[REVIEW] Do you wrap your hair in a giant towel after washing it? As some who usually keeps my hair long, I did for YEARS until the heaviness of a towel started giving me neck aches! To remedy this problem I bought specifically cut hair towels, or “hair turbans”, that are made to wrap dry your hair post-shower. These are much smaller than a typical towel and usually come with a button and elastic on each end to secure a “turban” twist on top of your head. I’ve tried 4 different hair turbans now and I think I found the holy grail of all hair turbans, the Aquis Original Hair Turban:

This hair turban from the brand Aquis uses a quick dry technology which helps to reduce “hair stretching and swelling of wet hair that makes it vulnerable to frizz, split-ends and damage”. I’m down. All you do to wear it is to flip your head over and drape the towel starting from the nape of your neck, letting the hair fall into the tail of the turban. Then twist and secure. So easy! Wear the turban so the material can absorb most of the moisture from you hair.

The reason I love this is the size and material. The magic really is in the material – it is made from a wicking fabric called Aquitex, which removes a lot of moisture from hair without stripping it, according to their website.

In the below photos I compare other hair turbans (generic brands – the white one I found at Winners, and the dark pink one I bought in Japan at a general beauty store). You can see some major differences next to the Aquis:

Size. Aquis’ turban is larger and longer; this means that more of your head and hair (long-haired ladies looking at you) is covered, and also makes for easier twisting and securing. In contrast, my hair would fall out of the generic brands since they couldn’t contain the length.

Material. Aquis’ material feels dense but thin and strong, a slightly soft poly-blend. The generic white one is like a basic waffle knit cotton, and the dark pink one is straight up microfibre. You know that gross feeling on your fingertip, imagine what it does to your hair…!

Quality. Something as simple as the 2 inch loop can have a huge impact on the product – you can see Aquis is a sturdy rope loop that securely loops onto the button; the generic brands are of cheaply made elastics that even the generic dark pink one has stretched out! That loop does not secure onto the button anymore and it’s quite sad!

Price. I can’t sugar coat this – the Aquis turban is $40 CAD (see here: https://www.sephora.com/ca/en/product/lisse-luxe-hair-turban-P410897?icid2=aquis_lp_lisse_ca_carousel_ufe:p410897:product), whereas the generic ones were $10 and $5 each respectively.

I know it’s absurd to pay $40 for a hair towel! I’m no high-paid actress like Gwyneth Paltrow (see Goop here: https://goop.com/beauty/megan-tries-it-an-unexpected-way-to-get-shiny-frizz-free-hair-2/), but somehow the folks at Aquis managed to find the perfect material for the considerable task of gentle hair drying, making it worthwhile. You also won’t be replacing this for a long time since it’s made so well. The Aquis absorbs the most moisture from my hair by a landslide, there is definitely less frizz and my hair does feel softer. By comparison, the white one leaves my hair dripping wet, even when worn for 45 minutes; ditto with the dark pink one. Also, the latter two creates more frizz compared to the Aquis. After testing the Aquis for two weeks I can say, with certainty, there IS a difference in my hair.

Overall I am loving the hair turban, and I would certainly recommend this. The only caveat is the price. I’m usually hard pressed to spend $40 on a little towel, but I’m truthfully a total convert. Wait for the next VIB sale, folks 🙂

Have you tried the Aquis turban or other hair turbans? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

-E