Meet The New Dyson Airwrap — These Are Its Upgrades

I have a complicated relationship with my Dyson Airwrap. I often hesitate to recommend it because it costs north of $500, which I know is ridiculous. The thing is, the results are as impressive as the price tag: When I use the two barrel wands, my long, thick hair bounces exactly like it does after a salon blowout. With a little light-hold hairspray, it can stay that way for three days, if I need to push it through a long weekend.

My biggest qualm with the Airwrap (besides the steep cost), is the fact that it necessitates two different barrels. They blow air in opposite directions, one curls the right side of my head of hair, and other does the left side. Switching them is not a huge deal, and easy enough to get the hang of, but it adds time and arm energy to an already-effortful process. Now, Dyson has just announced an innovation in attachments, that I, and others who have already bought the Airwrap, will be amped about: a single direction-change barrel, so you don't have to switch the heads and can just click a button.

According to James Dyson, creating this advanced Airwrap, called the multi-styler, with a barrel that churns air both directions has been a "really interesting design challenge." What he and team engineered will enable you to switch airflow direction as you style, to create clockwise and anti-clockwise curls. It comes in a range of barrel lengths, depending on how long your hair is. (I like the longest, 40mm).

Along with the new bi-directional barrel, Dyson has also created a few other Airwrap attachment upgrades. There are re-engineered brushes with vanes that turn and guide the flow of air for more controlled styling (also available in a range of sizes). Additionally, there's a new smoothing dryer — the one that kind of looks like a vacuum head — that also has dual modes, one for quick blow drying and another for smoothing flyaways.

If you already have an Airwrap, all of these new attachments will be available, compatible with your machine. Or, you can buy the Dyson Airwrap multi-styler in a complete form when it hits U.S. retailers later this summer. That will cost you $599. (If you’re dying to get your hands on the ultra-sold out current Airwrap model right this second, it’s tough — but there are a few to be had on eBay, or you could snag a refurbished one from the retailer.) But according to celebrity hairstylist and Ouai founder Jen Atkin, the Airwrap multi-styler is the best thing Dyson's done since the launch of its predecessor in 2018. She says: "Something you thought couldn't get better, just did."