My husband gifted me with a Dyson Airwrap in 2020 and to be honest, I’ve been so intimidated by it that I haven’t spent much time using it until this year. The gift was a major surprise because I had only requested the Dyson Corrale straightener and the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer (both of which I love). Because I wasn’t expecting the Airwrap I felt a bit daunted by his thoughtful gift.
After finally making my first attempt to use the Airwrap I was more annoyed with it than anything else. I didn’t really understand what its purpose was because the curls that I created with it fell out almost immediately (even though my hair holds curl pretty well!) and using the styler wasn’t saving me any time (which I thought would be a major perk of this tool!). On top of that, it had so many attachments that I needed to swap out while doing my hair which made for a tedious and frustrating experience which ultimately turned me off from using it for quite a while.
I finally decided to watch a few tutorials this year to get a bit more familiar with the tool and to gain some confidence in order to attempt using it again. After a lot of trial and error, playing around with different styling products, and ordering replacement barrels intended for longer hair I think I’ve finally “mastered” the Airwrap and my opinion of it has definitely changed!
DETAILS
Firstly, I know everyone’s first question is: what exactly is the Airwrap?? Is it a curling iron? A straightener? A blow dryer? And the answer is: yes. 😜 It’s all of those things! It’s technically a “styler” because it has lots of capabilities depending on the attachment head(s) that you use. Essentially, the innovative design utilizes the Coanda Effect which allows the tool to both dry and style your hair at once — this is how it manages to minimize damage (in lieu of placing your hair directly onto searing hot metal). This 2-in-1 process was why I previously thought it would save me some time by “eliminating a step”, but it still takes a similar amount of time to how long it takes me to curl my hair with a traditional curling iron.
For me, the two biggest appeals of the Airwrap are: (1) less heat damage because of the technology used, and (2) style longevity (I don’t want to have to style my hair every day — I simply don’t have the time for that).
…
The air intake is down at the bottom of the wand base and that air is pushed up into the attachment heads which makes cleaning so easy (my Dyson Supersonic hair dryer has a similar setup and I think it’s so brilliant). Your hair doesn’t get sucked up into the back of the attachment head which I really appreciate — it used to happen to me all the time with other hair dryers.
The tool has a good weight to it so that it feels substantial in your hand, but not so heavy that your arm gets tired from holding it. It also has a swiveling cord at the base which is super handy for maneuvering the tool.
I also appreciate that the wand has straightforward controls:
Main Controls:
On / Off / Cool Shot
3 Levels of Fan Intensity:
Low / Med / High
Adjustable Heat Settings:
High Heat (194ºF) / Low Heat (140°F) / Cold Shot (82.4ºF)
I think one of the biggest selling points for this tool is that the temperature never gets up high enough to do any real damage. It’s warm enough to help accelerate hair drying and to set a style, but not so much that it will fry your hair. For comparison, other traditional styling tools often maintain a temperature of over 400°F(!), but the Airwrap constantly monitors the heat of its airflow to ensure that it never exceeds 302°F — that’s a pretty significant difference!
The lock for installing / removing attachments is on the back of the wand (well, opposite the main controls) and it smoothly glides in the track to release the attachments. There’s enough resistance to keep the attachments securely in place, but easy enough to swap tool heads out. The heads easily click into place without needing to shift the slider into the “unlock” position. This button is only for removing the attachments.
Speaking of removing attachments, I definitely recommend utilizing the little knobs on the tops of the curling wands, smoother tool and barrel brush when changing them out because the attachments heads can get quite warm during use!
…
NEW ATTACHMENTS
I think that everyone else had the same complaints that I did about the multiple attachments of the initial design so Dyson streamlined them to make the hair styling process simpler. Instead of having two curling attachment heads, each directing the air in opposite directions that you have to swap out while moving between sides of your head, now you can adjust this on a single wand by merely twisting the knob on the top of the attachment to get the air to blow the direction you desire.
I am grateful that the brand made the updated attachments compatible with the existing wand base; I really respect that they did that for their customers. They could have easily taken the greedy route and made people buy a whole new set to get the upgraded attachment heads. It was the right thing to do to make the changes that their customers requested and then making the upgraded products easily accessible. Bravo, Dyson!
…
Curling
I love eliminating the need for two curling heads per curling wand width — having that extra step was truly a pain in the neck. I chose to buy the upgraded attachment set with the longer hair wands so that all of my hair would fit on the barrel. It’s a night and day difference compared to my short barrel experience!
Please note the length difference between the regular length curling wand heads vs the long (displayed above with their slim and wider barrels counterparts, respectively).
There is 10000000% a learning curve when starting to use this tool. The handling and gestures are different than other tools we have all used in the past so it takes some practice (just like learning anything else!); especially when it comes to the curling barrels. I encourage you not to give up like I initially did — it’s absolutely worth investing the time and effort! I regret giving up so quickly before.
That said, I would definitely recommend making time to practice when there’s no pressure on the final results (read: not before a big event, family photos, etc.) Wait until you’ve gotten the hang of it and are feeling confident in your styling routine before using it ahead of a momentous occasion.
…
Brushes
Admittedly, I haven’t used these attachments yet because they’re geared more toward straightening / smoothing and I prefer to use the round brush attachment for that, but the biggest difference that I can determine between the new and old designs is that there is no center divider in the brush head that stays stationary on the new brush design; both panels pivot.
…
STORAGE
The case is beautiful and well organized as it has a spot for every attachment, but I will warn that if you upgrade to the longer barrel heads for your existing Airwrap the wands are too tall and won’t fit in the storage case and there’s no place for the smoother tool. I would argue that having the case is worth it to keep everything together (not all tossed together haphazardly in a drawer) and it looks really pretty when displayed on a shelf or bathroom counter.
You could also go another route and get the display stand for your bathroom which I may end up doing because of the aforementioned tall barrels. Dyson sells its own stand, but there are quite a few alternatives out there if the Dyson design doesn’t suit your fancy. I actually really love this countertop alternative (designed specifically for the long barrels!).
I regularly use the Travel Pouch for my Dyson Corrale straightener, but don’t own one for my Airwrap yet. I definitely plan to get one because the Airwrap would honestly be the best tool to travel with because it has the most styling versatility which, of course, minimizes the number of heavy, clunky tools you may be tempted to pack for a trip.
…
HOW I GET MY LOOSE CURLS
I gently towel dry my hair and carefully brush out any tangles / create my part.
I spritz a blowout styling spray all over my hair (avoiding the roots) to help accelerate drying and run my brush through my hair to evenly distribute the product. I then apply some styling mousse to my strands to give the curls even more staying power, brushing the product through.
Next, I use the blow dryer attachment for a rough dry until my hair is about 70% dry. Then I like to use the round brush attachment — I bend at the waist and flip my hair upside down and use the round brush to lift my roots and create body / volume since I have fairly fine hair.
After that I clip up the top half of my hair and insert the slimmer barrel curling attachment into the Airwrap handle. I use it on smaller sections of hair and set the attachment to have the hair curl in the direction away from my face.
I leave each piece on the Airwrap until it feels dry — I usually count to about 30 seconds for each section for good measure, but you know your hair best. After that time is up then I hold the slider on the Cool Blast setting for about 10 seconds to help set the style before moving on to the next section. If I notice that the section doesn’t look / feel quite dry when I’m done with it then I repeat this process until it does.
After completing the lower half of my hair, I let the upper section down and restart the whole process. During the drying process of the front “face framing” pieces I gently pull the Airwrap the opposite direction in front of my face for extra fluffiness and fullness.
Finally, I do a quick spritz of hair spray and leave my hair alone for about 10 minutes before I finger comb the style out. This timing allows the hair to fully cool down and gives the hair spray time to really set.
…
PRODUCTS
Oribe Blowout Spray
I love this product. I initially bought it in the small travel size (as seen above), but I plan to buy the full bottle when this runs out because I’m a dedicated fan now. It also works really well for any style where you use a blow dryer (straightened, etc). It feels absolutely weightless (no residue) and has a pleasant scent that isn’t overpowering. It’s definitely become to be a go-to product for me.
Moroccan Oil Volumizing Mousse
This product was suggested by someone who filmed an Airwrap tutorial that I found helpful and since I wasn’t really having a lot of luck with my styler I figured why not give it a try? I honestly think that this product (combined with the longer curling barrels) have made the biggest difference in my experience using the Airwrap.
—
I can also stretch my Airwrap-styled hair for DAYS with a few helpful practices and products (the curls eventually slowly fall out / loosen up, but I don’t mind that tousled look by Day 3 or 4!). These are what I use to maximize longevity:
(1) I use a silk scrunchie around a loosely twisted bun on the top of my head for bedtime;
(2) I revive my roots daily by liberally spritzing with a dry shampoo mist, and occasionally use a texturizing spray if my hair is looking a bit flat; and
(3) after a sweaty workout I use this dry shampoo mist (as I shared about in more detail here) and then blast my roots with the Airwrap using the round brush head attachment with a focus on the hair closest to my scalp to fluff everything back up.
…
HELPFUL TUTORIALS / RESOURCES
Your hair type may be different from mine, so finding a the right tutorial for your hair texture (and length, which is also a huge factor!) will absolutely make or break your experience with the Airwrap.
I highly encourage you to: first, determine your curl type; then, second, use that information to search YouTube or social media for others sharing how they use the Dyson Styler on the same hair texture because you will likely have different products, methods, and tips and tricks (such as how many sections to divide your hair into or re-dampening strands with a spritz bottle before styling, etc.). Dyson offers their own tutorials, but I urge you to watch those and look beyond those clips to find “real users” with even more applicable tips.
In summation, I do think that the Airwrap is a worthwhile investment, but maybe not a product for everyone. The Airwrap styler is great if you (1) have a lot of damage done to your hair and want to continue to style it, but without incurring more damage, (2) want to spend fewer days a week styling your hair, and / or (3) prefer to style your hair more often than not (read: you don’t let your hair air dry or let it “do it’s thing” very often).
Even if you’re intimidated by the Airwrap like I was, I would still encourage you to give it a try! It’s actually pretty amazing and can do a lot more than just the method I shared above, but creating loose curls is the way that I personally plan to use it the most and needed the most guidance for so I thought it may be useful information to pass along (we don’t gatekeep around here 😉).
If you’re interested, I’ve also shared my thoughts on the Dyson Corrale hair straightener and the Dyson Supersonic hairdryer.
Happy shopping, friends!
Sending hugs —
xx, Natalie
Leave a comment...