I think I should start this post with a disclaimer: I’m no expert on hairstyling or tools of the trade. I’m probably the only one of my friends who’ve never owned a CHI flat iron, and I usually buy my hair dryers next to the deodorant at Walgreens. My stylist tried for years to teach me how to blow out my hair at home with a round brush, but I could never get the hang of it. It didn’t matter for a long time because I wore my hair really short; usually in choppy bobs that didn’t require much styling, just a little pomade and an air dry. It wasn’t until I started growing my hair out last year that I realized my styling arsenal needed an overhaul. I invested in a professional tourmaline flat iron and a ceramic large barrel curling iron, but I was still using an inexpensive Conair dryer that left my hair dried out, frizzy, and sad.
Misikko sent me the HANAair Professional Hair Dryer to review, and considering it retails for more than $300, let’s just say I had high expectations. From the first time I used it, it didn’t disappoint. It dried my thick hair in less than 10 minutes, and left it shiny and soft without dreaded amateur blow-out frizz. Like I said, I’m kind of a disaster with a round brush, and even with my mediocre skills, my results were almost salon-worthy! I did the quick little video above last night after showering and washing my hair to show you how quick and easy the HANAair is to use.
A few quick pros of this dryer: (1) It has a super-long cord, so you aren’t confined to two feet of your outlet when styling. (2) It has two super-powered speed settings and two heat settings, all of which are kind of perfect. On high speed, I’m pretty sure you could blow down one of the houses of the three little pigs. (3) It has a convenient cool-shot button that’s a switch so you don’t have to hold it down while you set your blow-out.
So, the ultimate question I’m sure you’re all asking is, “is it worth it to spend $200 on a hair dryer?” {you can buy the HANAair on sale at Misikko for $194, and get free shipping}. I’ve thought about this a lot, because I wanted to give you an honest answer. When I think about all of the $40 dryers I’ve purchased in the last three years, I imagine it has to add up to at least half of the cost of this professional dryer. I also considered all the extra time I spent blow drying before — at least 30 minutes to get my hair completely dry, followed by touching up with a flat iron to tame the resulting frizz. And after weighing out these considerations, and running my fingers through my silky straight tresses that defy the Florida humidity, I keep coming back to the same answer: Yes It Is.
