[Xantulle]

Thanks all!! If it was mica in the heating element, my guess would be that there's not a big chance that asbestos has been used elsewhere in the hairdryer, good news.

Only place it could still be is on the plastic sidewalls or handle as insulation, to prevent the outer plastic from heating up when using it, or wrapped around the power cable maybe, but in those cases it would output far less fibres and be less friable than if the heating element itself was asbestos.