Review - GHD Air hairdryer

GHD straighteners are the stuff of legend, and although I've not tried them myself, I have it on good authority that they were pretty much game-changers for the entire straightener market. Now GHD has released its first retail-market hairdryer, the Air, costing £99. As with the straighteners, it's an asking price way above market norms. Which begs the question - will the GHD Air also be a cult product, or is it simply overpriced?

  
I've been testing out the GHD Air over the last couple of weeks, and having used them nearly every day during that time, I now feel qualified to give an opinion. But first, let's go over the product features and appearance...

Inside that excitingly luxe-looking black box are the hairdryer, a brief (and quite perfunctory) instruction manual, and two nozzles for directing the dryer's airflow.

The dryer itself is a handsome beast. It's matte black and very sleek, with a long cord (no hovering by the plug socket while drying). It's medium-weight - heavier than my usual dryer, but not the kind of thing that's going to build your right arm muscles up Popeye-style either. The air inlet grille is especially pretty, with cut-out patterns and a GHD logo. Really nice design touch.



The nozzles are also sturdy and high-quality, and they clip securely onto the nose of the dryer - possibly a little too securely for me, as I had trouble getting them off again when I tried both on in sequence.



The back of the dryer's neck has two rocker switches which allow you to control speed and heat. There's a cold shot function included on the temperature rocker, and there's also a cold shot short-cut button on the front of the neck which you can trigger with your finger while drying to give a short blast of cold air. So far so standard on the buttons front - I think I was maybe expecting a more advanced set of drying modes and control options.

In use, the dryer is very very powerful - it packs a 2100 watt motor and can blow pretty damn hard. It doesn't get too hot - relying instead on its speed and power to dry hair in a very short space of time. It dries very fast, and using the nozzles provided, you can get quite a good sleek blowdry with it.

It also has ionic technology - negatively charged electrons are fired at your hair to neutralise static. This isn't particularly new, but if you are prone to static, it's sure to be welcome.

But... I have to be honest. This is a very good hairdryer, but it's not a game-changer. For me at least, with my long fine hair, the time saved on drying isn't enough to make it worth the high price tag. In fact the blast-worthy jet of air can make my hair look kind of flat.

For people with very thick hair, saving on drying time may make this dryer a serious consideration. But the hard fact is that there are powerful salon-style dryers on the market that cost half the price.

Verdict: Good, but just not worth the money.

The Air GHD hairdryer is £99 from GHD

*Disclosure - PR sample