Key Difference: Hair dryers or blow dryers are electromechanical devices that give off hot or cool air to dry hair quickly after a shower. The hair dryer is designed to give off the air to help accelerate the evaporation of water from the hair. A diffuser has various different meaning in various different fields. A diffuser is an attachment that can be bought with a hair dryer and is designed to disperse the heat emitting from the hair dryer over a wider range to reduce the impact of direct heat to the hair.

Hair dryers and diffusers are related as diffuser is an attachment that can be bought and attached to the hair dryer. Hair dryers are used to dry and style the hair, ensuring that the heat keeps the style in the hair. Diffusers are attachments that can disperse the heat from the hair dryer over a bigger area so that hair dries faster and is less frizzy. The diffuser can also be used to style and adds volume and bounce to the hair. The diffuser enhances the natural waves and curls in the hair. Diffuser is useful instrument with the hair dryer if the person suffers from frizz.

Hair dryers or blow dryers are electromechanical devices that give off hot or cool air to dry hair quickly after a shower. The hair dryer is designed to give off the air to help accelerate the evaporation of water from the hair. The faster evaporation also allows the hair to style and set quickly compared to air drying. Hence, hair dryers are a common feature of almost all salons and hair styling boutiques. After a wash, temporary hydrogen bonds form between strands of hair and are quite powerful and determine the shape and style of hair. Blow dryers also play a huge part in controlling these hydrogen bonds that shape the hair. These bonds are temporary and can be washed out.

Hair dryers and blow dryers were invented around the 1890s by Alexander F. "Beau" Godefroy and were a part of his salon in France. It is said that Godefroy created the hair dryer by taking inspiration from a vacuum cleaner. These traditional hair dryers were huge and had a dome that was placed on top of the client’s head, which would put out warm air to dry and style the hair. Modern versions of such devices, known as hair hood dryers are still seen in some salons. The handheld hair dryers that are found in almost all households popped up during the 1920s and were used by beauty salons and professional stylists. However, the first patent for a blow dryer in America was filed in 1911 by Armenian American inventor Gabriel Kazanjian.

Hair dryers are made by using plastic with ceramic heating elements. The ceramic provides an instant heating capability, resulting in faster heating and drying time. The device has coils of wire with high electric resistivity along with a fan that is powered by a universal motor. The heating coils or ceramic heating elements provide the heat to heat up the air, while the fan blows the air out of the device. The devices are powered by electricity. The hair dryers also have a ‘cool’ button that does not provide heat but simply provides room temperature hair to reduce the frizz from the hair. Now-a-days, many dryers are available with various technologies such as ionic features, which are claimed to reduce static electricity between hair strands and make hair less frizzy and smoother. Hair dryers are also available with various attachments such as diffusers, airflow concentrators, and comb nozzle attachments.

A diffuser has various different meaning in various different fields. It can be used in automotive, aerodynamics, thermodynamics, cooking and hair drying. In this article, we are going to refer to the diffuser used in hair drying. A diffuser is an attachment that can be bought with a hair dryer or it can come permanently attached with a diffuser hair dryer. This diffuser is designed to disperse the heat emitting from the hair dryer over a wider range to reduce the impact of direct heat to the hair. In layman terms, the diffuser takes the heat from the hair dryer and spread it over a larger area so that it reduces the temperature of the air that directly affects the hair.

The attachment is used for drying the hair and maintaining natural curls in without the frizz. The objective of the diffuser is to dry to the hair more evenly while reducing the frizz in the hair. The attachment resembles a traditional shower head in shape and is used on low or medium heat setting. Operating a diffuser at a high temperature defeats the purpose of using a diffuser and can damage the dryer by overheating. The diffuser is used from the roots towards the tip and the hair should be dried in sections. The diffuser also gives hair volume and makes it smoother. While drying, the user can also scrunch up the hair to get natural waves and curls, without the frizz. The diffuser is available in various different designs: flat vented, mitt diffusers and hand-shaped diffusers.  These different diffusers are used for different purposes. The diffuser should be constantly kept moving and not kept in one position for longer periods of time as it would result in frizzing the hair.

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