It’s no secret that Dyson has been dominating the hair care area—proving itself 3 times over with the fast-drying Supersonic blow dryer, the futuristic Corrale flat iron, and the versatile Airwrap (all obtained excessive scores from WIRED). I’m consistently making an attempt to steer everybody round me to put money into a minimum of considered one of them. A few years in the past, I purchased my mother the Supersonic for Mother’s Day. Last 12 months, I satisfied my pals to pool our cash collectively to purchase the Corrale for our greatest pal’s thirtieth birthday.
But when Dyson introduced the Airstrait, its wet-to-dry flat iron, I had my doubts. Perhaps it is as a result of I’m nonetheless scarred from my Croc Wet to Dry Flat Iron from center college. It’s been over a decade, however I can nonetheless clearly hear the sizzle from my moist hair being clamped between the warmth plates—leading to crunchy, broken strands with every go. So, you’ll be able to perceive my apprehension towards the Airstrait.
I used to be barely relieved to see that it is extra of a hair dryer-straightener combo. Instead of compressing your moist hair between scorching plates, it makes use of airflow to dry and straighten your hair. Still, I wasn’t utterly satisfied. My mixture of wavy, curly, and coarse hair requires as a lot warmth as potential to keep away from trying frizzy and puffy. And that $500 price ticket does not assist. But as with the corporate’s earlier hair instruments, I ought to’ve recognized. After solely two makes an attempt, I used to be able to throw my blow dryer and flat iron within the trash.
Divide and Conquer
Photograph: Dyson
With no warmth plates, you are most likely questioning how the Airstrait works. Located alongside each arms of the machine are 1.5-mm gaps. Airflow travels through the motor, splits into each arms, and accelerates by the gaps to create two high-velocity downward blades of air. At a 45-degree angle, these blades merge to create one targeted jet of air that strikes downward to straighten the hair because it dries—leading to a pure, clean end.
In addition to watching your hair dry, you will additionally hear the Airstrait working. With the flexibility to sense when the hair is clamped throughout the machine, it robotically will increase airflow. Once your hair is out, it instantly decreases it, like a Dyson vacuum that will increase suction when it senses dust or switches ground kind. It additionally has clever warmth management to manage airflow temperature 30 instances per second, so it will by no means exceed the temp you set.
The Airstrait has diffusers (the gold items that stand out from the aspect) that assist hold the air flowing onto your hair as an alternative of onto you. As somebody with delicate pores and skin, I’m all the time left with a number of redness after blow-drying my hair. Regardless of how excessive the warmth setting is, I do not expertise irritation with the Airstrait. The diffusers are detachable, making it simple to wash away any product, like a warmth protectant, that will construct up over time.
To set the temperature, there is a digital coloration show to see what mode you are on and buttons beneath to cycle by every setting. Choose from two principal styling modes—moist and dry—and three temperature settings for every. With moist mode, you will have the selection of 175, 230, or 285 levels Fahrenheit. In dry mode, you’ll be able to choose between 250 levels, 285 levels, and enhance mode. You can alternate between low-flow and high-flow pace settings as effectively. There’s additionally the choice for a cool mode, which helps set the type.
If you could not inform, there are a number of methods to customise the Airstrait, which is nice! It means there are a number of choices for several types of hair. Each button is labeled intuitively, with a crimson for warmth, a blue for cool mode, a raindrop icon for moist hair mode, and so on. But I discover myself staring on the controls for longer than I’d wish to, making an attempt to recollect learn how to get to sure settings. Dyson may have made the show larger and merged just a few of the buttons as an alternative. I extremely advocate tapping by all of the menus first, so that you’re aware of every one.
