GHD Helios Hair Dryer review: This speedy hair dryer dried my hair in record time

All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story we may earn affiliate revenue.

Jessica O'Donnell

Published: 17:31, 26 Oct 2022
Updated: 17:16, 15 Nov 2022

I'D been using the same cheap (and rapidly breaking) hair dryer for years before deciding it was high time to upgrade, and there's no upgrade quite like the GHD Helios.

I was blown away (pardon the lame pun) by how quickly I was able to achieve both sleek and shiny blowdries and voluminous blowouts, both with record speed.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

GHD Helios Hair Dryer, £179 -

Pros

Super fast drying speed
Lightweight and ergonomic
Smooth and shiny results
Gives a good amount of volume when used with mousse
Quieter than other hair dryers I’ve tried

Cons

Takes a while to cool down after use
Expensive

The snazzy hair tool comes in a few different colour combinationsCredit: Look fantastic

GHD Helios hair dryer review: First impressions

First impressions - this looks like a simple and well made product

GHD Helios Hair Dryer, £179 -

I love GHD packaging.

The brand keeps things classy and simple at a time when every hairdryer seems to come with multiple heads and a tome of a user manual.

The hair dryer comes in black (which I went for) as well as white, plum, ink blue, warm pewter, orchid pink, and Champagne gold.

All retail for £179 except pink (£189) and champagne gold (£199).

READ MORE:

GHD helios hair dryer review: Performance

To get a voluminous style you need more than just the hair dryer

GHD Natural Bristle Radial Brush Size 1, £20.95 -

I used the Helios with a GHD Natural Bristle brush in size 1 because although my hair is quite long it's also fine, so I wanted a smaller brush so I could create volume.

I've got my process for drying my hair down to:

Step 1: Turn my head upside down and rough dry my hair to give it some volume
Step 2: Flip my hair over each side and blast the roots and ends until it's about 80% dry
Step 3: Separate my hair into sections and use a round brush to give it a shiny, bouncy blowout.

From the first step, I knew I was dealing with an elite piece of machinery. Using my old hair dryer, it would take about 20 minutes to get it to 80% dry.

With the GHD Helios, I got it to 80% dry in less than 10 minutes which is a huge chunk of time to save, especially if you dry your hair in the morning.

Now it was time to incorporate the round brush, keeping the contoured nozzle close to the brush and taking the brush up and to the side in order to add volume.

With my previous hairdryer, my arms would start to tire a few minutes in because it was so heavy. Even if the Helios wasn't as fast as it is, I doubt this would happen because it is incredibly light for the amount of power it yields.

Usually giving myself a blowout is a tedious labour of love, but the Helios helped me get a shinier, healthier-looking finish with lots of volume in a fraction of the time.

The verdict: is the GHD helios hair dryer worth it?

GHD Helios Hair Dryer, £179 -

If you're someone who regularly blowdries their hair (and has the money to spare) then the GHD Helios is a very worthy investment.

Shaving 20-25 minutes off my styling routine is an impressive feat, and if you blow dry your hair twice a week you're saving nearly three hours a month.

The thin, contoured nozzle made it easy to give my hair a shiny finish, and it definitely felt less damaging than other dryers I've used in the past.