Old-fashioned hair dryers whose method of operation was to simply blast your locks with an overdose of hot air are out. These clunky démodé dryers that burned off external wetness – and the internal moisture of your hair – have been replaced with much more lightweight, effective, healthier alternatives for your hair called ionic hair dryers. The best ionic hair dryers include the FHI hair dryer, T3 hair dryer and CHI hair dryer – all built for hair health, comfort and portability making them perfect for conventional use and as a travel hair dryer too.

What Are Ionic Hair Dryers?

An ionic hair dryer is a wonderful alternative to the traditional dryer if only because they can cut the time it takes to dry a full mane in half. More importantly though, ionic hair dryers use a special generator to create ions (negatively charged molecules) that react with water droplets (which are positively charged) to break down the droplets and allow them to get absorbed into your hair shaft. The result: lustrous, sleek and healthy-looking locks.

The FHI Hair Dryer

FHI hair dryers are considered by some to be the crème-de-la-crème of hair dryers. The FHI hair dryer is much more gentle on the hair shaft than traditional blowers because it uses very high-quality ceramic heating elements to create a crisp, sharp heat (allowing you to dry your hair in less than half the normal time) and its Nano Fuzeion technology actually helps to keep your hair’s internal moisture intact. When you use an FHI hair dryer, your hair will feel soft, supple and have a boosted ability to naturally absorb and maintain moisture.

The T3 Hair Dryer

While the T3 hair dryer is on the higher end of the price spectrum, if you want healthy, luscious locks it is totally worth the extra dough. This brand of ionic hair dryers uses tourmaline technology (Tourmaline is a semi-precious gem that, when used to negative ionization in your dryer, gives your hair excellent moisture absorption properties.), is ultra lightweight, is really quiet and has a powerful 1800-watt motor. It’s lightly constructed build makes it a perfect travel hair dryer. Plus, its bejeweled handle makes it so very pretty.

CHI Hair Dryer

Anyone who knows hair knows that CHI products are top-of-the-line. The CHI hair dryer is another ionic hair dryer that uses pure ceramic coils to create a moist heat. Its Anion ionic technology breaks the water molecules instead of evaporating them, which helps to reduce static electricity, frizz and improves your hair’s moisture balance. Because it is light, durable, ergonomically designed and has a life expectancy of about 1200 hours (versus the measly 500 hour life expectancy of conventional dryers) this baby can be used as an everyday device or travel hair dryer – it is great for the girl-on-the-go.