I have two kinds of hair days. The ones where I use straighteners - heavily. And the ones where my hair looks disgusting. Needless to say, this over-reliance on hot plates feeds directly into the bad hair days, eroding condition and hydration one glide at a time. Despite the best efforts of every bond repair treatment on the market, my natural hair texture resembles crispy seaweed from the ears down.
It’s into this hot mess that Dyson steps in. The brand has just launched its fourth hair tool, the Airstrait, and like all Dyson gadgets it talks a good talk. It’s a straightener but not as we know it, trumpets Dyson. Using concentrated airflow directed with hairdresser-like precision, the Airstrait takes hair from wet to blow-dry sleek with no hot plates, no skill and no heat damage.
Airstrait is the latest hair tool from Dyson
Oh, and no change from £450. Can it possibly be as good as it sounds, and worth considering such a big investment? With the tool finally available in the UK after months of hype and anticipation, I had to put it to the test.
First impressions
The Airstrait is bigger than your average straightener, yet manages to look and feel remarkably sleek. It’s lightweight in the hand, with the weight balanced nicely across the tool. The only thing spoiling the aesthetic vibe is the absolutely ginormous plug/safety box/styling electronics, which looks like something powering the Oxford Street Christmas lights. If you’ve got a socket right above a skirting board, it will be too big to plug in. Better get an extension lead.
Assuming you’re able to switch it on, the Airstrait is simple to use straight out of the box. There’s a one-page ‘easy start’ guide, but all the heat and power settings are pre-programmed (albeit adjustable, if you want to tinker around for your hair type.) There’s a short blast of air to clean the filter each time you switch it on, and then you’re ready to get started.
The Airstrait uses a directed airflow to smooth and dry hair at the same time
One neat touch is the ‘idle mode’ which sends the Airstrait to sleep when you put it down, and wakes it up as soon as you pick it up again. As well as being like the world’s most angelic baby, it’s a clever energy/money saving idea - a tiny crumb of comfort when you’ve splurged £450 on your new toy.
What’s it like to use?
I’ve tried myriad hair tools over the years, but I can’t think of any easier than the Airstrait. All you have to do is gently squeeze the gadget’s two ‘arms’ together to turn on the airflow. (Dyson calls them ‘arms’ because the Airstrait doesn’t have hot plates - and I guess ‘slightly warm hair clampers’ sounds weird.)
If you’re starting with wet hair, you lock the Airstrait closed to begin with and use the airflow to rough-dry your roots. This immediately injected oomph into my fine hair; a major plus in my book. After all, there’s no point having the smoothest, sleekest hair in the world if it’s stuck flat to your head.
Lynne before and after using the Airstrait
Once my roots were suitably dried and zhuzhed, I started on my damp lengths. What a revelation! For once, there was no need to hold a brush in my other hand; it was enough to run my fingers through a section, then just glide the gadget down to the ends. It only took two or three slow passes to get each section dry.
Speedy drying isn’t particularly remarkable on my fine hair, but what truly astonished me was the finish and feel. My hair was left ultra-silky and ridiculously smooth, as if each cuticle had been professionally polished by a concentrator nozzle. There was also a general feel of swing and swish, which added to the ‘just stepped out of the salon’ effect. Come to think of it, I’ve actually paid for blowdries that weren’t as good as this.
I also need to mention the staggering longevity. The sleekness stayed put all day, lasting through a breezy walk to work (not to mention a gale of compliments from workmates), and even a light, non-sweaty workout. At bedtime, it looked virtually the same as when I’d first styled it.
Come morning, the ends were a little scruffy from sleep but the soft, silky feel remained. It took mere seconds to refresh the original look with the Airstrait’s dry mode. This mode, by the way, doesn’t have the same ‘zero damage’ claim as the wet mode, but considering how quickly it worked, I think it has to count as ‘damage limitation’ at least.
Is it worth buying the Airstrait?
Let me reiterate: the Airstrait is £450 so this is a question I can’t give a definitive answer to. It is one heck of an outlay. It’s also very much a one-trick pony. (But oh what a beautiful thoroughbred pony…)
The results you get will also differ according to your hair. While Dyson designs all its tools to be suitable for all hair types, tight curls and coils will get a stretched-out effect which is obviously different to the result on naturally straight or wavy hair. My advice for everyone would be to look at online tutorials on hair close to your own, and then try the Airstrait in real life at a Dyson demo bar to decide if you love it.
The Airstrait can be used on both wet and dry hair
Ultimately, I can only really speak as someone with fine, damaged hair who’s always trying to cheat that shiny, healthy blow dry look. And purely from a technical point of view, I’ve never found anything better at achieving that than the Airstrait. For that reason, I’d be sorely tempted to save up and splash out. Sorry, but it’s true. (I'm also backed up by my colleague who has very thick, wavy hair and calls it 'the best beauty tool I've ever used - it only takes three passes to get my hair dry and softly straightened'.)
It’s quick, it’s super-easy, it leaves hair salon-level smooth without squashing it flat, and the result lasts all day – and beyond. No other tool has made my hair look and feel silkier than this, and I love the idea that it’s done without heat damage. I just wish it was as benign on the bank balance!