#TressTitleFight
In my lifelong quest for a good hair day every day (see my recent post on how to bring your locks back from the breakage brink) I’m always on the lookout for the Holy Grail hair dryer that will blowout my tresses and my mind with its amazing frizz-reducing, tangle-eliminating, non-scorching, lustre-giving abilities. And like any quest I’m willing to give any dryer a shot at the best-tressed title, which brings me to the Sassoon vs Parlux question/competition.
For the last while I’ve been wielding the super slick Parlux 385 which I spied in the hands of my expert hair stylist, Sarah from Boucle Salon, and also noted was the dryer of choice in other salons – making it the stylist approved choice. But recently a new blower crossed my desk, the VS Sassoon 3Q, which plays in the same/same smart tech next-gen field as the Parlux. Obviously it’s my duty to put these dryers through their paces and see who will emerge as the best-tressed blow-out king. Is the Sassoon a long-locked game-changer? Or will the Parlux retain the tress title? Read on for the action-packed results (sidenote: it’s not actually action-packed like the way a car chase sequence in a James Bond film is but in the beauty realm, it feels like a nail-biter).
THE STATS
VS Sassoon 3Q: Powered by a digital brushless 2200watt motor and weighing in at 480gms, the Sassoon offers salon-strength power operating at an eye-poppingly speedy 150km per hour. Ionic conditioning eliminates static and styles faster, 70% faster than a standard dryer in fact, meaning less heat coming at your hair. 500 hours drying time and six control settings – three heat, three speed – plus a cold setting to lock your style in. Comes accessorised up with diffuser and concentrator attachments. Five-year warranty. RRP $172.95 from vssassoon.com.au
Parlux 385 Power Light Ionic and Ceramic: Powered by a 2150watt K-Lamination engine by Ciaramella and weighing in at 452gms which makes it slightly less powerful yet lighter than the Sassoon. Air flow hits 127km per hour and in a friend-to-the-environment twist the Parlux is made in Italy from recyclable materials. Equipped with ionic and Ceramic technology which are the secret sauce behind eliminating static hair electricity results in a smooth-as-silk dry. Three temperature controls (two hot, one cold) and two speeds give it less options than the Sassoon. Accessorised with two concentrator nozzles and available in a slew of on-trend colours. Two-year warranty. RRP $189 www.ry.com.au
THE REVIEW
On paper the Sassoon comes out the winner, but at the best-tressed front line? Well, the short answer is it depends on your hair type. The VS Sassoon is quiet, it’s like the Prius of hairdryers – you never hear it coming. But interestingly, although it packs a more powerful engine than the Parlux, it didn’t calm my frizzed up locks. My tresses are total opportunists – any chance of hair dryer slackness or the slightest hint of moisture in the hair and it goes live. Static live. To truly tame it, it needs hard core concentrated heat without any associated scorched style damage. The Sassoon is comfortable to hold, quiet and speedy which are all big ticks but it just didn’t get hot enough to shut that static down. By contrast, the Parlux has a smaller body, so feels more streamlined and packs a hot, fast punch that pulls any frizz out and gives a slick, shiny finish.
However, to give these dryers a proper trial I used them on two other human guinea pigs (because testing on animals is not my jam) who have completely different hair to me and the results diverged. One of my “subjects” has fine (read: thin) dead-straight hair and the Sassoon was better for her, it actually gave her slight volume (win). The other tester has Ted Danson Cheers-era hair but if he grew it out and was a girl – think: thick, wavy and with volume. The Sassoon and the Parlux work equally well on her hair, giving it a glossed up, frizz-free do.
VERDICT: It’s a tie! The Parlux works best for the super frizzed of hair and the Sassoon is the blower to call for the fine-haired. For the semi-frizzed either will get the smoothed out job done.
Tune in for my next hair tried and tested: Dyson’s new supersonic hairdryer (which at an eye-watering $699 is looking like a Santa delivery timeline).