- 514 Kwik Dri Professional Salon Hooded Hair Dryer 1100W Black

Hesitating to buy this dryer because of the price is a short-sighted move. If your hair regimen includes regular salon visits for professional-quality wash and sets, this dryer will pay for itself in 10 home washings. Over 2+ months you would have spent the same money. For African-American women especially who have relaxed shoulder-length hair, wash and sets create much less damage than blow-drying followed by curling irons (direct heat and stress, followed by more direct heat and stress). The drawback, though, is the time spent under the dryer. Longer, porous hair (like mine) can take a minimum of 90 minutes drying time with other standard chair dryers, even at the salon. Add to that the 1 or so hour spent prior on the shampoo, conditioning, and actual hair setting process, and you're talking about a 3 hour total investment, which does not include any wait time before you're actually seated for your hair service. So, I cannot understate what a huge deal it is that the Pibbs Kwik Dri cuts that drying time in half, from 90 minutes to 45 minutes. What this means: 1. I can now exercise the option to wash and set my hair on weekday mornings before work, if I have to, just by waking up an hour or so earlier than I would normally. This was an impossibility before, unless I wanted to set my alarm for 3:30am. 2. I can now schedule dates and other social events on the same days I sweat my hair out at the gym, without having to worry about not having enough time in between to re-do my hair. 3. Psychological barriers to washing and setting my hair at home have been removed. The prospect of sitting under the dryer for 90 minutes after struggling with the setting process, contributed to the overall dread in facing this task. This was made all the worse by the knowledge that your end result - using cheaper dryers which would not dry the hair evenly, or get as hot - would fall way short of the salon outcome. As a result, I avoided the whole process, which meant my skill level in setting my own hair never improved, which just created a vicious cycle that would drive me back to the salon for the professional setting results I wanted and needed. But now, because my hair only takes 45 minutes to dry with the Pibbs Kwik Dri, and I am assured of a positive, professional outcome for the time spent, I am more motivated to set my own hair at home, which means I do it more often, which means my setting skill level improves, which means with every week that passes I'm able to consistently achieve the same or better results at home (with the products of my choice), which keeps me out of the salon, and money in my pocket. Bottom line: no other dryer on the market, or even in salons, comes close, and I've gone through my fair share for home use, the most recent being the Virgo CD320 salon dryer. What makes the Pibbs Kwik Dri 514 so effective is (a) the super hot settings, and (b) the unique hood design that extends all the way down the back, and around all sides, trapping in the heat and keeping it from escaping out the bottom, so that it circulates evenly from top roller to back roller. Note that to use this comfortably, as others have mentioned, you definitely need to get foam ear protectors, and wear some kind of light towel around your neck, to protect it from the heat. You can always adjust the heat downward, but that sort of defeats the purpose of the quick drying results. Just suck it up, keep it on the next to highest heat setting (60), and protect your ears/skin, and you'll be fine. Another benefit is that it's so easy to move from room to room, and the hood height can be adjusted on the stand to fit most any chair setup. I use it with my existing living room armchair, and the castor wheels on the base roll comfortably under so that I can sit back in luxurious comfort with my feet on the ottoman, and still have the dryer hood extend, or overhang, comfortably over the back of the chair. Don't even get me started on the $120 or so dollars I'm saving every month by doing my own hair, or the fact that I'm no longer a slave to my stylist's schedule and availability. She now sees me only for rare cuts, color treatments or (relaxer) touch-ups. Overall, I am 100% satisfied with the quality and performance of this dryer, and have recommended it to everyone I know. You will forget all about the initial investment once you start reaping the immediate benefits mentioned above, and realize that you can't put a price on your valuable time. I can always earn back the $300 I spent on this, but I'll never be able to get back the time I lost or wasted previously (not to mention lost "quality of life" opportunities where I could have been engaged in other enjoyable activities), associated with this process.

This dryer is great! The varying degrees of heat that you can select without compromise to the amount of air being put out is wonderful. So if I am aiming for a quick air dry with little to no heat I can set that. If I am aiming for a deep condition with high heat it meets my needs there as well. The timer is great since I often don't pay attention to the time that has passed. It accommodates large rollers (black 3-4 inch) very well if I have about 6 or 7 in my hair. I haven't quite figured out how to get the front lid to lift up, but I am able to squeeze my head under the dryer. I appreciate the height adjustment. I have been able to dry my hair while sitting on the bed, at the table, in my office chair, its just all around functional. No issues thus far after using it a minimum of once a week for over a year. Thanks Pibbs! Update I have now had this product for 2 years. It's still going strong. This is a great and durable dryer, well worth the money. I appreciate that I can roll it around into a position that works for me. I still haven't figured out how to lift up the front lid.

Love it. Helps dry under extensions and will get you dry in no time. Couldn't do that with my old Gold N Hot dryer and just had to put up with sitting under there for 3 or 4 hours only to have my braids underneath be still extremely damp. It would take 2 days to air dry after sitting under the dryer for those 3 or 4 hours. Then I'd get a girl friend to causally sniff my hair or scalp to make sure I didn't get that mildewy old weave smell from hair that hasn't been dried. The hinge is a little loud which sucks in an apartment when you open the flap to get under or exit the dryer though, but that's minor unless you're doing that constantly instead of just sitting under there. Nice and portable. Sturdy. Not wobbly. I wheel it from room to room. Don't expect to be able to sit on your couch and dry your hair. I wish I could but it doesn't work like that without me contorting my body in weird positions. Expect to sit at a chair. I'm sure a nice Lazy Boy would work but I sit at my kitchen table. This has saved my life when I get last minute job interviews and can't get a hair appointment or have too much school work to do to wait in the salon for them to finally start your hair 2 hours after your scheduled appointment and work on like 5 clients in between you. My hair comes out quite nice actually. Almost as nice as the salon. This dryer is better in my opinion than most salon dryers I've had to sit under which fail to dry underneath my braids. Overall just make the investment if you can. I hesitated for a few months because of the price but am so happy I bought this!!!

I am sitting under this hair dryer for the first time right now. I really love that it is on a rolling stand, is pretty powerful, and seems to be well made. The instructions are terrible, but assembly is rather intuitive and, though cumbersome, relatively easy, so no big deal. What I did not anticipate is that it is hard to find the right chair to put it behind because the wheel area is huge, and hence sturdy, and with mine there is no arm (the hood sits directly on top of the pole/stand), so you cannot put it behind a cushy upholstered chair because the hood won't come forward enough to get your head under it. Am I missing a part? If not, this is a pretty big negative for me because I had the perfect cushy chair in a corner of the sitting area of my master bedroom where I thought this would go, but it just doesn't work there. That means I have to sit on a bench or hard chair, which defeats one of the main purposes of getting an expensive dryer on a stand! Perhaps there's an arm attachment that I can purchase. The instructions mentioned something about one, but that might be for a table top stand. It does seem to be drying quickly, however. Based on progress thus far, I'd say it will dry my thick, curly, shoulder length hair on 2 inch diameter plastic rollers (to defrizz) about 45 min. on the hottest setting, but that's too hot for me even with ear covers on (the hair clips heat up!), so I'm guessing about an hour. Without the rollers, I will put it in a hair net and I think 30-45 minutes should do it for a curly style. I think I will keep looking for the perfect chair and keep it.:) Added thoughts: My hair did dry in about 50 minutes and looks great! It's very soft and shiny and NO FRIZZ!!! I'm upping the stars to 4.

Professional dryer. Just like in the beauty shop. Gets really hot but temp can be controlled. Good for thick hair wraps and roller sets.

So amazon tells me I bought this in 2014, the price has not gone down much but I am sitting under this dryer right now, it was worth the $400 I paid for it. I stopped getting perms in 2011 and needed a way to dry my roller set and flat twists. I had only been to salons a handful of times because I stay there all day. I can use this when ever I need and I get salon results without the time wasted. Committing to a at home dryer means you have to get better at doing your own hair and stop depending on a stylist, that is not a bad thing. I don't remember if it came with ear covers but get some or your ears will be heated. I also put a towel at the back of my neck and a scarf tied around my forehead. I can tolerate the high heat on my head, not my skin. I'm still happy with my purchase 12 years later

5/5/2015 In the past several weeks, I have used the dryer 3 times. The dryer can get very hot to the point where I have to cover my ears. Granted, you can lower the temp but I want to dry as fast as possible. It blows air really hard so you will likely need the hair net they provided. For conditioning with a plastic cap, you will need a headband or similar to keep the dryer from pulling it off. The hood is large but the front flap is what limits the roller size. I use about 18 to 20 purple rollers and there's plenty of space in the hood. I just have to twist my head a little to fit through the front flap. I am dry in less than 45 min with hair slightly longer than shoulder length. In Houston, I pay $40+ for a shampoo set and style every 2 weeks. In my case, the dryer will pay for itself in 3 to 4 months. I would recommend. 4/14/2015 Why did I order this dryer? I have not used the dryer yet. But decided to write review to include pics and initial thoughts for wondering minds. I am African American with shoulder length relaxed hair. I intend to do roller sets with a combo of red, purple and/or gray magnetic rollers. I am tired of wasting so much of my time in the beauty shop every 2 weeks. Shipping I ordered on April 9th, shipped on 10th and received today the 14th via FedEx. So no complaints on shipping. Packaging Below my expectations but no damage. One big box included 2 boxes, one for head and another for the stand. See pics attached. Assembly Took less than 5 min. Just attach pole to base with screw and washer, then sit head on pole. The head slides down far enough over pole so you shouldn't be too concerned that head will fall off. But other than a snug fit, nothing keeps the head on the pole. The dryer 2 knobs for temp and time. Pole height adjusts easily with screw turn knob. The pole will not slide up and down while sitting under it. You will have to get up and adjust height. Hood is full coverage down to neck and I felt like there was no escaping! Hence the hair net included with the order. Photo attached. I plan to use it this weekend so I will update my post after my roller set results.

Excited about a professional grade dryer. Upon receipt , I opened and the clear casket for hair to dry was cracked and broken. Notified sender. A return receipt was issued within two weeks after delivery. Received item with return receipt. The carrier finalized the the final fitting of equipment. Label placement and taping up of box (a lil more than 30 days). The seller claims that everything was damaged and used. To which I of course disputed and untrue. I asked for full return as he had promised earlier. He tells me since the damaged was more than I initially reported and the carrier did not get the hairdryer to him on time. I would only get a third of my initial full payment. We disputed back and forth the issue and the seller still has the damaged hairdryer as I initially reported and my full payment. Outrageous!! Guess this is what small claims is for. Of which , I will pursue since he hardly knows the ethics behind problem-solving and customer relations. And as of this email, May 26 2013 its been more than 6 months and no agreeable resolution. I spent a little more than $300 for hair dryer and im left with no dryer and im out $300.00. This is unheard of. Buyer Beware!!!! Looking now for another distributor for hair dryer to buy from them. And bring a resolution in small claims since seller is unreasonable.