I'm in love with Dyson’s SuperSonic hair dryer... and not just for my hair

Contrary to popular belief, I really don’t spend a lot of time on my hair. A few years ago, it would take me anywhere from three to five minutes to blow dry my hair and then another 30 seconds or so to style it. But since getting the Dyson SuperSonic hair dryer last year, I’ve shaved my make-me-a-presentable-human-being time down to about one minute. I’ve regained up to 4 minutes of extra sleep and let me tell you: I’ve never felt better and my hair’s never looked more stylish.

The SuperSonic was not something I expected to buy. As much as I love Dyson products, the $400 price tag was always a bit out of my price range. My $30 Conair that I bought at Target 10 years ago worked fine.

Oh, how wrong I was.

After trying one out at the flagship Dyson store in New York City, I got hooked into the idea of saving time. (The SuperSonic also looks friggin' cool as hell — like a lightsaber for your hair.) I became obsessed with the idea of blasting my hair with a mini tornado of air so that it dries it up quickly like a Dyson hand dryer.

So I waited for the SuperSonic to go on sale and when the time came, I took the plunge. With my cheap Conair, I felt like I was burning my hair. The fumes coming out of the hair dryer’s rear fan always smelled smoky; my air purifier would immediately kick into high gear to clean up the polluted air. This doesn’t happen with my SuperSonic; there’s no toxic burnt smell and my air purifier doesn't freak out.

Dyson advertises the SuperSonic as the “fastest drying” and it doesn’t use extreme heat. I don’t have any scientific tests to back up that the fastest drying claim, but I can say since using it, I’ve never spent more than a minute drying my hair. It’s a significant improvement from the 5 to 8 minutes I used to spend with my Conair. My hair also doesn't feel toasted afterward. Before, my hair would be hella dry. With the Dyson, each strand is still silky, thick, but more voluminous after drying.

I'm biased, but look how damn good my hair looks:

The hair dryer’s fast and powerful drying has come in handy several times for drying off my wet clothes.

You don’t realize how important owning a good, fast-drying hair dryer is until you've used enough shitty ones in hotels. They’re always crappy and really weak. I’m a light packer and I love super compact gear, but I now make room for the SuperSonic in my carry-on no matter what. Yes, the hair dryer isn’t designed for travel (it can’t be folded up and the cable is long and twice as thick as on other hair dryers), but it’s so reliable and consistent that I’ll leave the extra sweatshirt at home to ensure it’s packed with me.

It’s not even just hair that I use the SuperSonic for. The hair dryer’s fast and powerful drying has come in handy several times for drying off my wet clothes. Whether it’s clothing that I needed to wash up in my hotel sink or pants that got soaked in the rain or at the beach, the SuperSonic has saved my ass over and over. Instead of waiting forever for a low-powered hair dryer to dry wet pants, I’ve used the SuperSonic to literally blast the wet spot right off super fast.

$400 is a very steep amount to sink into a hair dryer and I, personally, wouldn’t pay that much for it. Fortunately, I was able to nab the SuperSonic for $220 from Dyson’s official eBay store; the products are virtually brand new (most are just open box) and heavily discounted. The eBay store is the best way to buy Dyson products without paying full price. For the time I save, I think what I paid for the SuperSonic was worth it, especially since I use it every day and bring it with me wherever I travel. Not to mention, cleaning it is an easy Lysol wipe away (another reason why I love Dyson products).