When I found my current Bushwick, Brooklyn apartment over a year ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know that bedrooms should not share a wall, unless you want to sacrifice privacy. I didn't know that the person whose room was next to the bathroom got the shit end of the stick (literally). I was so eager to move out of my parent's house that I ended up going with the cutest cheapest option I could find.
I'm locked in my current lease for the foreseeable future (unless any of you kind people are in the market for a new closet-sized bedroom with no closet), which means that my poor roommate has to deal with my infuriating beauty habits. That is, midnight face masking while I wash the dishes, long, steamy showers to test out of-the-moment scrubs, as well as twist-outs that take me hours upon hours to complete.
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Because I'm new to natural hair, I'm going through a lot of trial and error (heavy on the error) when it comes to caring for my coils. A few weeks ago, I took out my crochet box braids — and because I left them in too long, it took forever to wash all the gunk out of my hair, deep condition, detangle, and blow dry. I started washing my hair at around 8 p.m., and didn't get to the blowdrying portion until nearly midnight...when my roomie was about to go to sleep. I couldn't air dry (it's basically Antarctica outside) so I pulled out my old dryer from high school, which is probably the last time I used it. Translation: I forgot how fucking loud that bucket of bolts is. There's a good chance I even woke up my neighbors.
This couldn't continue. Luckily, Amika, a hair care and tool line founded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, gets where I'm coming from. They just dropped the Immortal Power-Life Dryer, a model crafted in Korea with a brushless motor. When I saw its promise of a whisper-quiet operation and featherlight weight, I was more than happy to take it off my editors' hands and find a place for it in my shoebox of a bathroom. Okay, I'm lying. I keep it on my living room bookshelf.
They weren't lying: it's quiet AF. Don't let that fool you, though — the dryer still packs a Holyfield-worthy punch with its three heat settings. I used the coolest one for my hair, and it still managed to get dry upon my first go 'round. Its nifty concentrator definitely helped, as it was slim enough to target my roots as I stretched my hair out. Its light build didn't leave my arm sore the next day, either, which is always a plus. Amika also guarantees that the Immortal Power-Life will last up to 10,000 hours, too, and has a five-year warranty. Even though I'll likely be out of my current place by then, I know that this thing is coming with me. Okay fine, my roommate can come, too.
Amika Immortal Power-Life Dryer, $300, available at loveamika.com.