Technique Review: Round Brush Blow-Out

Hair by Benita Blocker. To achieve this sleek look, I blow dried the hair with a round brush. NO FLAT IRON. NO CURLING IRON. Round Brush only. Then sprayed some Aquage's Beyond Shine spray on it to tame some minor flyaways.

It is important to know that you need a hair dryer/ blow dryer with some serious wind velocity as well as some heat. The FHI Heat Nano Salon Pro 2000 was used to complete this job. This particular hair dryer features Low EMF. Please see my separate article on the topic of EMF.

I have featured other blow dryers on this blog. (Turbo Power, SuperSolano,and more) Please check out other blow dryer tool reviews on this blog. $150 for a good blow dryer is reasonable. You should get years of usage from it. However, if you spend only $40 on a hair dryer, you may get a year of usage out of it. If you spend at least $80 or more on a blowdryer, then more than likely it may have enough power to complete a round brush styling and get you past a year.

Your round brush styling does require skill in picking out the correct round brush for the job. Pictured is a Marilyn round brush with nylon bristles mixed with boar bristles. The nylon bristles hold heat and are designed for coarser; yet non-porous hair. I picked this round brush to complete this styling because the mannequin has coarse hair with tightly closed cuticles. For finer hair or porous hair, you may use an all boar bristle brush or a paddle brush.

Remember to rough dry each section to get excess water out of the hair before you start applying a lot of tension. Also, to determine if it is the right brush to use, please see how smoothly the brush slides through the hair without a blow dryer first. If it is snagging the hair, then it is the wrong brush. Also, the shorter the bristles are on a brush, then the less likely to get the brush tangled in the hair.

Tool Review: SuperSolano 3500 Lite Hair Dryer

The SuperSolano 3500 Lite is a lightweight Italian blowdryer/hair dryer. I have found that it does not have enough wind velocity and heat to complete a round brush final finish. (i.e. Dominican style) Also, the vent cap is so thin and filmsy that it breaks with any rough handling. Luckily, you can order replacement vent caps from the authorized repair shops. If you do order, you best buy several because you may go through several if you are trying to use this handheld hair dryer in the salon.

The dryer will survive a fall, but the vent cap will not. Either have a backup hair dryer on hand or plenty of replacement vent caps. I believe the vent caps cost about $7.00 a piece.

I checked some Amazon reviews on this hair dryer; others have experienced the same issues about the lack of heat and wind as well as the filmsy vent cap.

Other than those two deficiencies, the dryer works well. Overall, save this dryer for home use; not for professional salon use. It can not compete with a twin turbo hair dryer. (Please see my separate article on twin turbo hair dryers.)

Diffusers: Set your Style!

Attached to this handheld blowdryer is another hair tool called a diffuser. Think of it as a platform dryer in the palm of your hands.
Pictured is a diffuser with fingers. It redistributes the heat from the blowdryer without the force of air.
Pictured is a universal fit diffuser. It should fit onto 90% of the blow dryer models available.
The fingers on the diffuser can allow you to lightly rake hair or curls if you need to.
Pictured is a diffuser without fingers. It works the same way as the diffuser with fingers. This one is better for updos that you want to freeze in place without a single hair being moved.

Hair Tools Alert: Electromagnetic fields (EMF)

Do you see the words "Low EMF" on the concentrator nozzle? EMF means Electromagnetic Field. Why is Electromagnetic field important? It has to do with the potential to cause CANCER! Cell phones. Refrigerators. Hair dryers. Computer monitors. Low EMF is GOOD!!!! Unfortunately, a lot of our modern technologies have much higher EMF readings. This is a picture of a hair dryer that was left from another stylist that got my curiosity up. Notice "LOW EMF" on the nose of the tool right under the word Turbo? As technology advances, it will may be increasing our chances of developing cancer. Some websites suggest that blowdryers should NOT be used on little children because their brains are still developing. They also suggest that refrigerators face outside walls so that the EMF will not be adjacent to someone's bed in an adjoining room. They recommend hands free devices for talking on your mobile phone. This topic is very scary to talk about. I have no idea what type of EMF that flat irons carry or if they carry them. What about the Ipad? the Gameboy? PSPs? I have a few more phone calls to make to some manufacturers. I will add additional comments to this article as needed.

I encourage you to do your own research on this topic. The dangers of Electromagnetic fields are another "Inconvenient Truth."