Well this is an article I never thought would emanate from my computer. Just the other day I walked into a dark room in Sydney to witness a top secret unveiling of the Dyson Airwrap styler. The room was full of fashionistas, hair experts and even a hair model. I’d recently become used to driving a Toyota Supra on a racetrack in Spain or a Volvo around Sweden, that was just last month. But anyway, in I went, a bald bloke for a briefing about what is essentially a hair curler.
Shock and Awe.
But what unfolded was actually bloody remarkable. I’m an enormous Dyson fan, in fact I have lots of their fans, purifiers, vacuums and my wife has their Supersonic hair dryer, much to the chagrin of my bank account. But this device takes the cake I’m afraid.
The Coanda Effect.
Have you ever heard of the Coanda effect? Well if you haven’t you’re about to hear a bloody lot about it ok, so just a heads up. You see the gals, and I guess some guys, love voluminous curls, waves and smooth blow-dry finishes. But trying to achieve that at home is hazardous, mainly because it requires the use of extreme heat from those curling irons and hair straighteners you wish your partner would stop leaving next to the sink.
Heat up to 150-degrees is very bad for hair. Especially when you consider hair is already dead, so why kick it when it’s already down. Using traditional products at home is like walking a tight rope, one miscalculation and boom that piece of hair is stuffed for ever. Which is a shame, because for women with long hair some of the strands can be up to a year old, what a waste.
So, Dyson went about using its V9 digital motor to tap into this very old phenomenon, the Coanda effect. This feat of nature occurs when high-speed air flows over a surface and due to differences in pressure attaches itself to it.
With that in mind Dyson’s team of aerodynamicists (yep that’s a job) realised you could style hair using only warm air.
“We have been obsessively manipulating airflow for more than 25 years. It is one of our core expertise. Harnessing the power of Dyson’s digital motor, we have engineered a truly unique styling tool preventing extreme heat damage when styling. I’m immensely proud of what our engineers have achieved,” said James Dyson, Founder & Inventor.
The motor shoots air to the top of the styling barrel, it’s then dispersed at great velocity out of six air slots around the barrel. This is when the Coanda effect works its magic. When a length of hair is wrapped around the barrel the Airwrap appears to suck it around in circles, like a hose on a reel. At first, I honestly thought the poor hair model was about to be stuck to the machine forever. But there’s nothing for the hair to get stuck in, it just rotates, magically being dried at a carefully monitored rate. In fact, a sensor measures the temperature up to 40 times a second.
Post Coanda Effect.
The end result is a springy curl that you could sport at the Oscars let alone a school graduation. It all takes about 10 seconds, on hair that’s about 20 per cent wet. You see Hydrogen bonds run along each strand of hair, when you wet it, the bonds are broken down, so you can essentially reset the natural style of your hair.
The Airwrap goes beyond just curls, there are a number of attachments such as brushes that help achieve a healthier blow dry finish. There’s even a switching mechanism that changes direction of the air flow, so no matter which way you brush it’s blowing the right way.
Peter Thomsen, international celebrity hair stylist and styling ambassador for Dyson Australia said, “As stylists, we often see the damage that extreme heat can have on hair. Many women have had to compromise on the condition of their hair to create the styles they want. So, it’s incredible that Dyson has engineered a tool that enables women to achieve so many different styles and have the best possible hair styling experience. The Dyson AirwrapÔ styler is a game changer, it’s what the styling industry has been waiting for.”
The different attachments include:
- Pre-styling dryer
- Soft smoothing brush
- 40mm Airwrap barrel
- 30mm Airwrap barrel
- Firm smoothing brush
- Round volumising brush
Dyson spent 6 years on this product, 24 million pounds, produced 642 prototypes, used 230 engineers and scientists, had 103 patents granted with 170 still pending. A pop-up store at 33 King Street will open this week for those super keen to get a look. But it’s also available from Dyson.com.au and David Jones and Myer from 13thOctober, for $699.
Thank the Coanda Effect.
