Hands on with the Dyson Airwrap Styler

Dyson wants to curl your hair … with air.

Not satisfied with disrupting hair dryers, Dyson is applying its air-blasting motor technology to breathe new life in another area of ​​personal haircare: curlers and stylers. The Airwrap Dyson can curl hair, add volume, or get frizzy hair under control. And it can be done without damage, instead of with a shock, a shock at a time.

The Airwrap is the second product Dyson has made for the personal-care market, the first being the Supersonic hair dryer. Like the Supersonic, the Airwrap uses a tiny version of the company's V9 engine that runs at 110,000 rpm's to blast air at high speed.

Also like the Supersonic (and every Dyson product for that matter), the airwrap commands are more important than most. $ 509.97 for Dyson Airwrap at $ 499.99. Even comparing to just one of those hot air stylists, like this one from Conair, that's stratospherically high.

Still, this is Dyson, so the high price tag is expected. And from what Dyson showed me – I got a chance to check out the airwrap in a uncleiling session.

How the Airwrap works

The Airwrap itself looks like a lightsaber handle: a glossy, dark gray tube with an air-intake filter on the bottom of the world, and a purple-colored rim on the top end, where the air comes out. There are three switches for the air flow and temperature. It's also very light – keep it in mind you need to plug it in to use it.

The curler and brush heads attach to the top, each with similar purple-and-gray colors. The curling heads are roughly cylindrical, with arrows on them to tell you the direction of air flow. Coanda effect, which naturally pulls things closer – in this case, hair.

I had never used a curling iron before, so a stylist, Jon Reyman of Spoke & Weal in New York, walked me through my first experience with the Airwrap. Holding a shock of hair in one hand, I put on the Airwrap underneath and turned it on. Instantly the hair curled itself around the styler, and the closer I moved towards the person's head, the more hair became wrapped in the Airwrap's effect.

While the Airwrap does not work, it never heats it beyond 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the company says. Fahrenheit, which can cause "catastrophic" damage to hair.

After I have a "cold shot" of a second wind, I gave it a "cold shot" of cool air for a second and then turned it off. Pulling the airwrap away, the blonde shock fell away, and instead of straight hair, there was a gentle curl.

"Dyson has created what I think is a better mousetrap," Reyman said after we were done. "This [kind of curl] is not possible without using extreme heat. "

Of course, a shock of curl, we are going to fly for our model, so we broke out of the process. While the airwrap is not a hair straightener per se, there are two brush heads that are meant to smooth out hair and get voluminous curls under control. A few strokes with the Airwrap using a hair straightener.

The Airwrap also includes a "pre-styling dryer" that looks just like the Supersonic. So you could theoretically get the airwrap to not just be your styler, but your hair dryer, but the Supersonic has its own heads and features to give you flexibility in that look.

Whether or not the airwrap has a drying effect, it is intended to be used on damp hair.

"[Normally,] I'm going to have a curl, so I'm doing a two-step process, "said Reyman." Here, I can take the hair while it's still damp and work it. So it's a shorter process. "

Beauty disruption

Dyson is very clear that the airwrap is aiming at consumers looking for an easy and effective do-everything styling solution.

Since everyone has different hair with different needs, with different sets of heads. 1.2-inch curlers.

• The Volume + Shape set comes with a soft brush for fine hair, straight hair ($ 499.99).

• The Smooth + Control set with a firm brush for straightening and calming down frizzy hair and two 1.6-inch curlers for larger curls ($ 499.99)

• Then there's the "Complete" package: two of each curler, all three brushes, and the pre-styling dryer ($ 549.99).

Yes, $ 500- $ 550 is a pretty big chunk of change, no matter what package you go for. But from my brief time with the airwrap, I came away quite impressed. As a novice curling, I felt confident using it after learning the basics, and since it never got too hot, I was not dissuaded by any potential damage.

More there's something to be said about never having to worry you could burn the house down.