Dyson Airwrap i.d.

Technology comes in many guises and is designed to streamline and improve our everyday lives. It's the electric car we drive to work, the smartphone we use to pay for our morning coffee, and, yes, the hair that needs to be styled correctly. Technology is all around us, and it's even moving into aspects of the aforementioned everyday life we might not have expected.

Dyson usually makes pretty efficient and, if you ask us, excellent vacuum cleaners, but for a number of years they have also offered the so-called Airwrap, an alternative to a hair dryer that has become a favourite among many.

This is a so-called "multistyler" in the sense that it is designed to allow multiple styling options depending on which attachment you attach, a bit like nozzles on, well, a vacuum cleaner. This is done via the so-called Coanda effect, which uses a warm airflow to make the hair curl itself around the unit. The heat dissipation and potential damage to the hair is far less, and the effect, if you ask Dyson, is the same.

What's new here is the MyDyson app, which actually starts with something as rudimentary as a quiz about your hair, and then talks to the app to such an extent that you get the ideal curl sequence for your hair type. For something as individual, and for many as crucial, as hair styling, app integration and more customised use is pretty ideal, so whereas it might be annoying to have a toothbrush telling you via an app to brush harder, it seems more elegantly implemented here.

So how do I really know? Well, to test the Airwrap today I went to my girlfriend Klara, who has actually expressed a desire to test it herself, and this is what she says about a few weeks with it:

"My name is Klara and I'm Magnus' girlfriend. I admit that I poked Magnus a little and asked if it would be possible to test an Airwrap. I wasn't ready to invest the money in one, but I was enticed by the cool adverts where the hair practically twists like magic around it, and the fact that it is significantly more gentle on hair than a classic curling iron.

A little context about my hair: it's long and thick, actually really long and thick. It goes all the way down to my lower back. In terms of texture, my hair can do it all. If I straighten it and blow-dry it, it's virtually straight. If I let it air dry, it's very wavy, and if I use a defuser, I have curls everywhere. Basically, yes, I would call it wavy. Also, I have bangs. Not real bangs, but something semi-long at the sides, which I like to have some volume in and a little "swing". As you can probably guess, it can be difficult to style, and most days I end up with, well, semi-wavy, slightly frizzy hair that's not really nice to look at.

That's why I was really happy when Magnus told me that I could test an Airwrap. I've honestly used it almost every day since. I admit that it's a little difficult to learn how to use and there were several times in the beginning when I was slightly frustrated. Getting the hair to curl easily and elegantly around the curling iron takes a bit of practice. After a couple of YouTube videos, I got the hang of it. It's not the curling iron I use the most, though. I'm fond of the brush unit. I use it every time I've been in the shower. I comb through my hair with the brush while blow-drying and my hair is relatively smooth and dry in a very short time. I don't have to swing my head down and get a half-hold in the back like when I use my normal hairdryer - and I love that. It's easy and convenient, and at the same time I don't feel like I'm completely toasting my hair with heat. I use the round brush unit daily, which also comes with it. I use it for my bangs. I roll my bangs around the brush, blow a little heat, let it cool a bit and then I have the most gorgeous bouncy bangs that look like something out of a L'Oréal advert. By the way, the product comes with a pretty cool app that can guide you through everything from curls to straight hair. I set it up straight away and created a sort of hair profile and the app guides you really well. It's a pretty solid tool, no doubt about it.

As you can hear, I'm quite fond of the Airwrap i.d. My only small problem is that I have a hard time getting the styling to last. I'm learning little tricks along the way, like the hair should be about 80% dry when you style, etc. But I would like it to hold a little better. Is it me who needs to google a bit more and learn a bit more? Maybe it is. But one fact is that a good old-fashioned curling iron would hold my curls better and longer than the Airwrap (well, and smash it with heat, I know, but still!)."

Around £430 for a multi-styler is a lot, but unlike some of Dyson's other offshoots, this one is pretty obviously rooted in a provable, factual technological framework that won Klara over almost immediately. The issue of the styled hairstyle not really standing up to the hustle and bustle of the day is a bit problematic and requires a longer testing period, as Klara seemingly learnt to master the Airwrap as a new-fangled way of doing something rather classic over time.

For now, however, based on Klara's testing, we are prepared to conclude that Airwrap, if nothing else, still provides a more gentle treatment and a more versatile touch to hair styling, but at a price.