Beauty Editor Reviews Dyson Airstrait on Her Hair for 6 Weeks

Beauty editor Ashleigh Cometti road tests Dyson’s newest wet-dry styler.

Testing the latest beauty technologies comes with the territory as a beauty editor. But my personal philosophy of wanting to test something for at least six weeks before making a final judgment often means reviews are lengthy.
time in preparation.

I was kindly loaned the new Dyson Airstrait in October, a new tool for the brand that has made using airflow to style hair its table stakes.

Since then, it has been taken out of the drawer countless times, often in a hasty attempt to tame my locks in front of an audience (my two little selves weren’t sure if it was a hair dryer or a hair straightener. Hint: it is both).

Over the past six weeks, I’ve worn my freshly styled hair to cute drop-offs, long lunches, date nights, birthday parties, and everything in between.

Below, here are all the honest thoughts I had when reviewing the new Dyson Airstrait, and my verdict on whether I’d want to buy one myself.

Like most Dyson devices, the Airstrait makes big claims: rapid smoothing from wet to dry without the need for heating plates.

Without the need for excessive heat, Airstrait helps preserve hair’s strength (i.e. less breakage during styling) and maintain its natural shine to ensure hair feels and looks healthy . The result is naturally straight (not straight) hair with minimal frizz and flyaways.

Newly minted tongs received Time the magazine’s Best Invention 2023 award, almost a year before the device became available for purchase in Aotearoa.

With just one pass through the hair, Airstrait performs three functions: helping to dry, smoothing and straightening.

According to Dyson, wet hair is much easier to style because the hydrogen bonds in the hair are more flexible and easier to reset. By using a lower temperature and resetting the bonds of wet hair, Dyson claims the hair’s internal structure is better protected, giving it ultimate shine.

The Dyson Airstrait doesn’t just work its magic on wet hair and offers Wet and Dry modes with three preset temperatures (80, 110 and 140 degrees Celsius) for a tailor-made styling experience.

In wet mode, let the airflow projected downward at a 45 degree angle to create the tension needed to straighten styled hair, while dry mode can be used to freshen up dry styles. A Cool Shot feature is designed to help define any style.

Both of my kids were still sleeping soundly the morning I unboxed the Dyson Airstrait, and I appreciated having at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted styling time before one of them woke up.

When I say it’s big, I’m not exaggerating: for context, it weighs just under 500g and measures 15cm long.

Luckily we have a second bathroom that has plenty of space under the outlet. I turn on the Airstrait and it immediately goes into “self-cleaning mode” for a moment or two before settling into its natural whirring rhythm.

I had kindly received two tubes of Dyson’s new Chitosan hair care range: a pre-styling cream to use first and a post-styling serum to apply to finish the style. I apply a pump of Pre-Style Cream to my mid-lengths and ends, which promotes flexible, long-lasting hold while promoting softness and shine.

Then the baby wakes up. We are not off to the best start.

I revisit my hair attempt half an hour later, after feeding and changing the two little people who stand slightly terrified in the hallway watching me turn the Airstrait back on.

I start by locking the arms of the device together, switching it from straightener to hair dryer with a single click. It responds intuitively, increasing airflow when I dry the roots of my hair.

When I unlock the arms, I notice the Airstrait lowers a notch, signaling lower airflow. I learn that this is a key feature of the tool, which detects when hair is between the plates and turns itself on, before turning back down when the hair is not, to reduce the noise to a minimum where possible.

Mindful of my audience, I save time by separating my long, thick, slightly wavy hair into two sections rather than my usual three and get to work – tightening the Airstrait at the roots as I put it on under tension, before slowly smoothing the plates to the end. from my hair where it turns off intuitively. I repeat this process around my head on the bottom layer until my hair is both dry and silky.

Inevitably, one of my kids bumps into the other and I quickly have to abandon the Airstrait on the vanity while I play referee.

The device turns off after three seconds and I wonder if I broke it. But when I resume it, it restarts with the same setting as originally.

Auto-pause is just another safety feature that’s sure to please the forgetful among us (and thwart all those panicked “did I turn off my styler?” moments when driving down the driveway).

I move on to the top layer of my hair and find that the size of the plates makes it slightly difficult to straighten my hair from the root. My hair type is mostly straight at my crown, so it’s not a big deal for me, but I have a thought for those who want to use the Airstrait on curly or kinky hair types who might prefer a plate narrower.

After exactly eight minutes, I finished.

That’s quite a feat considering my poor hairdresser spends no less than 40 minutes drying and styling my hair in the salon.

The Dyson Airstrait is available in three colors: the original Bright Nickel and Rich Copper and the limited edition Ceramic Pink or Strawberry Bronze colors. The device is priced at $799 and is available at select department stores including Mecca, Noel Leeming and Harvey Norman, or Dyson.co.nz.

Test driving the Air Strait over the last month and a half made me realize (rather revolutionary) that I don’t have poker straight hair.

At sixteen, I would recoil in horror at this fact – having spent years clamping hot irons around my bleached blonde hair and paying close attention to my sweeping side bangs.

Instead, the result the Dyson Airstrait gives me is what they call a “relaxed straight” style. It’s your natural hair, but smoother – it hasn’t been ironed within an inch of its lifespan.

Because of this, I always have plenty of volume at the roots (I love nothing more than a good root zhush to refresh my hair several times throughout the day) and my hair always looks full and thick rather only soft and lifeless.

I don’t often wash, dry, or style my hair in the morning due to the time it takes, but the Air Strait has streamlined my hair care routine and allowed me to look adequately groomed for the office (and not at all). scruffy like when I let my hair air dry).

Since my first attempt with the air strait, I have used it more times than I can count. I’ve only used it once on dry hair (I mostly curl my hair when it’s dry rather than straightening it), but I’ve used it almost every hair wash day since I started using it. I received.

Some mornings I don’t cut my hair at all – I just slide the plates through my hair and am pleasantly surprised to find that the result doesn’t match the minimal effort I put in.

As summer vacation approaches, I’m tempted to take it camping with me for its two-in-one functionality. I can give my roots a boost after returning from the beach, or quickly refresh my hair in the evening before a drink with friends.

To hell with the PRCD socket, I’ll find a place in my bag.

Would I pay $800 for the Dyson Airstrait? Yes. It quickly became a hair styling staple in my weekly beauty routine and gave me no excuse to leave the house with wet hair.

The low heat used by Airstrait means that the condition of my hair was not negatively affected, and my hairstylist noted that my hair was in the best shape it had been in a while during my last appointment in the living room.

In my opinion, this clever styling tool doesn’t completely replace the need for a hairdryer (I love a big bouncy blowout every now and then), but it has put my usual hair straightener on pause until further notice. order.

Expert-approved shopping guides, new skincare trends to try, and last-minute beauty gifts to buy now.