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.
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...and by "double-edged sword" I mean the very thing that makes it worth purchasing is the very reason why I don't like it. Let me explain why I bought it. I am an inch and a half shy of being 6 feet tall. I have a long torso, and it has been very difficult for me to find a dryer that I can sit under and not have to squirm. I was also tired of using conditioning caps that required me to smush my afro textured hair down in order to use them [the conditioning caps]. The Pibbs 514 was the only dryer that I found that seemed like a trustworthy product, and also extended to an acceptable height (btw, I almost have to fully extend it in order to sit comfortably under it-it's excellent for that purpose). Now, I am not the type of woman who rollersets her hair. I am a deep conditioner, and I like to do it once a week.This dryer is not suited for that purpose. Although I have not used it to rollerset my hair, I can tell it would be excellent for that purpose. The reason why is because the air circulates as opposed to blowing straight down on my head. That is why people have left rave reviews of quicker drying times.
However, the circulation creates a suction that pulls at any plastic conditioning cap I've used (hence the double-edged sword). I have to hold down my plastic cap in order to keep it from being pulled off my head. Also, the circulation pushes air beneath the plastic conditioning cap. This results in portions of my hair being dried as opposed to having a steaming (conditioning) effect as a result of the heat and wet hair.
The only viable solution I've come up with is to wear a thin headband (sort of like the Goody Ouchless ones) over my plastic cap. However, that can be really uncomfortable because the headband has to be of a certain "tightness" in order to hold the plastic cap on my head. It has me worried about damage to my hair. It's also really difficult to move my hair away from the edge of the plastic cap while trying to fit the headband on the edge of the cap.
I'm kind of frustrated right now. I bought this in September after waiting three years to purchase it. Yes, I did wait three years to buy this thing. It's very expensive, and I didn't want to waste my money. However, I don't think I made a wise decision.
Now, don't think that I am putting this dryer down because I do think it's an excellent dryer. It's just not suited for deep conditioning. This is a dryer that is made for rollersetting. If you are thinking of using it for that purpose, do not hesitate to purchase it.
To summarize....
Some positives:
Extremely easy to assemble (took less than five minutes)
Temperature regulation going all the way up to 70 degrees F.
Timer up to 1 hour
Ample amount of space for rollers
Height extends up to six feet
Easy to move around the house
Some negatives:
Takes a long time to heat up-almost 20 mins.
The timer is really loud-it's like you have the 60 minutes theme stuck in your ear
Can barely hear anything outside of the air and timer when sitting under the dryer
Requires a lot of storage space
Expensive
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