London-based hair care brand Heist has launched a blow-dryer specifically for men. According to the email that landed in my inbox this morning, it’s even the first ever hair dryer for men. Embarrassingly, I didn’t realize you were drip dry all these years, so I’m going to check my female privilege.
Outrageous claims aside, this dryer actually looks pretty impressive. The Heist 3.0 was designed in collaboration with British hairdressers to be the perfect tool for taming those manly locks, and it has many of the features we’d look for in a best-in-class hair dryer overall.
There’s a powerful 100,000RPM motor, three airflow speeds and four temperature options (including what looks like a cool shot to set your style) to give you plenty of control over your styling routine, and a generous 3m power cord so you’re not stuck too close to the wall. The sleek design is positively cool too, even with its resemblance to a high-end piece of plumbing.
A mysterious H-Protect system “automatically adjusts to optimal heat settings, helping to protect hair and promote a healthy scalp,” although I’m not entirely sure how that works in practice. Based on the buttons visible in the images, it looks more like your standard manual temperature and air speed adjustment options than anything more intelligent.
The Heist 3.0 also features ‘Plasma Coating Technology’ to improve hair condition. It sounds new and exciting, but if you read between the lines it seems like a more masculine sounding name for the ion technology that has long been popular in ‘women’ hair dryers.
The attachments are magnetic and click on and off, à la the Dyson Supersonic. The standard 3.0 includes a concentrator nozzle, but curly gents will need the Heist 3.0 Pro Styling Kit, which includes a diffuser and metal stand.
In case you’re wondering about the name, it wasn’t just chosen because it sounds macho – according to the website, the Heist part is actually a portmanteau of “height” and “style.” To me, this raises more questions than it answers. What does “height” refer to? Is this a tool for creating Ace Ventura-style, gravity-defying dos, or is it just for tall guys? How can it be a 3.0 model and also the “first ever”? Is it even possible to create a portmanteau that’s already a word? We may never know the answers.
The robbery is available for pre-order The Heist 3.0 launches in the UK, shipping in September. The standard Heist 3.0 costs £199 (around $255 / AU$342), which sits right on the border between mid-range and premium based on Ny Breaking’s price ranges. The Pro kit has had a fairly steep mark-up for just the stand and diffuser, coming in at £267 (around $390 / AU$524). It’s not cheap, but it’s roughly in line with other top-tier hair dryers like the GHD Helios (£179 / $249) and T3 AireLuxe (£180 / $199.99).