I have a love hate relationship with a lot of things. Winter, pencil eyeliner, running (well actually, that relationship is mostly hate), and my hair. Since my hair is curly, my life — and my social calendar — practically revolves around when I’ll have enough time to set aside a good hour and a half to two hours to wash my hair. And a good chunk of that styling time is taken up by how dang long it takes to dry my hair.
I know what you straight haired girlies are thinking: “It takes me ages to dry my hair too, you’re not special!” But let me tell you, it’s a whole different ball park if you want your curls looking presentable. You need to whip out the diffuser, which takes longer then the regular hairdryer attachment since it spreads out the airflow. So when I was presented with the opportunity to test out the ghd Speed, the fastest hair dryer on the market, I was curious to see if it would actually make a difference on my thick head of curly hair.
How The Ghd Speed Works
The ghd Speed Hair Dryer ($575) is all about, you guessed it, speed. Using ghd’s halo™ dual‑airflow technology, a halo of cool air surrounds the heated airflow to protect your scalp. It also has ghd’s fastest motor yet, whirring away at up to 176km an hour. It’s been tested by the brand against hundreds of hair dryers, and has always come out on top as the quickest.
The ghd Speed had four different heat and speed settings, as well as a cool shot button, a lock, and memory of your preferred heat settings, so you don’t need to reset it every time you use it. The brand also claims that hair dryer won’t leave you with heat damage, which is a huge bonus if true! But TBH, I’m always a bit iffy with those claims, since without protection, a heat tool is inevitably going to cause some damage to your locks after repeated use, especially if you’re styling your hair often.
Ghd Speed Hair Dryer Road Test
Since I was testing if the ghd Speed was truly faster than my regular hair dryer, I did a fair comparison of the two. I washed and styled my hair using the exact same products, and used a stop watch to time how long the drying process took from the moment I flicked the ‘on’ switch.
I use the Dyson Airwrap to dry my hair with a diffuser attachment I bought separately (did you know they sell diffusers for Dyson Airwraps?! You do now). It’s quicker than the dodgy old hair dryer I used to use, and is really lightweight and comfortable to hold, but still takes 23 minutes out of my day — often longer.
No issues or qualms with this one!
Later in the week, when I washed my hair again, I switched out the Dyson for the ghd. The first thing I noticed was the weight — this hair dryer was noticeably heavier. Not heavier than other standard hair dryers, but the Dyson Airwrap is so lightweight, and I’d been using it for years, so I forgot the real deal is a little heftier. My wrists started to get tired while I was hovering the hairdryer around my head, but not to the point where it was uncomfortable.
The on/off, heat and fan speed buttons are all at the back of the hair dryer, so once I got used to that, it was pretty easy to operate. There’s a cool shot button that’s easy to reach at the front of the hair dryer, too.
While I was drying my hair, my fingers naturally went over the heat and fan buttons, which was a bit frustrating because it then would go and change the settings on me. However, upon closer inspection, I found a switch on the front of the hair dryer that locked my settings into place, so that issue was quickly remedied.
I also really liked the size of the diffuser bowl. I could fit a lot of hair into it — more than my Dyson — which definitely contributed to my hair drying quicker. And I could definitely hold the hair dryer closer to my roots without feeling like my scalp was in an oven. When it started getting a bit hot, it was super easy to just blast the cool shot or lower the heat.
But the most important part: the speed.
This baby shaved off seven and a half minutes off my drying time.
My Verdict Of The Ghd Speed
I thought that the ghd Speed would be gimmicky, no more than two to three minutes quicker than my Dyson, but seven and a half minutes is a solid chunk. That means I can be out the door seven minutes quicker, which is enough to mean I’ll actually be on time for once! For a curly girl like myself, those precious minutes can be make or break, so ghd is affording us a little less stress by placing the time back in our hands.
While it took some time adjusting to the settings, once I got the hang of the button placements, it was practically seamless to use. Changing settings was really easy, and my curls turned out exactly how they would look with my OG hairdryer: defined, bouncy and frizz free. The hairdryer itself didn’t heat up, so my hands didn’t suffer from surprise burns, and neither did my scalp!
Now, onto my not so favourite aspects of the hair dryer.
First up: the weight. This isn’t a make or break for me, but it was noticeably heavier than the one I used previously. It’s a definite no for travelling — at least in my books — so you’ll need a separate, lighter hair dryer if you like to travel with your own.
My other gripe is the fact that it doesn’t come with the diffuser attachment, so you need to purchase it separately for an additional $45. It’s a great attachment, so I’m not mad about it, but the ghd speed ain’t cheap. So if I’m already spending $595 on a hair dryer, it would be nice if the brand considered us curly girls and threw it in, too. After all, there’s an attachment that works on smoothing out straight hair, so why do we need to miss out?
However, the positives do outweigh the cons. I can get ready faster, saving myself a whole lot of stress (there have been many a time I’ve almost missed the train for work because my hair was still wet), and it’s really easy to use.
At almost $600, it isn’t the most affordable hair dryer on the market, but I say it’s a worthy investment. Next time you’re considering upgrading your hair tools, I’d recommend giving this one a try.
Image credit: @alyssa.forato
The post I Tried The World’s Fastest Hair Dryer On Curly Hair To See If It’s Legit Or Another Gimmick appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
