Andrew Fitzpatrick x Primark hair dryer
Available in store £12, Primark.com
As we said, this hair dryer is cute. Really cute. Its pink and white casing looks like it was designed specifically to blend into an Instagram set-up, and is definitely more aesthetically-pleasing than other tools in this price range.
Functionally, it offers all the basic settings you’d expect from a hair dryer. There are three settings each for power and heat, as well as the usual cool shot to set your style. Attachment-wise, it is slightly lacking. You only get a precision-drying nozzle, which gets the job done, but anyone with curly hair will lament the absence of a diffuser.
The moment we plugged it in, our first impression was the noise. We found it considerably noisier than a lot of dryers we’d tried in the past, but you get used to it after a while.
Of course, the most important question is: how well does it dry your hair? We were taken aback by how quickly this got through a whole head of towel-dried hair. Our tester has very thick, wavy hair, and this took care of it at a speed few devices have ever achieved.
After first using the dryer attachment-free to rough dry our hair, we slipped on the precision nozzle and followed a barrel brush through our hair to smooth out frizz. Soon enough we had a big, bouncy blow-dry. Hair felt soft, voluminous and held its style throughout the day.
Read more: 10 best hair curlers for salon-worthy hair at home
Not only was it easy to use, but its design was very practical. As it’s so compact, it’s also lightweight and easy to manoeuvre into hard-to-reach spots while also being easy to store. However, because it’s plastic it does feel a bit flimsy and like it wouldn’t hold up in the long-run.
We were really impressed considering the price, but did have a few qualms. Despite the short time it took to dry our hair, the barrel of the dryer felt like it was getting too hot and was uncomfortable on our hands. This would probably be less noticeable for someone with thinner or shorter hair, but our tester did end up leaving her scalp to air dry the rest of the way when it reached an unbearable temperature. Also, the cord was shorter than we’re used to, making it tricky to style at times.
The Andrew Fitzpatrick x Primark collaboration is available in Primark stores.