#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt: The Dyson Airwrap has completely changed my haircare routine

I’m someone who likes to spend enough time on my hair ONCE so that I don’t have to do much to maintain it. Like the appeal of “French Girl Beauty”, I subscribe to the whole effortless beauty ideal and have (ironically) gone to great lengths to maintain that beauty standard.

My hair colour? Ashy bleached balayage locks that look worn in. My hair texture? Slightly wavy and frizz-free due to a keratin treatment. My haircut? Shaggy layers that go with the dishevelled vibe/permanent bedhead that I very much vibe with. I am willing to spend upwards of eight hours in the salon ONCE and be able to maintain my locks for the next six months.

Due to my dedication to this beauty ideal (and in part, my own laziness), I don’t bother owning a curling iron or a straightener, and the lone hairdryer I have was a hand-me-down from my mother. I also don’t have the patience (or the arm strength) to do my hair, so equipping myself with hair tools was never a priority. Thankfully my hair has a slight wave in it too, so with a good conditioner (shout-out to Kristen Ess for their Purple Conditioner) and a non-humid air dry, I generally like how it looks.

But thanks to my fine (and consistently bleached) hair, I am prone to frizzy or fly-away hair, which drives me crazy from time to time, especially if I know I have to head to an event for work. Plus, with the whole dishevelled hairstyle that I have dedicated myself to, I’m only one bad hair day away from “effortlessly undone” to “sweet Jesus, does this woman own a comb”.  

So when the Airwrap first dropped in 2018 with the latest iteration in 2022 with new attachments, I was definitely intrigued. It was a device so popular that it regularly appeared in the TikTok hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt as the beauty tool you need to add to your arsenal. And even at the steep price tag of $859, the device regularly sells out.

Was this the tool that was about to make me, the queen of effortless hair, start putting in… effort? And, more importantly, was it worth it?

Why is the Dyson Airwrap so expensive?

First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. At $859, the Dyson Airwrap is admittedly… an investment. But given that it is a 3-in-1 hair appliance that functions as a hair dryer, hair straightener and curling iron, you could justify the purchase as three different hair tools, especially if you’re like me and have close to almost no hair tools in your beauty arsenal. Plus, the advanced heat technology promises to reduce your drying time without damaging your hair.

The latest iteration of the Airwrap Complete also comes with six attachments: A smoothing dryer that doubles up as a hair dryer and a tool to smooth pesky flyaways, a 1.2-inch barrel and 1.6-inch barrel for curls, a smoothing brush and a round volumising brush. Depending on the look you want, and the amount of time and effort you’re willing to put in, you can create a myriad of hairstyles in a relatively short amount of time.

But is it easy to use?

If you’re almost useless at hair tools like I was, I will be honest — the Airwrap does take some getting used to. I had the opportunity to try out the first-generation Airwrap when it was first launched, and while the brushes were pretty straightforward for a simple blow dry, working out the correct direction of the airflow of the curling barrels was just pure confusion. 

Pro tip: It’s best to section out small parts of your hair and hold out the middle parts and let the air “catch” the ends of your hair. An early mistake I made was holding the tips and thinking the curler was supposed to start catching the middle.

But here’s the good news: while the original barrels only propelled hair in one direction (which meant you had to deal with the cumbersome act of switching out the barrels depending on whether you were curling the left or right part of your hair), the new ones allow you to switch the airflow with a slight twist to the barrel. This was life-changing, especially for someone as confused as me, who had no idea what sort of curls she was creating with the old barrels. The 1.2 and 1.6-inch barrels were sufficient for my chest-length hair, but for those with even longer hair than that, there’s an additional 1.8 inch barrel that you can purchase separately. 

The other improvements

This brings me to my favourite attachment — the Coanda smoothing dryer. This attachment replaces the previous rough drying styler with an added improvement. Visually, I already prefer how it looks (the hole for the previous one always threw me off). With a simple twist to change the airflow, this attachment helps to tame flyaways (important for fine hair types like mine) without giving that poker-straight, flat look that you get with a flat iron.

Though a fair bit of warning, this also takes a while to get used to. After watching multiple videos, I still struggled to use this attachment on my own. But after a visit to the Dyson Demo Store at Vivocity where a Dyson staff gave me a crash course, it was super easy to pick up after that. The new attachments are also universal, so if you already own the first-generation Airwrap, you can purchase the attachments separately and still use them.

So… is it really worth the steep price?

We’ve talked about the good, so let’s mention the bad. Just as there are as many reviews on TikTok raving about the Airwrap, there are a ton of complaints that the device can be difficult to use and that it doesn’t work on certain hair types. When I was a first-time user several years ago, I understood the complaints. 

There’s a learning curve to using the device, and you do have to go through some trial and error to make sense of the airflow technology that Dyson uses. It would be helpful if you could either borrow a friend’s Airwrap for a week to get the hang of it, or simply go down to the store to try it out several times before you make a commitment. It is after all a high price to justify if you don’t end up finding the device useful. So if you don’t have the patience, and would prefer a straightforward hair tool, then this might not be the one for you.

As an editor, I have the luxury of testing out products for free, and this gifted Airwrap was one of the many perks of my job. While the price is something that would make me think twice, I’d be lying if I didn’t say purchasing the device has crossed my mind a couple of times whenever the brand had promotions. (Interestingly, Dyson US has a programme that allows you to buy refurbished Airwraps at a cheaper price, and while Singapore does not have that option yet, our market could hope!) And now after having had experiences with both the original and the new and improved version, I do think personally it’s an investment worth making. 

As part of my job, I have to regularly attend events and occasionally appear on camera for social media content, and being able to use the Airwrap to blow dry my hair or lightly style it the night before has been a lifesaver. I also really like how my hair doesn’t ever look too “done”, which is usually the case with other heat styling tools (though if you prefer your curls to last a longer time, you might have to incorporate hair spray due to Singapore’s intense humidity.).

My final thoughts

With the addition of the Dyson Airwrap, my “effortless” hair care routine might have evolved into one with… slightly more effort, but I’m happy to report that at the very least, it certainly doesn’t feel that way. Consider me a changed woman.

Dyson Airwrap™ Multi-styler, from $859

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