryers, in case you lose yours. “If you have coarse or curly hair [which tends to be thicker], high wattage will help you get it dry faster,” says Raziuddin. That’s great because most of us want to dry our hair as quickly as possible and get on with our day (without damaging it, of course). “If you have finer or chemically treated hair, be sure to turn down the heat,” she says. Most hair dryers range between 1,800 and 2,000 watts; 1,875 is most common, but anywhere in that range is fine.

Best for volume: GHD Air 1600W Professional Hair Dryer

"At home, I use the Dyson Airwrap," says Shelly Aguirre, stylist at Maxine Salon in Chicago. There's no hiding the fact this is an expensive hair dryer – and let’s be honest, is beyond many people’s budgets for a haircare appliance. But Dyson has crammed a shed-load of tech into its Supersonic dryer making it the best hair dryer you can buy right now. “It’s the ease of using it that makes it attractive, and it gives you that salon finish,” says Karla Marabello, owner of K’Bello Organic Hair in New Jersey. The Revlon One-Step is also great even for those with thick and curly hair, she says. "I love it! My hair is bouncy and has so much volume and movement. Still, I probably wouldn't buy it with my own money because I don't style my hair at home very often and it's out of my price range."

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer

The Dyson Supersonic is on the lower end of the wattage spectrum, But it came highly recommended as one of the best hair dryers by the most of the experts we spoke to. The main features that were called out were its ability to fight frizz, its sleek, lightweight design, and fast drying time. Its tourmaline ceramic technology helps seal in moisture and prevent frizzy hair, experts told us.

The 11 best ‘unsexy’ skincare products that are better than the luxury stuff

It’s heavy, but you don’t have to hold it high like a conventional dryer. Rather than raising the dryer to your hair, however, you insert sections of your hair into the wand; the device then quickly and gently sucks the damp hair dry. It offers seven suction power levels and three heat settings (high, low, or the no-heat cool shot). If you leaned into the curtain bang trend, it's time to properly style them. The easiest way to make your fringe frizzy and unkept is to use a blow dryer without enough precision. This blowdryer brush does the opposite thanks to a perfectly-sized brush head that specifically smooths shorter pieces of hair like the strands around your face.

I tested 10 best-selling models and interviewed professional stylists to find the best hair dryers ... Despite its steep price tag, this is one of the most popular hair dryers on the market, and it also happened to come recommended by our expert. It's no surprise that we loved it enough to name it as our overall favorite.

The 20 Best Hair Dryers of 2024, Tested and Reviewed - InStyle

The 20 Best Hair Dryers of 2024, Tested and Reviewed.

Posted: Tue, 02 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Heat + Speed Settings

The panel agreed that the airflow was powerful for its compact size and all said their hair looked smooth after use. Reaching from the roots to the back of the head proved easy and it barely made any noise. It got the job done quickly, with virtually all of our panel pleased with how long it took to dry their hair, and it scored highly in our lab test, heating up well without scorching strands. The control indicator lights could be clearer, but it delivered an outstanding performance overall. The hair dryer that broke the internet back in 2016 scored highly with our panel.

The Lightweight Rusk W8less Beats All the Pricey Hair Dryers I’ve Tried. And It’s Under $100.

Put to use on our very thick, long, wavy hair (which historically takes forever to dry), the Harry Josh Ultra Light Pro Dryer proved its prowess as the best professional-grade tool in its class. This mint-green, French-made dryer weighs in at under a pound, yet produces a powerful airstream that goes virtually unheard, thanks to its patented silencer that drops the noise volume considerably. With a 22-minute blow dry completed on fine, color-treated hair, the dryer delivered a sleek, salon-quality blowout with no heat damage reported. This blow-dryer and four attachment heads (diffuser, concentrator nozzle, wide-tooth comb, and brush) are made to shape, stretch, smooth, and define natural hair types. Oprah Daily's senior producer, J’nelle Agee says, "The wide-tooth comb attachment is genius and glided through my hair so much easier than the one I usually use." Read her full review here. It's also incredibly lightweight, and its sleek style makes it easy to navigate.

Fortunately, there is a diffuser attachment that you can buy from T3 — but it’s sold separately, so you would have to add that on top of this already-pricey tool. Still, we can’t imagine going back to hotel hair dryers after our maiden voyage with this one. This dryer was easy to handle and maneuver and the buttons were easy to use and reach to switch up the speeds or heat settings, which we loved. We found ourselves wishing that the cord was a little longer so we could get closer to the mirror, flip our hair around, and do all the gymnastics needed to get a full blowout. Luckily we didn’t need all of that when it came to this specific model, as we secured a bouncy, curly style in a little over 20 minutes that left our thin hair looking extra glam. It’s not a walk in the park for people with thin hair to get a good blowout (and forget a voluminous one), even after plying their tresses with revitalizing shampoos for thinning hair.

The 4 Best Hair Dryers of 2024 Reviews by Wirecutter - The New York Times

The 4 Best Hair Dryers of 2024 Reviews by Wirecutter.

Posted: Wed, 22 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Alyssa Brascia has been a commerce writer for PEOPLE since 2022, with expertise in beauty research for her work with cosmetics, skincare, and hair care. She has previously contributed to InStyle, researching and writing beauty content and becoming well-versed in the world of cosmetology. Our strands looked and felt sleeker and softer than ever when we used this tool, and we found that it got hot enough to effectively dry our hair without making us worry about heat damage. It even performed well on those of us with hair extensions, smoothing and drying our natural strands and our false ones at the same time.

Abergel noted that, for example, using a concentrator nozzle that precisely hits hard-to-reach areas is key to achieving salon-level results. "It concentrates the air and aids in directing the airflow exactly where you want it to go," Abergel previously explained. This concentrated airflow also helps the cuticle of the hair lay flat so that it will be shinier and less frizzy, according to Los Angeles-based hairstylist Kiki Heitkotter.

If you don’t care about weight, consider the InfinitiPro by Conair 1875-Watt Salon Performance AC Motor Styling Tool. Commonly found in drugstores, this dryer produces airflow that’s faster (65 mph) than that of our top pick and almost as hot (205 °F). At 1.3 pounds, however, it may feel heavy after you spend a couple of minutes holding it above your head. The 6-foot cord, though shorter than those on our other picks, is longer than those on most other inexpensive hair dryers. The buttons are easy to use, but the cool-shot button is a little small and harder to hold down than the cool-shot button on our top pick. We were looking for simplicity, useful speed and heat settings, low noise levels (measured with the Decibel Meter App on the highest hair dryer settings), low weight and effective attachments for all hair types.

Also, consider whether you want a hair dryer that has ‘iconic technology’. Much like the Dyson Supersonic (#3) and GHD Helios (#1), the Laifen Swift offers super-fast drying that's still gentle enough to keep hair well-protected. Here, it's bolstered by intelligent thermal sensors which allow for real-time temperature monitoring to minimize heat damage. All this for a relatively pocket-friendly price of $159.99 (unfortunately it's not currently available in the UK). To give your hair the TLC it deserves, you'll want one of the best hair dryers, but you might just be surprised by how many options there are. From ionic dryers to multi-stylers and brush dryers, there's a lot to choose from these days.

There are also options for hot water, milk froth and making a full pot of coffee. You can make a single or double drink and adjust the serving size to your liking. Not only that, the quantity of coffee grounds, water quantity and temperature, milk and froth can be tailored to your preferences as well, so you can truly personalize your coffee drink. Breville’s coffee makers consistently test well in our Lab tests, so it’s no surprise their Grind Control coffee maker was a top performer.

You’ll want to know the various heating types and how they’ll affect your hair texture before purchasing. You’ll also want to consider any additional attachments, heat settings, and build qualities that will add up to the best hair dryer (and hair day!). As one of the best hair dryers for curly hair, The Pattern blow dryer is made "for the natural gals that don't need super straight hair," celebrity hairstylist and founder of NTRL by Sabs Sabrina Rowe Holdsworth. Because of their power and longevity, Twin Turbo offers some of the best hair dryers for professionals. Multiple experts pointed to the 3500 model as their favorite tool for long salon days.

"This dryer is also a lot smaller and less bulky than the typical hairdryer that we're used to seeing, making it great for travel," says Edward Tricomi, master stylist and co-owner of Warren Tricomi salons. What would have made our lives a little easier is an included comb attachment for drying our curls, but instead, we had to opt for a paddle brush. The included diffuser and concentrator were fantastic additions to this whisper-quiet tool, but they were a little hard to secure in place at first. However, once we got the hang of this machine, we loved the easy, fast, and ultra-quiet way to achieve our at-home blowouts. Though it was very easy to work our magic with this dryer, we wished it was a tad lighter, as many of the others we tested had a more weightless feel. However, we never experienced wrist or arm pain when using this dryer, so perhaps we’re just being picky.