This worth-it dupe is less than a third of the price and gentle on fragile hair. Sarah Vine is a convert to the Remington AIR3D
Last year I finally bit the bullet and got myself a Dyson hairdryer as a Christmas present to myself. Because of my hair loss , I wear a permanent hair prosthesis, and although it’s easy to wash and style myself, the fact that extra hair is added to my own means it has a tendency to go dry and frizzy if I don’t look after it properly. And because it’s quite thick, it can take ages to dry.
My normal hairdryer was proving to slow and crucially, too hot. The human hair that’s used in hair extensions is treated, so it doesn’t have the same resilience to heat styling as natural hair. The beauty of the Dyson is that it delivers airflow at relatively low temperatures, making it super quick but also much better at taming the frizz.
Still, £300 is a lot of money to pay for a hairdryer, by anyone’s standards. So I was interested to see that Remington have brought out a much cheaper alternative - the AIR3D, which retails at £79.99.
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Question is, can it match the Dyson? Well, the bad news is, not quite. It’s just not as fast, or for that matter as silent. It does, however, minimise frizz thanks to the ceramic grill and ionic generator and it does boast the same variety of settings and accessories as the Dyson - two nozzles and a diffuser.
The good news is that, for the money, it’s a very good halfway house between your common or garden blower and the supersonic but eye-wateringly expensive alternative. It's certainly, in my view, better than hairdressers' favourite, the Parlux, which comes in around the same price.
Would I swap it for my Dyson? No. But if it ever gives up the ghost, this will definitely be my next port of call.
Buy the Remington AIR3D £79.99. Do you have the world's best hairdryer? Tell us which one gets your vote below.