L’Oréal’s New AirLight Pro Cut My Hair-Drying Time In Half

When it comes to getting bouncy, soft, and defined natural curls, everything rides on the strength of your hair care routine. As a type-three curly girl, I’ve spent countless hours experimenting with products to pinpoint the perfect combination, after which I can confidently say that the step that can make or break the final look is actually your hairdryer and diffuser.

An ideal hairdryer-diffuser combo will help you avoid going outside with wet hair while keeping your natural curl pattern intact. But with so many options on the market promising the best results, it can be hard to determine which one will maintain your springy coils, offer faster dry time, and minimize heat damage. Plus, these devices aren’t cheap, so most people can’t try them all. All of this is to say I thought I was happy with my basic diffuser — until I tried L’Oréal’s brand-new AirLight Pro.

Below, you’ll find all my honest thoughts on if L’Oréal’s AirLight Pro could radically change my wash days.

Fast Facts:

• Price: $475
• Where can you buy? Ulta
• Who’s it for? This device was made for all hair types.
• What’s it best for? Quick hair drying with reduced energy consumption and minimized heat damage.

About The L’Oréal AirLight Pro

The best thing about L’Oréal’s AirLight Pro is that although it’s a user-friendly consumer product, it has the power of a professional tool. Inside the box, you’ll find two attachments, a diffuser, and a concentrator, which offer a range of styling options.

Plus, its unique design is meant to make hairstyling easier, no matter your expertise. While traditional blow dryers rely on convection heat, or the transfer of heat through the movement of fluid, the AirLight uses a combination of infrared light, heat, and a 17-blade high-speed motor. This results in hair that dries faster while decreasing the amount of energy consumed — all while not disturbing the styling process and the condition of your hair pattern.

Plus, the device’s settings are completely customizable. On the hair dryer’s LCD screen, you can opt for the standard mode that provides three different temperatures — 104, 131, and 158 degrees Fahrenheit — and three wind settings from low to high. You can also customize by sleek, curly, or coily hair type. If you're looking to get even more specific, there are more modes accessible through the AirLight Pro app that can be saved to the device for future use.

My Review

Because I’m not the most technologically savvy, my first concern when testing this hair dryer was that I would have trouble figuring out how to use it. But a quick read of the instructions proved me wrong. After securing the magnetic diffuser attachment, I easily set the custom mode to curly, opted for a temperature of 194 degrees Fahrenheit, and selected the highest wind speed. Once the dryer started up, I began my typical diffusing routine.

For around 10 minutes, I hovered the device over my entire head, during which I could feel the strong air being evenly distributed through the attachment’s tiny holes — meaning that my hair was drying uniformly and at a faster rate than I had ever experienced before. The effectiveness became even more apparent once I began the scrunching process. The dull prongs on the attachment helped to hold my strands and get to the root without disrupting the hour I spent on styling. On top of that, I noticed zero frizz.

The Final Verdict

I can confidently say that this is the best my curls have ever looked. They maintained their shine, bounce, and hold while drying in just 35 minutes, or about half my usual drying time. And while it’s hard to notice any immediate decrease in heat damage, I didn’t have to apply heat for long, which is a huge advantage when prioritizing hair health.

So the final verdict is that I cannot recommend this hair dryer enough. The price might seem steep, but trust me — it’s worth it.