It’s a blow out: The humble hairdryer has been given a techy update

Time to retire that rusty old dryer and meet the new generation of hair gadgets, says Emma Akbareian

‘The holy grail of hair these days is looking like you’ve just stepped out of a salon’

Where the Nineties were about grunge and in the Noughties we went boho, in today’s society it seems we are surrounded by perfectly coiffed hair. Whether it’s the Duchess of Cambridge or Kim Murray, the holy grail of hair is looking like you’ve just stepped out of a salon. Unfortunately most of us mere mortals lack the budget to have a hairdresser on call and have to opt for more DIY methods.

The old adage "a man is only as good as his tools" is certainly apt here; don’t expect to achieve a high-society hairdo with old-school electricals. Gone are the clunky, noisy dryers and the over-frazzled hair they create, instead you’ll find slick machines that noiselessly tame even the messiest of barnets.

The major entry to the market comes from a slightly unexpected source: Dyson. Yes the purveyor of swishy vacuum cleaners has made the haircare industry its newest target market. The hairdryer has all the hallmarks of Dyson design – firstly it wouldn’t look out of place in a spaceship, secondly it knocks its competitors out cold.

Dyson doesn’t do anything by halves, investing £50m in the development of its Supersonic dryer. Four years of testing later and the result is an ultra-light machine, with concentrated, heat-sensitive airflow for precise styling that doesn’t damage the hair.

Dyson engineers spent four years developing the new dryer

“Hair dryers can be heavy, inefficient and make a racket. By looking at them further we realised that they can also cause extreme heat damage to hair. I challenged Dyson engineers to really understand the science of hair and develop our version of a hair dryer, which we think solves these problems,” explains company founder James Dyson.

At a slightly lower entrance price there’s GHD; the brand single-handedly responsible for giving us poker-straight hair also makes a mean hair drying machine. The Aura’s key selling point is its "Laminair" technology; where most standard dryers blow air in all directions, GHD’s features a concentrated stream of air allowing for precision styling.

While not technically a dryer, Babyliss’s new Diamond Radiance Shine System is worth a mention for those who like their hair glossy. Essentially it’s a heated paddle brush but made with ceramic. It straightens as you brush – the result is flick-worthy hair.