Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this dryer on November 16, 2014 (Sunday) and got it on November 21, 2014 (Friday). I wanted to wait a bit before reviewing the dryer to give it time to settle. So far so good. PROS/CONS 1. Setup was easy (took about 10 minutes) and very similar to the set up of my hair steamer. 2. The base is very wide to help support the weight of the dryer which I personally think does a great job. I keep mine stationary in a corner (pictured) so I don't have much experience with moving it around. It feels pretty sturdy though. 3. The enclosure of the dryer is made of hard plastic. It probably wouldn't survive a hard fall so keep it safe and upright. 4. Although the dryer comes with one fan speed, it is VERY quiet on the outside. Underneath the dryer is a little loud, but you can still carry on a conversation over the phone or watch things on your PC/TV. 5. The dryer comers with various temperature controls that are listed in Celsius, not Fahrenheit, which is a little inconvenient. However, a quick Google search can easily help you figure it. 6. The air circulates by a big fan at the top. I believe this machine uses convection heat transfer which is good for moisture retention and drying things evenly. Because of this design, hair in the crown of the head can come out looking lifted (sticks up) due to the suction created by the convection current. 7. The timer has startled me once or twice when going off and is a tad bit loud. The timer isn't crazy loud, but once you zone out and forget about it the 'ding' sound can be startling. 8. After owning this machine for 4 months I have noticed the heat has become a bit uneven sometimes. Sometimes the right side will feel cooler than the left side. And sometimes the whole thing will feel cooler than it did last time you used it. Then sometimes you can really notice the heating element turn on and off. My Thoughts on the Effect of the Salon Sundry Professional Bonnet Style Hood Dryer About my hair: My natural hair is very dense (pictured below) and is 4A coily. It's about 10-12 inches in length stretched. It takes a lot of water to "sink" it and a lot of product to style it. I use the dryer mainly to dry my wash n go's (I use gel on wet hair) and it all fits comfortably under the hood. I use it about 1-2 times a week unless my hair is in cornrows. At 60-65oC (140-149oF) it takes about 30-40 minutes to fully dry my hair. I typically do 20 minutes (gets my hair about 85-90% dry), shake my hair out, fluff it while feeling for wet areas, and sit under the dryer for another 10-20 minutes as needed. I normally keep the temp. at 65oC, but I've used it at 66-70oC (151-158oF) with the latter shaving off about 10 minutes of drying time. The problem I have--and probably my biggest complaint--with this dryer is that though the air circulates, it does so poorly (IMHO). The poor circulation plus the occasional uneven heating leaves parts of my hair wet still. Around the front left side, the right side, the crown (at the roots), and the nape dry poorly. It can be very frustrating when I do my hair before bed as I have to wait. It's even more alarming when I have to stay under the heat to dry those spots while the rest of my hair is already dry and being exposed to unnecessary heat. It DOES get the job done eventually and I'm always grateful for the time that it saves me, but it's such a pain haha. Conclusion It's a great dryer. I bought a cheap $40 dryer from Sally's and took it back two days later because it was horribly loud and didn't do the job. I bought this dryer the same night of the return and glad I did. It's been well worth the money. This dryer is silent, gets hot, and does the job in an hour or less. It was a great buy and I'd do it over again. Hopefully it'll last me for at least a year with no problems! Update 5/27/2020: I still use this dryer and it's still amazing lol.