blow me

I keep a hair dryer hanging by the sink not for irony's sake, but to defog the mirror each morning, often to dry my bits, and also for the occasional craft project.

At the NYD party, someone knocked a red candle over more than once and the hair dryer filled with wax.  After I repainted the bathroom, I needed to replace the hair dryer.  I do not have remotely professional hair-drying needs.  Clearly.  So I have been looking for the least expensive yet sturdy hair dryer I can find.  While getting new accessories for the freshly renewed bathroom at Bed Bath & Beyond, I shopped hair dryers.  There's She Blows Batman those things are expensive.  The cheapest of the cheap was near $30, and most of them ran from $50 to over $100.  Yeah, neither my junk nor my mirror need that.

Off to Amazon!

At the lowest end of the price scale were several models which looked like what I needed.  Decent wattage, simple design, two settings, and a cold button.  All I wanted.  Oh but which one of these two to choose?  The Vidal Sassoon model was $17 and could be shipped right away (two-days free with Amazon Prime).  The Revlon model was a mere $12, but would ship in two to three weeks.  Was it worth $5 more to have it right away?  Oh the dilemma!  Which model was better?  How could I compare their features?  Which brand should I trust more?  Revlon or Vidal?  I'm sure these companies take great care in which product will bear their name.

Or not.

Hmmm.... the Vidal Sassoon image has a photoshopped shadow, so it must be superior.

I went with the now.  During checkout the price dropped from $17.99 to $10.51.  Still free shipping via Prime.  Done.  Looking back today, the Revlon-branded dryer is now available via Prime, and now lists for $7.77 (Vidal has dropped to $12.99).  Who knew the cheap hair dryer market was so volatile?