Answering your questions about the New Dyson Airstrait™ Straightener
In the world of beauty and personal care, Dyson has always been synonymous with innovation and cutting-edge technology. With their latest offering, the Dyson AirStriat Hair Straightener, they have once again pushed the boundaries of hair styling tools. This new styling tool has captured the attention of both professional stylists and everyday users alike, leaving them with a plethora of questions. How does it work? Is it suitable for all hair types? Does it deliver salon-worthy results? How can it possibly smooth straight from wet hair? In this blog post, I will go over questions you might have about the new Dyson Airstrait as well as my first impression.
How does it work?
The Airstrait is turning heads as it promises to smooth and straighten hair from wet. Dyson alleges that the “wet to finish” styling preserves the hydrogen bonds and therefore prevents damage and increases shine. If you would like more information on hair bonds and how they work, check out my blog post on Bond Builders. But how does it work? Unique to the airstrait, this combination straightener and hair dryer has angled dryers that control the airflow in a downward current to dry and smooth the hair at the same time. It also uses Dyson’s Intelligent heat control feature, which glass bead thermistors detect and regulate temperature up to 30 times per second, to prevent heat damage.
It uses negative ions like many other blow dryers to reduce static, two modes (wet and dry) with 3 speed setting and 3 heat settings which you toggle from an OLED screen, and a 9.6ft cord. The product comes with a silicone non-slip mat as all other Dyson hair care products do. The Airstrait also has removable guards that go over where the airflow is produced from, to allow for easy cleaning. At the time of writing this post the Airstrait only comes in two colors, Nickel/Copper and Prussian Blue/Rich copper, and retails at $499.99.
My favorite feature is the silicone grips at the top, inside of the clamps. These grips are exclusively to provide a positive feedback loop. According to Albert.io, feedback is the information gained about a reaction to a product, which then enables the modification of the product. The grips create a positive reaction so you actually feel like you have gripped the hair inside of the tool, allowing you to feel like you are using it correctly. It is important to me that styling tools also consider the user experience when using their products, and I feel these grips are an amazing way to improve the tactile experience of using the tool, and make the tool more intuitive for the user.
COMMON QUESTIONS:
How is it different from a regular straightener?
Unlike regular straighteners, the Airstrait does not use hot plates to smooth hair. The appeal of the Airstrait is to be able to smooth from wet hair to finish, the blowers on either clamp push hair downward and towards the center to dry and manage any fly away or frizz at the same time, while still avoiding excessive heat. I would absolutely not recommend using a regular straightener on wet or damp hair. Using a hot straightener on wet hair will only lead to sizzling hair and excessive damage. Your hair is the most fragile when wet, and applying extreme heat like a hot tool will cause water to evaporate too quickly, leaving hydrogen and salt bonds (which make up your hair’s structure) broken, leaving hair dry and vulnerable to breakage and pollutants.
How hot does it get?
The machine maxes out at 285º (which is more than enough to dry your hair), with three settings for wet hair (175°F, 230°F, and 285°F) and two settings for dry hair (250°F or 285°F), to pick the appropriate amount if heat for your hair type. The Heat Control technology will also guarantee that the temperature maintains at the setting you selected for added safety.
Can I use the Airstrait on dry hair?
Yes, there is a specific mode that you can switch to for restyling dry hair. Dyson suggests using this in order to refresh and re-smooth dry hair. I think this mode offers a nice way to fluff and reset a straight style with little heat and no products.
Does it have a filter?
Yes, it has the same wire mesh filter found on the dyson Supersonic and Airwrap. I really enjoy the filters and it is so satisfying to put in a clean one and feel the machine at full power again. They can be finicky if you aren't regularly swapping them out and will power down the tool if you neglect them for too long, so I make sure to always pack extra filters in your kit if you're heading to an important job or keep extra ones around the salon to avoid it.
Do I have to turn it on and off for every section?
Nope, it has a feature that once you set it down it turns off and will reactivate when you pick it up. The Airstrait will enter full standby when left unused for 5 minutes with clamp arms open and in 3 minutes with arms clapped and locked. It also has an intuitive airflow feature that if the hair is not immediately within the clamps, it reduces the airflow in order to reduce noise.
Can it be used as a regular blow dryer?
From what I've seen, yes. It's meant to straighten your hair directly from wet so you’ll typically want to stretch and pre-dry the roots as it doesn't seem like the tool can get close enough. If you want the hair to be really smooth you'll want to avoid rough drying the hair anyway, but I'm sure in a pinch it would do the job of drying hair fully.
Does this work on highly textured/coily hair types?
Instructions on which setting to use for curly/coily hair types are not very clear to me. By no means will highly textured hair be perfectly smooth and straight, but from my own research I've seen it leaves most people with a natural straight finish (stretched out curl, but still with a bit of a kinky texture, generally the set up for smoothing or preservation styles).
I think trying to dry the hair sleek smooth on highly textured hair would become excessive use of heat due to how many passes of the tool it would require and not achieve the desired result anyway. I have seen some reviews posted by people with 4C hair and they mention that it greatly reduces their overall dry time in order to then curl the hair, so its value to you should be based on what purpose it will have in your hair care routine.
Does it -only- smooth hair straight?
The purpose of this tool is specifically to smooth and straighten hair, so technically yes, but even on the Dyson website they feature tutorials on giving a few different blow out finishes using the Airstrait. I'm sure with a little manipulation of your sectioning, or the direction you're passing the hair through the tool, you can give your hair more of a bevel or curl and vary your blowout somewhat.
In my opinion this is the Dyson tool I have been the most excited for, not for me but for my clients. I give clients a full dry and style of some sort that I am comfortable doing with my Dyson Supersonic and a brush, so in using the Airstrait I would just be swapping one step of the process for the other. As for at-home clients, I can think of many of my clients that this product will save so much time, as well as improve their at-home style maintenance. I think as soon as you get the hang of how to use this product on your own hair you will love the opportunity to dry and smooth your hair in virtually half of the time, and have the freedom to heat style on top of the smooth finish you get from the airstrait, without the worry of using excessive heat. The less heat clients use on their hair, as well as the ease of use of this tool makes it very worth suggesting to my own clients.
My one issue is that I don't feel comfortable recommending this product to clients with very textured hair. The Airstrait may be able to give them a natural straight finish, but it would not give them the smooth, shiny finish they may get from other hot tools or treatments. Although, I will reiterate if it is worth saving time in drying and stretching the hair, then it may be worth the investment.
Have you seen the new Dyson Airstrait yet? Have you or your stylist used the Airstrait? Let me know what you think of the new technology and if it would improve your hair care routine. Do you have any other questions about the new straightener and how it works? I'm more than happy to look into it and I'll be sure to update this post with more personal thoughts and opinions if I get around to purchasing it for myself.