Dyson Debuts the Airstrait, a Revolutionary Wet-to-dry Hair Straightener

We got a first look at the tool that is a hairdryer and straightener in one machine — no hot plates or heat damage involved.

Expanding upon the high-tech universe of Dyson styling tools, the haircare innovator has unveiled the Dyson Airstrait — a wet-to-dry hair straightener here to revolutionize the way we blow dry and flat iron our multi-textured tresses forever.

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On a balmy evening in NYC on May 11, brand founder Sir James Dyson presented his latest product innovation to an eager crowd of media, beauty enthusiasts and influencers. As a black cloth covering the mysterious machine was pulled back to reveal the brand-new hair straightener in all its sleek glory, the audience cheered and clapped with excitement, still unaware of what it was or what it even did yet. Why? Because with every groundbreaking announcement of Dyson hair tools, like the Supersonic hairdryer, the Corrale straightener, and the Airwrap multi-styler serving as evidence, the brand proves it’s constantly one-upping its own creations launch after launch. The arrival of the Airstrait — which comes as part of the brand’s £500m promise to expand its research and technology development in its beauty sphere — is no exception to that rule.

“Having a strong understanding of how to manipulate and realize the potential of powerful airflow is fundamental to the performance of Dyson AirstraitTM straightener,” shares Dyson in a press release. “This expertise, which we’ve gained over the last 25 years, is what has enabled us to deliver our first wet-to-dry straightened, with no hot plates, and no heat damage.” The aforementioned airflow is shot through two apertures on the arms of the machine, which are angled at 45 degrees and deliver a downward blast of air powerful enough to straighten strands while they dry.

Emma Sheldon, vice president of the hair care sector at Dyson explains that the name of this machine is derived from the word strait — meaning, a narrow passage of water that connects with larger bodies of water. “It’s a nod to the fact that you’re styling your hair from [a] wet [state],” she explains. This process is able to be successfully carried out by using optimum heat levels and directional airflow to avoid damaging the hair, which is naturally weakened when wet. To protect the hair, the Dyson Airstrait also uses Intelligent Heat Control to measure airflow temperatures up to 30 times per second in order to prevent heat damage. What’s more, this machine can be conveniently used in either a Wet, Dry or Cool mode with varying heat settings available.

To prove the Airstrait’s efficacy and ability to cater to all hair types, Dyson global styling ambassadors and celebrity hairstylists Matthew Collins and Irinel de Léon took to the stage to demonstrate how to use the tool on three different hair types. This inclusive capability was one that Collins considered when checking out the product near the end of its development.

“I was like, ‘is it going to work for all hair types?’ Because we all know with type three or four type hair — even within that type —  there’s a lot of different textures that react differently to heat,” the Canadian hairdresser tells FASHION.

The good news: The Airstrait does work for all hair types.

On a wet section of hair, the hairstylists wowed the crowd with the tool’s ability to straighten and smooth strands from wavy locks to kinks and coils with three passes. Collins explains that although coarser type four hair textures may not necessarily achieve a silk-press level result with the Airstrait, what it will do is minimize the amount of work by eliminating tedious round-brushing and blow drying. “All the type four [haired] girls that I’ve talked to about this are like, ‘Yeah I’m spending almost an hour to prepare my hair for my flat iron, and now you’ve just made that process a half hour.’ That’s a game changer.”

While Collins says the Airstrait won’t necessarily replace all of our beloved styling tools, he tells FASHION it’s going to change the hairstyling game “a lot.” And while it’s not technically a professional tool, Collins says, “For me as a professional… secretly I’m keeping it in my kit.” (We suspect he may use the tool to style his high-profile clients like Mandy Moore and Sophia Bush.)

With the Airstrait being just one of 20 beauty products coming down the Dyson pipeline over the next four years, we can’t begin to imagine what other state-of-the-art tools could be coming next.

The Dyson Airstrait ($699.99) will be available in Canada on May 12.