The Dyson Airwrap style is the next beauty product from the maker of the Dyson V10 vacuum cleaner, Dyson fans/purifiers and of course the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer. What have these got in common?
Well apart from premium pricing and quality they all use some of Dyson’s patented engine and aerodynamics research including the Coanda effect – more on how
It’s all about hair science
Everyone knows what a hairdryer is. A thing to blow heated air to dry your hair. Pretty well every fashionable woman and some men use it daily to dry their hair.
Dyson set up a hair science laboratory to figure out the perfect way to dry hair. What they found is that most hair dryers sacrificed hair health for hair drying speed – read high heat over 200° – irreparably damaging the hair cuticle and cortex. If you want to know more read GadgetGirl’s take here. It is a fascinating read even for those with a bald pate like me.
The bottom line is that it cost £50 million to set up the lab. Then 1010 miles of human hair tortured and analysed to provide data for 103 engineers to develop 600 prototypes and file over 100 patents. All that for a $500 hair dryer!
The hair dryer is great. GadgetGirl (a.k.a. wife Jan) fell in love and joined clan Dyson. Her review is here.
The next step
Use that research for the Dyson Airwrap styler (Website here)
While a dryer works on most hair types the challenge was to find a home styling tool – read to achieve voluminous curls, natural waves and smooth blow-dry finishes. Unlike the Leatherman multi-tool (one tool rules them all) Dyson found that it needed six styling accessories plus left and right versions (otherwise those voluminous curls would look funny on one side of your head) to handle most hair types.
If that sound techy it is. And here is where the Coanda effect comes in. Instead of manually wrapping your hair around curlers or a curling wand the Dyson Airwrap uses the Coanda effect to gently wrap your hair around the wand and apply gentle heat and a cooling blast to set a curl. It took 230 engineers and 642 prototypes to get that right, and it is something never done with hair.
What Dyson discovered was that there are basically six different hair types and variations. It ranges from super fine to super thick and from naturally straight, (e.g. Asian hair) to naturally frizzy, (e.g. African hair) and everything in between.
James Dyson, Founder and Inventor, said:
We have been obsessively manipulating airflow for more than 25 years. It is one of our core expertise. Harnessing the power of Dyson’s digital motor, we have engineered a truly unique styling tool preventing extreme heat damage when styling. I’m immensely proud of what our engineers have achieved.
Peter Thomsen, international celebrity hairstylist and styling ambassador for Dyson Australia said:
As stylists, we often see the damage that extreme heat can have on hair. Many women have had to compromise on the condition of their hair to create the styles they want. So, it’s incredible that Dyson has engineered a tool that enables women to achieve so many different styles and have the best possible hair styling experience. The Dyson Airwrap styler is a game changer; it’s what the styling industry has been waiting for.
What the Dyson Airwrap does
First, there is the Dyson V9 digital motor (same as in the Supersonic) that provides the air volume. Then there is the heater that is controlled by a thermistor 40 times a second to keep heat well under 150° and provide that instant cold shot to set the style. This is all in a wand body to which you fit the appropriate tool.
I saw straight hair gently curled, curled hair gently straightened, hair made to do things that defied the laws of gravity, hair dried and more. But what I saw was a ‘tool’ that could be used at home to add style! As Dyson put it, often, styling hair means blow drying before styling. The Dyson Airwrap styler styles wet to dry.
The package includes:
Intelligent Heat Control
Styling your hair should not be synonymous with damaging your hair. Like the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer, the Dyson Airwrap styler has intelligent heat control. A glass bead thermistor measures the temperature up to 40 times a second, transmitting temperature data to the microprocessor and regulating the product’s temperature. This helps ensure hair does not become exposed to extreme heat.
Attachments
The Dyson Airwrap styler complete comes with specific attachments designed with different hair types and desired looks in mind.
- Pre-styling dryer: Prepares hair for styling using a fast but diffused airflow. Engineered for all hair types, it’s designed to dry hair to the ideal moisture level (damp to touch) before using the curling barrels.
- Soft smoothing brush: Engineered to add body and volume to limp, flat hair while creating a smooth, blow-dry finish. Ball-tipped bristles allow for increased tension to help keep hair aligned to the brush.
- 40mm Airwrap barrel x 2 (L:+R): To create loose curls or waves for thicker, coarser hair that has some shape.
- 30mm Airwrap barrel x 2 (L+R): To create voluminous curls or waves for most hair types. Achieve voluminous curls for those with limp, finer or straighter hair. Get tighter curls for those with thicker, coarser hair with some shape.
- Firm smoothing brush: To create a straighter style with less frizz. Engineered to tame and smooth unruly, thicker, coarser hair, with firm straight bristles to help create tension and reduce tangling.
- Round volumising brush: To create volume and shape. Ideal for creating tension to shape finer, thinner and straighter hair.
But wait there’s more
Dyson has a special pop-up store at 106 King Street Sydney (near the corner of Pitt and King) where you can book a consultation from 10 to 14 October and see it in action.
The $699 Dyson Airwrap styler is available on Dyson.com.au from 10th October and in-store at David Jones and Myer from 13th October.
GadgetGuy’s take:
A balding male is envious of those voluminous locks.
GadgetGirl will review this device although she is very happy with her Dyson Supersonic and probably does not need it. By the way, she has been using the Supersonic since February, and after eight months her damaged hair has grown eight cm. Her hair now looks lustrous, smooth and voluminous – something years of cheap, hot hairdryer damage had turned a little lifeless. Works for her!
I suspect that will be only one issue to widespread uptake. Women understand a hairdryer and how to use brushes to get some style. Far fewer understand how to style in the home. So, Dyson’s task is to educate and declare death to straighteners and styling wands that cook your hair.
Is it revolutionary? Yes, there is nothing like it!
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