Plus, expert tips for choosing the right weights for you.
There’s no two bones about it—I’ve always had A LOT of hair. It’s long, thick, coarse, and a whole tangle of different textures (curly, wavy, and straight) all in one mane. Given its textural complexity, blowing it out is no picnic. My full wash-and-dry process typically takes about two hours from start to finish, which is why I now limit it to every 10 days or so. When I do finally get around to it, though, my Mane This Totally Blows! Ionic Compact Hair Dryer ($125) is the only tool I’ll use to get my hair dry. I bought it earlier this year, and it’s now a staple of my wash day routine.
When I find a product or tool that helps cut down on my seemingly never-ending hair routine, I’ll use it forever. (Like the Amika hair mask that I stockpile in case it ever gets discontinued, for example.) This blow-dryer does exactly that—I can dry my entire head of hair in under 10 minutes, even since it’s surpassed mermaid lengths. In the past, even rough drying has taken upwards of 45 minutes to an hour—and that’s after letting my hair air dry for around an hour first. Not with this tool.
Speeds: 2
Temperature settings: 3
Includes three attachments: Airflow nozzle, diffuser, and wide-tooth comb
Pros:
- Ionic technology helps dry hair faster with less heat
- Powerful—dries hair in minutes
- Leaves hair smooth and shiny
- Versatile attachments
- Lightweight and easy to maneuver in hand
Cons:
- Pricey
About the Mane This Totally Blows! Ionic Compact Hair Dryer
This small blow-dryer features two levels of speed, three levels of heat, and a cool-shot button. Those features, along with three different attachments (a diffuser, wide-tooth comb, and focused airflow nozzle) let you customize your blowout according to your needs. It’s designed in a compact, lightweight silhouette (less than a pound!), so it’s easy to hold and manipulate while you blow your hair out.
Mane’s blow-dryer also features ionic technology, which can help hair dry more quickly with less heat to minimize damage. Although I always use a heat protectant, I still love knowing that my hot tools are designed to protect my hair even more during use.
My review
Using this blow dryer is easy peasy. You plug it in, select your heat and temperature settings, turn it on, and voilà—let the blow-drying begin! I typically forgo the attachments altogether and use the nozzle as is. I have used the wide-tooth comb attachment on occasion, although I haven’t really seen it do much for my hair (maybe it works better for thinner hair or less wavy textures). I also haven’t used the diffuser attachment yet, but I want to—committing to a curly ’do just takes a little more effort for me.
As for the temperature, I find it to be just right. Some blow dryers just get way too hot for comfort—I’ve been in salon chairs where I’ve felt like my scalp was burning. Not so with this dryer, which gets hot enough to quickly and easily dry my tresses without singeing my scalp.
The magic for me of the Mane blow dryer, though, is that it lets me dry my hair in record time. I never blow dry with a round brush since I just can’t seem to master rolling my hair around it without totally tangling every single strand. Instead, I rough dry with my fingers, combing my hair out as I go. As mentioned, this used to take me upwards of an hour at a time. I timed myself using my Mane blow dryer the other day, however, and my hair was fully dry in just under seven minutes. Yes, you read that right. Seven!
You’ll notice in my photos that, even with rough drying, this blow-dryer provides a lot of smoothness and shine. Typically, my hair is fairly huge after a rough dry—and, while I still go in with a flat iron afterward to smooth it out a bit more, that’s way less necessary with this gem of a hair tool. My hair even stays smooth and shiny in humid weather, something that never occurred before I started using this dryer.
Final thoughts
While this blow-dryer is on the pricier side, I think it’s completely worth it. I love that it comes with so many different attachments, of course—but, really, the proof is in the pudding. It doesn’t just cut my styling time in half—it cuts it down to a mere fraction of what it was previously. Seven minutes with this tool in my hand and my tresses are dry, straight, smooth, and free of poof.
All in all, I’ve never fallen more in love with a blow-dryer in my life—and my hair has never been happier. If you have thick, wavy hair like me, pick up Mane’s This Totally Blows! Ionic Compact Hair Dryer and see the results for yourself.
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