Solia Professional Ceramic Dryer vs Conair Turbo Styler | The High/Low Experience

Whilst, I'm a hair product connoisseur (that sounds better than product junky right?), I also love the thrill of finding a great bargain. Usually professional products are worth the money but sometimes, I wonder if the cheaper version would still get the job done. Thus the SavingOurStrands High|Low Experience was born. I'll review, compare, and contrast salon quality hair products versus their well priced affordable cousins to see which one does it best. First up---the Solia Professional Ceramic Dryer ($89.99) vs. the Conair Turbo Styler ($16.99). You can pick up both at Folica.com.

I purchased the Conair Turbo Styler a few years ago when my hair blower broke because it $16.99 and it had a nifty cool shot button lock. I most certainly didn't trust myself enough to purchase a high quality blower at the time (read: I didn't want to spend the money) because I dropped my old one entirely too many times. I also don't use my hair blower often enough to justify dipping into my savings. Still, I'm cheap and pretty picky (such a deadly combo right?). This is what I needed from my hair blower:

• Lightweight- I need to be able to hold it for extended periods of time with one hand.
• Lockable Cool Button- I only use hair blowers on cool so that it doesn't zap moisture from my hair.
• Fast Drying Time- I usually air dry because its easy and helps my hair stay moisturized. So, if I'm using the blower it's because I'm in a rush.

Thus far, I've loved everything about the Conair. It's certainly light weight (at about 2 pounds), the cool button works perfectly, and I can dry my hair (in sections of course) in 15 minutes tops. A few weeks ago, I won an awesome VeryBusyMama giveaway that included the Solia Professional Ceramic Dryer. This thing is pretty cool. It retails for $89.99 on Folica.com, has ceramic ionic tourmaline infusion technology (whatever that means), and has the same cool shot button lock as my Conair. I used it to to dry my hair before flat ironing a few weeks ago and it was amazeballs. Since, I've had a couple of chances to use it on myself and my 100% natural haired prima. It's super lightweight---it weighs about a pound, I leave it on the cool lock setting and it dries my hair (in sections again) with lighting speed. This dryer checks off everything on my list.

Both of these blowers are excellent. It was extremely hair to find complaints:

Ease of use: 
Although the Conair is slightly heavier, The Solia's longer nozzle makes it a little harder to use on my own hair. I found it fairly awkward for me to hold by the handle to tension dry my hair.
Winner: Conair Turbo Styler 

Drying Time:
Using both blowers with low speed, the cool lock setting and concentrator nozzle focusing on my roots only, the Solia dries my hair super duper fast. Each section (I divide my hair into 5 sections) takes about 2 minutes to dry.
Winner: Solia Professional Ceramic Dryer

Smoothness:
Now this is seriously getting nitty-gritty. The smoothness that I achieved with the Solia vs the Conair was what set these two dryers apart. I don't know if the ceramic or the ionic or the tourmaline (I still don't know what any of that mess means) has anything to do with it but the Solia left me with smoother and softer hair. My Conair usually leaves my hair feeling moisturized but just not quite as smooth.
Winner: Solia Professional Ceramic Dryer

Price:
Well it's obvious that the Conair wins this one coming in at a whooping $70+ less than the Solia. Considering that I don't use my blower often the Solia is most certainly a spurge in the price per use category.
Winner: Conair Turbo Styler 

In my not-at-all-professional opinion the Conair Turbo Styler is an excellent substitute for it's pricer cousin the Solia Professional Ceramic Dryer. I had to really dig deep for ways to tell these two apart. 


Have your say. Which hair blower would you pick?




Besitos!
KLP