A couple of years ago I was on a rampant search for a new hair dryer. I was looking for something that was powerful, could get really hot, and could shape my hair well lest this hairstyle fall flat and look like a sad sack of wilted weeds.
While the right hair dryer is important to me, I always bought cheap $25 dryers because they did the job. I really liked the previous dryer I owned, but after two of them in a row caught on fire, I decided I needed to branch out. Yes, I caught two hair dryers on fire. Two. It’s a gift, what can I say?
I tried 10-15 different dryers ranging from $20-$100, and to my surprise, the expensive ones weren’t any better than the $25 ones. I decided that expensive dryers were a hoax, and managed to land on a $40 from Target.
When Misikko contacted me asking me to review one of their hair dryers, I said yes because I wanted to give expensive dryers another run, and I was curious to see how it would compare to my $40 dryer. I was originally going to review the HANA Air Premier Hair Dryer or the X5 travel dryer, both of which are the top of Misikko’s line in full size and travel dryers respectively. However, since both were sold out, they sent me the full size X5 to review.
It came in a box filled with other sample products: makeup and beauty samples, a flat iron bag, and a cute little teddy bear.
On to the hair dryer! These are the X5’s specs:
- 2000 Wattage Power
- Superlite
- Ion Technology for antistatic, smooth, shiny hair
- 2 Speed Settings/3 Heat Settings
- Slim concentrator nozzle
- Free Volume diffuser with soft tips
Review
I decided I’d use the X5 dryer for a week before I wrote it off, and that was good because upon first use, I hated it. HATED. It felt too powerful and wild, and since I wasn’t used to how to control it, it made my hair a little crazy. You’d better believe I was ready to write a review ranting about the facade of expensive hair dryers. But, after a couple of days of getting used to the X5 and learning to use the slim concentrator nozzle, it really grew on me!
What I like:
- Powerful. At first, I wasn’t a fan of this, but now having learned to wield it, I appreciate how powerful it is because it gives me more control of my hairstyle.
- Lightweight. It’s a big dryer, but it weighs less than my $40 dryer.
- The hot air is really hot, and the cold air is cold. This thing gets pretty dang hot. If you can’t handle that, it’s okay because there are 3 heat settings. Also, the cold air shot is actually cold, whereas with some dryers the cold shot is really just air that’s warm rather than hot.
- Makes my hair silky and helps keep its shape. The main reason I like this dryer is because it styles my hair really well. I noticed that my hair hardly loses its shape when I use this dryer, whereas with my old dryer it’s hit or miss, depending on whether I have a good hair day or not. With this dryer, I could have what I think will be a bad hair day, but at the end of the day my hair is still looking good. And, it makes my hair silky.
- Long cord. It’s nice not to feel like you’re on a short leash…
- Only the attachment nozzle gets hot, and nothing else. Not that it matters that much, but it’s a nice touch.
- Not really that quiet. It claims to be quiet, but to me, it’s kind of loud. Louder than my old dryer, for sure. It doesn’t actually bother me except that the box claims that it’s quiet.
- Price. While this dryer is great, it’s $165 and my old one is $40. I don’t know if the X5 is $125 better than my $40 dryer. But for what it’s worth, I’ve had the X5 for over a month and have reached for it over the $40 dryer every single day.
In the end, I don’t know if I could spend $165 on a hair dryer, but who knows? I’m growing to like it more each day, and before I know it there might be no turning back. It was the same for me when I went from playing a guitar that retailed at $450 (which is still pricey to most people) to a $3,000 guitar. (Don’t think I paid retail for either of those guitars!) I couldn’t tell the difference until I used the $3k guitar for a longer period of time and my ear grew to hear the subtleties of the sound. Maybe it’ll be the case for hair dryers, but as of now, I wouldn’t be able to throw down $165 for a hair dryer.
I AM actually considering purchasing the X5 travel dryer at $56 (via Amazon). To me, that’s still expensive, but I travel a ton, and a good travel dryer is hard to find! If the X5 travel dryer is anything like this full size X5, I’d be happy to invest in it.
You can check out the X5 travel dryer, the HANA (premier brand I was originally going to review) of their hair dryers, and other hair dryers at Misikko. I’ve also seen great reviews from other bloggers about Misikko’s flat irons, especially comparing them to the CHI straightener.
Kinda curious…do you buy expensive hair dryers and if so, what do you like about them?
