Dyson Airstrait Straightener Review: Straight’n Shiny

It is no secret that Dyson dominates the haircare space, having proven itself three times over with the fast-drying Supersonic blow-dryer, the futuristic Corrale straightener and the versatile Airwrap (all receiving high ratings from WIRED). I’m constantly trying to convince everyone around me to invest in at least one of these. A few years ago I bought my mother the Supersonic for Mother’s Day. Last year I convinced my friends to pool our money to buy the Corrale for our best friend’s 30th birthday.

But when Dyson announced the Airstrait, its wet-to-dry straightener, I had my doubts. Maybe it’s because I still have scars from it Croc wet-dry hair straightener from middle school. It’s been over a decade, but I can still clearly hear the crackle of my wet hair being pinched between the heating plates — resulting in crunchy, damaged strands with every pass. So you can understand my fears about the airway.

I was a little relieved to see that it’s more of a combo hair dryer and straightener. Instead of squeezing your wet hair between hot plates, it uses airflow to dry and straighten your hair. Still, I wasn’t entirely convinced. My mix of wavy, curly and coarse hair needs as much heat as possible to avoid looking frizzy and bouffant. And the $500 price tag doesn’t help. But like the company’s previous hair tools, I should have known. After just two tries, I was ready to throw my blow dryer and flat iron in the trash.

Divide and conquer

Without the heater plates, you’re probably wondering how the Airstrait works. There are 1.5mm gaps on both arms of the device. The airflow passes over the engine, splitting into both arms and accelerating through the gaps to create two high-velocity, downward-directed airfoils. At a 45-degree angle, these blades merge into a focused jet of air that moves downward to smooth hair as it dries – resulting in a natural, straight finish.

In addition to Watch after Your hair will get dry, so will you hear the airway works. The ability to detect when hair is clamped in the device automatically increases airflow. Once your hair is out, it’ll be reduced instantly, like a Dyson vacuum that increases suction when it detects dirt or changes floor type. It also features intelligent heat control that regulates the airflow temperature 30 times per second, so it never exceeds the temperature you set.

The Airstrait has diffusers (the pieces of gold sticking out on the sides) that ensure the air is aimed at your hair and not at you. As someone with sensitive skin, I always leave a lot of redness after blow-drying my hair. Regardless of how high the heat setting is, I don’t experience any irritation with the Airstrait. The diffusers are removable, making it easy to remove products that have built up over time, such as heat protectants.

To set the temperature, there’s a color digital display so you can see what mode you’re in, and buttons below it to cycle through each setting. Choose from two main styling modes – wet and dry – and three temperature settings for each. In wet mode, you have a choice of 175, 230, or 285 degrees Fahrenheit. In dry mode you can choose between 250 degrees, 285 degrees and boost mode. You can also switch between low and high flow rate settings. There is also the option for a cool modewhich helps set the style.

In case you didn’t know, there are many ways to customize the Airstrait, which is awesome! That means there are multiple options for different hair types. Each button is intuitively labeled, with a red for heat mode, blue for cool mode, a raindrop icon for wet hair mode, etc. But I stare at the controls longer than I like, trying to remember how to get to specific ones Ideas. Dyson could have made the display bigger and put a few buttons together instead. I highly recommend going through all the menus first so you’re familiar with each one.