Let’s get the price bit out of the way right outta the gates. This new hair tool is $700.
$700. That’s a week’s rent, maybe two. It’s return flights to Bali. It’s 200 coffees.
So what the hell does it do? Good question.
The Airwrap Styler uses jets of air (unsurprisingly – air is Dyson’s shtick) to allow you to create curls, waves or smooth hair all with the one wand (and a few handy attachments).
Even more interesting, it's used on damp hair, and with minimal heat - the air is doing most of the hard work.
Why?
The Dyson team researched current styling technologies and identified three areas for improvement - tangled hair (we've all seen the YouTube videos), temperature damage (some straighteners get as hot as 230 degrees), and weak and unruly airflow (= frizz or limp hair).
So instead of using really high temperatures on dry hair like most hair styling tools, this guy combines air (and fancy air flow technology called the Coanda effect), warm heat and damp hair to reset the bonds in each strand to the shape you want - minus the damage.
“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," Peter Thomsen, celebrity hair stylist said in a Dyson brand statement.
What struck me immediately when I first got to play with the tool was that I hadn't seen anything like it before. And I've been doing beauty for a long time.
My second thought was "I wonder what all those thingys do?"
Turns out they do a lot. There are two different sizes for creating curls and waves (which size you'll use will depend on how thick your hair is and how tight or loose you want your curl). There are four of those in total - two of each size - so you have options to curl into your face or away from it. Clever.
Then there are two brushes - one for thick hair and one for finer hair - designed to smooth and create straighter looks.
There's also a mini hair dryer-type attachment, ideal for travel, but my favourite attachment is the round brush - designed for creating a bouncy blow-dry that you might normally need to go to a salon to get.
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Regardless which attachment you go for, you use it on hair that's about 80 per cent dry, either from blow drying or air drying (or you could wet it down if it was already fully dry). To use it you press a button that activates the air at a warm temperature before flicking the switch to a cool option to set the style.
The strangest (and I reckon the coolest) part of it is how you use the curling attachments. Instead of winding the hair around them manually, the air 'sucks' the hair in a circular motion around the cylinder (though there's no way your hair can get caught or stuck).
It takes a few gos to get used to because the motion is different to any other curling tool but once you get the hang of it it's quick and really easy.
So, is it worth the moolah? Considering the Dyson hairdryer costs $500, I reckon this tool gives you more bang - and hairstyles - for your buck (even better if you spilt the cost in a share house or a family).
The Dyson Airwrap is available from the 10th of October for $699.
