T3 cura luxe hair dryer
Buy now £245, Very.co.uk
- Attachments: 2 (drying and styling concentrators)
- Number of speed settings: 2
- Number of heat settings: 5
- Rating: 9/10
The hair tools industry isn’t a beauty competition, but if it was, the cura luxe would definitely crack the top three. Even before you turn it on, the white and gold casing make it a slick, luxurious addition to any dressing table.
Thankfully it continues to earn its spot once you turn it on. This dryer boasts five heat settings, two speed settings, and the standard cool shot button to lock your style in place. To keep heat damage to the bare minimum, it also digitally controls the temperature. At no point did the dryer feel too hot to touch, even when drying a whole head of long, thick hair.
Airflow is powerful, which helps hair dry evenly and keeps drying times to a minimum. Also, the dryer has a handy feature that instinctively pauses airflow when you release the handle (so you can forget accidentally messing up your style when you’re trying to manoeuvre to style those awkward back pieces).
Ionic technology is always welcome in a dryer, and this is no exception. By providing negatively charged ions, it helps reduce static electricity, thus minimising frizz and keeping hair as sleek and smooth as possible. We really saw a big difference compared to non-ionic hair dryers, as our hair looked shinier, healthier, and held its style for longer.
Read more: 10 best hot brushes for styling, volumising and straightening hair
What we were really interested in was the volume booster switch. This temporarily pauses the production of negative ions so you can focus on giving certain areas a boost.
We mainly focused this on the roots of our hair, where we usually find it tougher to create volume. Blow drying this section upside down for full effect gave us results that were definitely big and bouncy. They didn’t quite last the entire day, but survived for several hours before hair started to fall slightly, so it’s still a win in our books.
When we used the dryer in combination with a barrel brush, the results across our entire head were voluminous and glamorous, and much easier to achieve with the volume booster switch than without. We were especially impressed by how much lift it could give a gappy fringe or shorter, thinner hair.
We used the styling concentrator – distinguishable from the drying concentrator (which we used for rough drying) by its narrow shape – to achieve all of our finished looks. As this dryer focuses so heavily on volume, we do wish it included the brand’s diffuser attachment as this could have really amplified the results further on curly hair.
Read more: 10 best hair curlers for salon-worthy hair at home
Functionally, however, we really can’t complain about this dryer. Every detail was designed to make the drying experience as straightforward as possible. The cord is nine ft long and turns 360 degrees, so you’ll never find yourself tangled. Also, the handle is ergonomic which helps alleviate wrist strain. The brand really thought of everything.
The verdict: T3 cura luxe hair dryerT3’s cura luxe hair dryer lives up to expectations. Its volume booster switch made a noticeable difference to our hair, lifting it up at the root and keeping it bouncy and luxurious for hours on end. Not only that, but it also checked off every other requirement for a premium hair dryer, teaming ionic technology with fast drying times, multiple heat settings and salon-worthy results – not to mention a cool, sleek aesthetic. We’re sold.