Blown away

Dyson not only want to hoover our homes. They also want to style our hair. We play with their latest tool: the Airwrap Styler

Ihad your worst nightmare when I was a young’un. It left me a shadow and shell of my former self for months. I cried under the shower for weeks. I wish it was down to something more substantial – like heartache or a misplaced childhood cuddly bear that I couldn’t possibly part with – than the actual reason. One night I was getting ready to go out-out (those days are numbered now) in a mad dash rush. I clambered out of the bath and zig-zagged on soapy water to my dressing table where my fractured hair dryer was laying sideways with blackened bits of uncommitted cellotape flicking off its torso.

Hurling my head upside down, a damp fountain of hair cascaded in front of me. I grabbed my clunking hair dryer, which was the weight of a fax machine, and proceeded to wave it in and around my hair in staccato movements with much bicep stamina. Hold onto your hats: you can see where I am going with this. All of a sudden, my hair was mercilessly seized by the wicked, wiry fan. Having the mirror in front of me to watch this unfold in quick slow motion added to the horror. The sound went from a hissing whir to a screech and crunch. I’d say a good five centimetre width from a bulky strand of hair was annihilated. You know when you’re in so much shock you silent scream? That happened. How did I selflacerate my bountiful mane?

My mum had to execute my hair at the root (the root!) because the hair dryer munched so hard on it – then I went to the professional snippers who gave me the diagnosis I didn’t want to hear: “it’s all got to come off” – that was if I didn’t want to look like I was an extra in a Tim Burton film.

A crop chop happened and I looked like a boy – a razor was used during what felt like a surgical removal of all my hair bar some baby stubs. With my moon face at the time, it wasn’t a good

The Dy son Air wrap S tyler look. When I went to a party that complete packageis evening–the big reveal –“HeyDhs 2,098.95 and is available Elvis is here !” said my jocular( no online at shop. dy son. a ea nd longer) friend with a mean chortle. Se ph or a Middle East It took three years to grow back to its shoulder caressing length. And since that fateful day, me and hair tools have had some serious trust issues.

But now that I am acutely aware of what’s cropping up on the beauty scene, I’m armed more than ever with know-how.

Last month, the gadget geniuses at Dyson disrupted the beauty scene. Well, actually, they initially did that two years ago when they brought out the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer – which restored all my faith in electrical goods and gave my hair a glass-like shine. Brava.

Now I know we (us magazine lot) can sometimes be quite liberal in our use of the phrase game-changing, but Sir James Dyson, the brand’s founder, who is the Steve Jobs of household products, has revolutionised the beauty industry with a genuinely game-changing tool: the Airwrap Styler.

I went to Paris for its world launch. Sir James, in his charming mad scientist blue specs, stepped out on the stage at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild and did a demo of the Airwrap Styler in a snazzy (and pleasantly brief) infomercial kind of set up.

To break it down, here’s what you need to know • Extreme heat is eliminated. Your ear tops will be most grateful for this. This means the Airwrap Styler protects your hair from damage. If you already have damaged hair, it won’t repair it but it won’t make it worse either. You can even use it on damp hair. •The barrel of the Air wrap Styler has a Co and a effect. What that means is, a jet of air flows out and your hair latches around it automatically. It kind of sounds like a hoover. • The success of a hair tool is not just in the technology though. It’s also in the technique, which is why the styler comes with several heads to use as per your style choosing. There are several attachments that can be interchanged to either dry, curl or straighten your hair, including: a round voluminising brush and a 40mm curler. • This wasn’t an easy feat. It took 230 engineers and scientists at Dyson, 642 prototypes and £24m (Dhs115m) worth of investment in research and development to make the Airwrap Styler. • You will eventually clamp down on salon time because this magic wand gave me relaxed curls for three days. Winning.

Does it work on all hair types (read: stubborn, thick and unruly)? Boy is it a mane-taming device – it’s the ultimate solution to a bad hair day with a flick of a switch. Sir James demonstrated on three models: one with poker straight hair, another with an bee-hive afro and another with a mild kink – the results spoke for themselves.

Make no mistake, I love a good beauty bargain. But since my trauma and my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (no, I am not hyperbolising, thank you, I don’t care if it was aeons ago) I throw money at things in advance of potential crisis situations happening. If I had more disposable income I’d buy a few for fear of it discontinuing but I won’t get ahead of myself. It’s an investment in your future hair. I promise you this is not just a game-changer, it’s a life-changer.