Diffuser Hair Dryers for Curly Hair

What to compare for diffusing

Diffusing is slow, so the settings you can turn down matter more than top power. Dyson’s own diffusing guide says to start on the lowest settings, with low airflow and low to medium heat, and to switch to cool air when your hair is 80 to 90% dry. A dryer with its own heat and speed buttons and a cool shot lets you do that; Dyson, Laifen, Hot Tools and Bed Head publish theirs. Shark’s pages don’t say how many settings its two models have, and DevaCurl doesn’t publish the DevaDryer’s.

Wattage is the power a dryer draws, not how gently it dries: these run from 1,400 W (Laifen) to 1,875 W (Hot Tools and Bed Head). Weight and cord length count for more when you hold a diffuser over each section for a while. The published weights run from 0.89 lb (Laifen, without its cord) to 1.8 lb (Dyson), and the cords from 6 ft (Hot Tools) to 8.6 ft (Dyson).

The diffuser’s shape changes how you use it: a bowl or nozzle with long prongs that you hold sections in (Dyson’s Wave+Curl diffuser, Laifen’s long-toothed nozzle), or DevaCurl’s hand-shaped DevaFuser, which cups your curls so you scrunch as you dry. If you travel, check the voltage: Laifen says its dryers aren’t dual voltage, and Dyson says to use its dryer only at the voltage of the country you bought it in.

How the makers say to diffuse

Dyson: tilt your head forward or to the side, place a section in the diffuser bowl, lift it gently toward your scalp and hold it for 20 to 30 seconds before moving on, working from the back of your head to the front. Switch to cool air near the end, and don’t touch your curls until they’re completely dry.

DevaCurl: dry your roots first, holding the DevaFuser near your scalp, then cradle the ends of your curls in it, push it toward your scalp so they scrunch, hold, lift it away and repeat. Ouidad: place the diffuser over a section and move it gently around your head, hovering over each section until the roots and ends are fully dry.

Put your leave-in and styler on before you start, at the wetness their own directions ask for. If your gel dries to a firm cast, scrunch it out only once your hair is completely dry.

Most control: Dyson Supersonic Nural

The HD16 has four heat levels, three speeds and a cold shot button, and its Wave+Curl diffuser has two modes: Dome, for defined waves and curls, and Diffuse, with longer prongs, for more volume at the roots. With the diffuser on, it starts at medium heat and medium airflow, and you change both with the buttons on the dryer. It draws 1,600 W, weighs 1.8 lb and has an 8.6 ft cord. Dyson says to clean the filter once a month: wash the magnetic filter cage in warm, soapy water and wipe the mesh with a dry cloth.

Two things to know: Pause detect, which cuts the heat when you put the dryer down, doesn’t work while a diffuser is attached, and Dyson says to use the dryer only at the voltage of the country you bought it in. Scalp protect mode and its ions are Dyson’s features; we make no claim about what they do for your hair.

Lightest: Laifen Swift Special

At 0.89 lb (407 g) without its cord, the Swift Special is the lightest dryer here. It has hot, warm and cold air, two speeds, a long press that cycles the temperature, and a magnetic diffuser nozzle with long comb teeth, plus a concentrator and a smoothing nozzle. It draws 1,400 W and has an 8.2 ft cord, and Laifen gives its maximum temperature as 85°C.

It isn’t dual voltage: Laifen says it won’t switch to 220 V abroad, even with an adapter. Laifen’s FAQ suggests keeping the nozzle about 15 cm (6 in) from your hair and moving the dryer from side to side. It publishes no filter-cleaning directions.

Hand-shaped diffuser: DevaCurl DevaDryer + DevaFuser

The DevaFuser is shaped like a cupped hand: you cradle your curls in it and push toward your scalp, so it scrunches them as they dry. The DevaDryer draws 1,800 W, weighs 1 lb and has a ceramic core and ions that DevaCurl says add volume with the DevaFuser. The DevaFuser from the earlier DevaDryer doesn’t fit this model.

DevaCurl doesn’t publish the dryer’s heat and speed settings, a cool shot, the cord length, the voltage or the warranty, so it’s the hardest dryer here to compare on paper.

Plain controls: Hot Tools and Bed Head Curlipops

Hot Tools’ Salon 1875 Watts Turbo Ionic Dryer and Bed Head’s Curlipops both have three heat settings, two speeds and a cool-air button, and both come with a diffuser. Hot Tools adds a concentrator, a 6 ft swivel cord and a 5-year limited warranty; Bed Head gives a 3-year limited warranty but no cord length or weight.

Neither page says what shape its diffuser is or how to diffuse with it, and neither shows a model number. Hot Tools’ only cleaning advice is to unplug the dryer and wipe the outside with a damp cloth.

Dryer and styler in one: Shark FlexStyle and SpeedStyle ProFlex

Shark’s FlexStyle HD435 twists from a hair dryer into a styler and comes with a Curl-Defining Diffuser, two Auto-Wrap curlers, an oval brush and a concentrator; it draws 1,600 W and has an 8 ft cord. The SpeedStyle ProFlex HD542 is a folding dryer with a DefrizzFast Diffuser, a finishing tool, a smoothing brush and a concentrator; it draws 1,750 W, weighs 1.63 lb and has an 8 ft cord, and Shark says it never goes above 230°F.

The SpeedStyle’s IQ Styling sets the heat and airflow for each attachment, and Scalp Shield lowers the heat near your scalp. For both models, Shark’s pages don’t say how many heat and speed settings there are or whether there’s a cool shot, and Shark lists the FlexStyle at 4.08 lb without saying whether that’s the tool alone or the whole box.

For the dryer you already own: two universal diffusers

The DevaFuser fits barrels 2 to 2½ inches across, 5½ to 6½ inches around and 2½ to 6½ inches long, which DevaCurl says covers most dryers. Ouidad’s Made For Curls 3-in-1 fits nozzles 1.77 to 2.16 inches (45 to 55 mm) across, measured without any rubber ring, and comes with two snap-in pieces, Defining Curl and Volumizing Curl.

Measure across the end of your dryer’s nozzle, without its rubber ring, before you order. Neither maker gives a heat limit, a weight or cleaning directions.

What this comparison does and doesn’t claim

We haven’t used these dryers; we compare what their makers publish. This isn’t a ranking. Ions, sensors and ceramic cores are the makers’ features, and we make no claim that any of them dries curls better, cuts frizz or prevents heat damage. We don’t show prices on this page yet; each maker’s page has its current price.

Questions before your next wash