Customer Reviews

T3 Tourmaline 83808 Professional Featherweight Ceramic Ionic Hair Dryer

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

After being swayed by the reveiws here and getting wise to the warranty situation, I made a point of purchasing this product in a nearby beauty supply store who is an authorized seller and thought I was getting a bargain at $125. I bought it in the hopes of taming the huge, round, coarse frizzball sitting on my head.

Let me note for the skeptical that the product was brand new, unopened in the box and in obvious mint condition. It is an authentic T3 hairdryer. Yes, it dried faster, but left a noticeably dull, dry finish and seemed to strip my hair of it lustre. Not only that but I couldn't get the ends of my hair to lie straight after they had already shriveled up in the fast drying process, and the more I struggled with the ends the more flyaway my hair became. And it appears to be MORE voluminous than ever - bigger and puffier and with the same amount of frizz, only duller looking.

I immediately plugged it out and plugged in my old, falling apart Babyliss Carerra (non-ionic) dryer and afer a few minutes managed to get the ends straight and see some lustre return. I agree completely with the reviewer who made the comment about losing the healthy shine.

I only hope I can get my money back. I will certainly try.

UPDATE - Comparison of T3 Tourmaline to less expensive Babyliss ProTT

though I couldn't get my money back, I exchanged the T3 for a Babyliss ProTT 3000 Tourmaline dryer (I'd have stayed away from Tourmaline ionic infrared labels but apparently it's all the rage and very difficult to find a nice lowtech one that doesn't incorporate this technology).

Like the T3, the Babyliss is also really lightweight, dries as fast or faster than the T3, and has the added benefit of more heat settings - including medium, low, and high, as well as a cool shot, whereas the T3 only offers a high heat and low heat. The Babyliss has 1900 watts and the T3 has 1800. There are various models of the Bablyiss tourmaline, but this model was at the lower end of the price range at $89, and you can get it on Amazon for about $20 less.

It is for the above reasons and others I'm about to detail that it is a superior product to the T3. Not only does it cost much less but the Babyliss gave my hair a soft, lustrous, shiny smooth sheen and healthy texture, and did not leave it looking dried out and fried as the T3 did.

That said, I still experienced the same problem w/the Babyliss as with the T3- it gives too much volume to my short, thick choppy layered hair and doesn't allow me to straighten it at any heat setting. What I saved in drying time (easily fifteen minutes without sweating and straining my arm) I paid for dearly in styling time to try to get the full balloon-y volume to calm down and get the ends to lay flat.

In sum, I would strongly recommend saving your money on the T3 and buying the Babyliss if you want to see not merely identical but significantly improved functionality and performance over the more expensive T3 dryer. Yet I would still be less likely to recommend this or any other tourmaline-infused infrared dryer for people with very thick, voluminous hair that they want to take the poof out of and make straight, as that will likely not happen with this or similar units. As a final but very significant note on performance - the Babyliss toned down my frizz (and it's a very rainy day today) by nearly 100 percent! Also I noticed very few dry flyaways as compared to the T3.

In sum, the Babyliss ProTT is an excellent product, a much better choice than the T3. It is more economical, offers greater functionality and superior performance.

I like the product. However, having purchased it from Amazon.com, T3 will not allow me to register my product for future warranty because they claim Amazon.com is not an authorized dealer. For such an expensive every day product, a warranty would be nice to have in case anything were to go wrong. I received an email from T3 and a call back both confirming that they do not consider Amazon.com an authorized dealer. When I called Amazon, they had never heard of such a thing. Amazon.com offered to exchange my featherweight tourmaline dryer with another but that did not resolve my issue. I cannot get my T3 Tourmaline Featherweight 83808 hair dryer covered by T3's warranty because it was purchased through Amazon.com.

I first saw this hair dryer on a TV show talking about beauty products used by the stars. Then I noticed my hairdresser had switched to this brand. His observations were the same as mine. If you take a lot of time drying hair and the weight of the dryer is an issue, this is a very good purchase. But your hair will be no shinier or softer than with other dryers.

I had a problem with the warranty (see below for original review). I contacted Amazon and they said they will honor the warranty even if the manufacturer wouldn't. Way to go Amazon!

This is from the email I received from Amazon:

"Thank you for writing to Amazon.com with your concern.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience that you have experienced with this order.

Rest assured that we will honor the terms of the warranty for this product, even if the manufacturer does not.

Thanks for shopping at Amazon.com."

This is my orginal review:

I love the dryer, however there is a problem with the warranty. When I tried to register it online with Tourmaline, this is the response I got:

"Thank you for contacting T3 Micro, Inc. the Originator of the professional Tourmaline Hair Dryers and other professional grade equipment for hair styling professionals. T3 Micro strives to maintain the highest standard of build quality, consistency and ease of use. To ensure the quality and authenticity of T3 Micro's products, our products are only available through authorized professional and retail dealers. As such, T3 Micro will only guaranty the authenticity of T3 Micro's products when purchased through an authorized dealer.

Unfortunately we are unable to process your registration and warranty because we are unable to verify that your product was purchased through an authorized dealer.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you however, as stated above, T3 Micro believes that maintaining the highest level of quality and consistency of its products is of paramount importance. We invite you to visit one of our authorized dealers for a demonstration of our line of authentic professional T3 Micro products.

If you still have additional questions or comments please contact our Customer Service Department via email at info@t3tourmaline.com or by telephone at (888) 340-8880.

T3 Micro, Inc."

I recently purchased this item with great hopes. It is a good hairdryer BUT...imagine my surprise when T3 Micro Inc. refused to honor the warranty because I purchased this item from amazon.com. Their response to me and I quote..."We cannont guarantee the authenticity of this item and our generous warranty would not be viable if if we couldn't verify the shipping and handing of our products. Damage can be incurred as these items pass through many hands. To protect ourselves and our customers, we want a direct line from our factory to our distributor (amazon is not approved evidently)." Stephen Gwin, T3Micro Inc. steve@t3tourmaline.com" This thing goes on to suggest that Amazon should guarantee their product!! I think that paying $150 for a hairdryer and then being told that amazon.com is not an acceptable vendor of their product is absurd. Why are their products being sold on a reputable website such as Amazon if they will not guarantee them. This is completely unacceptable. I am angry at this company and will NEVER PURCHASE FROM THEM AGAIN. I also have been letting all my girlfriends and collegues know about this situation so they don't make the same mistake. LET THE BUYER BEWARE!!!

I had been lusting after a T3 forever because of all the rave reviews and finally got one for Christmas. I'm really sad to say that I'm disappointed and am going back to my ionic hairdryer from Sharper Image.

To be fair, the glowing remarks about the T3 are written by people with wavy hair that tends to frizz. My hair is long, straight, and shiny, and I blow dry every day for volume. After using it, my hair was shiny, but very limp. I've given up after several tries.

The T3 is light, quiet, and looks nice, but I agree with another reviewer regarding the design. When I use it, I tend to knock the switch into the "off" position because it's right where I grip the handle. Also, the air flow feels very weak to me, which is not really what I need when I'm trying to volumize.

I'm sure this is great product for some people, but if you have straight hair, you should save the $150 (or save someone else the money).

I'll be the first one to confess that whenever something new comes out in the beauty market, i am eager to try it. But even I was skeptical about the claims this hair dryer made. Plus, the price kept me in a pre-contemplative state for a long time. Finally after talking to someone who actually owned and used the dryer, i decided to spring for it. I have really curly, frizzy hair and it's about 13 inches long. If there is a drop of moisture in the air, I have to consider it a bad hair day. Forget about blowing my hair straight. When I first used this hair dryer, it was in the middle of July, sticky, and rainy outside. Within 15 minutes (usually takes me 35 mintues for a blow out), i had blown my hair STRAIGHT!!!! and, it's shiny too. Each section took about 2 minutes to complete. It looks great. I don't care about the technology, all I know is it works. If you have had a lifetime of frizzy, unruly, dry or dull hair. Try this dryer. You won't be disappointed. I didn't give it 5 stars b/c it is prohibitively expensive and amazon is not considered an authorized dealer so I was not able to get the warranty either. I have a Solano that I also love but it is really heavy and it does take much longer to make my hair presentable.

I purchased this product 3 months ago for my wife and according to her it really is not any better than the ionic hairdryer that you can buy at the drug store. Yes it is lighter and dries hair a bit faster but besides that it does not work any miracles. If I could, I would return it...it does not warrant the $200.00 that I paid for it..perhaps that's why the price was lowered??

I normally don't like to invest in hair products/items that are this expensive, so I thought I would ask for it from my boyfriend on Valentine's Day. He bought me both the Featherweight hair dryer and the wet and dry narrow flat iron from t3. I love both of them! The hair dryer dries my hair in about 6 minutes (when it is wet from the shower)- I have asian hair so I can say that drying my hair isn't always a positive experience. However, if you dry your hair with the hot option first (doing the layers), then on the low option for the roots of your hair, and finishing with a blast of cool air all over, you will have shiny hair that is not poofy and is manageable.
After using my t3 hair dryer, I don't know how I could not have it. Now, I want to get the overnight dryer. However, here is a warning. DO NOT EXPECT MIRACLES! If you have super frizzy hair or completely unmanageable hair, a hair dryer will not fix that. Perhaps you should invest in some better shampoo (I recommend Bumble and Bumble or Paul Mitchell) and perhaps a hair treatment at the salon. This dryer is great for getting the job done quickly and to make your hair look better (without that frizzy, burned look that other hair dryers give you).

At first I broke into a sweat at the thought of paying so much for a hair dryer. Boy am I glad I did! I have thick wavy hair and this thing works miracles for me. In the past when trying to blow out my hair I would give up because my hands would be killing me from the weight and I would end up with something between frizz and more frizz! Not only does this baby cut my drying time in half but it's so light, featherweight just like the description. Another great thing about this dryer is that if you don't wash your hair every day a quick shot in the morning will refresh it as if you have a fresh blow out! Smooth, shiny hair is what you end up with, how can you lose?