Blowdryer

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Modern-day blowdryer
Modern-day blowdryer
A 1900 blow dryer (France)
A 1900 blow dryer (France)

A blowdryer, also frequently called a hairdryer, is an electromechanical device designed to blow cool or hot air over wet or damp hair, in order to accelerate the evaporation of water particles and dry the hair. The usage of blowdryers also allows to better control the shape of the hair in the process of styling, by accelerating and controlling the formation of temporary hydrogen bonds inside the hair. These hydrogen bonds are very powerful (allowing for stronger hair shaping than even the sulfur bonds formed by permanent waving products), but are temporary and extremely vulnerable to humidity, so that they entirely disappear with a single washing of the hair.

Blowdryers were invented around the end of the 19th century, being dependent on heat generation and mechanical air flow in order to be effective. The handheld, household hair-dryer first appeared in 1920. Most use coils of wire that have a high electric resitivity which heat rapidly as current flows through them. A fan usually blows ambient air past the hot coils and the air is heated as a result.

Hairstyles using blowdryers usually have volume and discipline, and can be further improved by the use of brushes during drying to add tension, and also the use of styling products. No one knows for sure who invented the first hair dryer, but many historians thought that it was first used in France, and then it moved on to the rest of the world.