The Dyson Supersonic | A Game Changer Turns One

Sometimes, a beauty tool comes along that redefines the way we do things, it’s just that darn good.

And when fashion and beauty bible Vogue describes something as a ‘game changer’, you know it’s serious! Global technology company Dyson, who pretty much revolutionised home appliances, have turned their hand to hairdryers, and the resulting best-in-class product – the Dyson Supersonic – is celebrating its first birthday.

So I was excited to be invited along to an exclusive party at John Lewis Grand Central Birmingham to find out more.

Confession time – I absolutely LOATHE drying my hair. It’s tedious, it gives me arm ache, and my hairdryer is so noisy, I can’t even hear myself think. The whole thing is a bother, and not exactly a pleasant experience.

How much better would it be if haircare could be an enjoyable daily ritual rather than a battle between me, my dryer and a round brush?

It’s no wonder that most hairdryers are a pain – the technology they use has stayed the same since the 1950s! It was high time for a shakeup, and for something to come along that would really change how we style our hair.

You may have seen the hysteria that surrounded the Supersonic back when it launched – the number of units in the UK shifted in the first month of sale was more than had been forecast for four months, and stock had to be frantically pulled in from overseas to meet the demand.

But is this hairdryer really worth £300? Dyson themselves pointed out at the party that the average price of a hairdryer is around the £25 mark. What on earth would make the Supersonic worth so much more?

The answer lies in the groundbreaking research that went into the design, and the crazy-good results that brings for our hair. A ‘hair lab’ was set up at Dyson HQ using over 1,000 miles of real hair (yep…mind-blowing, right?) to test out what the next generation of hair drying technology should be.

5 years, £53 million, 600 prototypes and 103 engineers later, the Dyson Supersonic was born.

I was always a little sceptical when it came to Dyson before I bought one of their vacuum cleaners. I loved the sleek design and I heard people raving about them, but I told myself it wouldn’t be that much better than what I already had.

Only it is.

From the first time I used it, it was self-evident that all that investment in technology was worth every penny – it was simply in a league of its own. The same is true of the Supersonic when it comes to an even more important topic-hair!

How much do we invest in getting cut, and coloured and yet fall down when it comes to drying and styling our hair at home? If you’re looking to make an investment In healthier, shinier hair, then perhaps instead of all the potions and treatments  - this is the answer.

The Supersonic addresses all of my pet hates about hair dryers as I knew them. First up, the dreaded arm ache.

The Dyson V9 motor is incredibly powerful, but also smaller than the usual motors in hairdryers – take a look:

Then, instead of sticking it in the top of the unit, where its unbalanced and top-heavy, the Supersonic’s motor sits in the handle – the part you actually grip! Like all the best ideas, it’s so simple – and it eliminates the dreaded ‘hair dryer arm’ in one stroke.

And then how many times have you either frazzled your hair because you whack the heat up to max to try and cut down on the drying time, or (and I’m wincing even thinking about it) gotten your hair caught in the dryer itself because you’re holding it too close and had to rip or cut it out?

The Dyson Supersonic has two technologies to help with that – first, an intelligent microprocessor, with a glass bead thermistor that monitors the temperature every 20 seconds and continually adjusts it. That means it never causes heat damage to the hair.

It also cuts down your drying time drastically (this is hugely important to me as a busy working mum). By using new Air Multiplier Technology, this actually amplifies the airflow by three – drying your hair at 105 miles an hour. The high pressure means that the cuticle is flattened, leaving you with smoother, shinier hair as well as cutting drying time down to around four minutes.

Add to that the fact that the motor has been encased in rubber, so the only noise comes from the air flow, rather than the motor vibration, and there is so much less noise – so you can listen to music or TV to make that four minutes go even quicker – plus household pets/small children/ sleeping partners won’t be disturbed by a racket in the morning while you get ready.

Getting hands-on with all this technology makes it very clear why we have a real game-changer on our hands here.

That’s something worth celebrating – which we did with fizz and delicious Supersonic cupcakes at the party. I also had an extremely relaxing hand and arm massage courtesy of Aveda that had me melting in my chair, and a makeover using the new Lip Tattoo products from Dior, while Dyson stylists taught us the secrets behind using our Supersonics to get a sleek blow-out, bouncy waves or soft curls.

I left feeling thoroughly pampered and clutching a bag of goodies from Aveda, Dior and La Prairie, so thank you to Dyson, John Lewis and Dluxe magazine for having me along to celebrate.

Happy birthday Dyson Supersonic – here’s to the next year of changing the game!