MANILA, Philippines - Leave it to Dyson to come up with a revolutionary hair dryer that’s fast, focused and intelligent — and did we mention silent?
Tokyo has always been a dream destination for the inner foodie in me and although I had just missed the cherry blossom season by a hair, that didn’t dampen my spirit, as I knew something exciting was in store for us all.
Dyson flew in a pool of journalists and bloggers from around the globe for an event that was several months in the making. James Dyson, founder and owner of the innovative line, takes a step back from vacuums and bladeless fans and dives into the world of hair care with its latest invention. The global launch of the highly anticipated Supersonic was held in Tokyo, Japan last April 27 and YStyle got an exclusive look at the technologically advanced hair dryer that took four years, 103 engineers and 600 prototypes to develop.
The UK-based brand started off the event in a dimly lit room with visuals projected on the walls and a circus-like musical score to go along with the theme. The venue proved to be both hypnotic and tantalizing — this left me with a nagging feeling that I needed to get my hands on the actual device. Displayed front and center of the room was the key element of the hair dryer: the patented V9 motor. Merely the size of a five-peso coin, the miniscule motor and filter are found in the handle, a design that makes it more comfortable to hold, use and to keep balanced. It’s about eight times faster than your usual hair dryer you have at home. It runs on a high-pressure, high-velocity jet of air compared to its contemporaries, making it a superior piece of technology in terms of size, weight and performance.
Soon I found myself in a room full of professional videographers, editors, bloggers and the like all waiting for James Dyson to step onstage to divulge the secret they’ve kept mum about for years. This almost felt like an Apple keynote announcement — the anticipation was killing me. Soon enough, Dyson took the platform and finally revealed its dryer that’s already changing the beauty game. “Hair dryers can be heavy, inefficient and make a racket. I challenged Dyson engineers to really understand the science of hair,” the British inventor explained. “We first had to study the science of hair, to discover what made hair shiny and glossy.” Dyson reveals that the company invested in the development of the Supersonic by creating a state-of-the-art laboratory dedicated to studying the science of hair. They’ve managed to test the product on seven different hair types and even built test rigs, which simulates different hair-drying techniques. A whopping 1,010 miles of human hair has been used for trial-and-error testing in this project alone and clearly nobody understands your hair like the team of engineers behind this powerful little project.
One of the things that stood out to me was the fact that this intelligent hair dryer has a heat control feature. See, I’ve always been one to skimp on blow-drying my hair due to the fact that I constantly have my hair colored. It was one less thing to worry about since I deal with bleach and I’m constantly under the sun. “We have a glass bead thermistor at the front here, and that’s measuring the temp of the air that’s coming out of the hair dryer 30 times a second so this is vitally important in stopping too much heat getting on to the hair,” James adds. Dyson claims that this technology will help ensure that your hair isn’t exposed to extreme temperatures and I’m taking their word for it.
Lastly, Dyson takes it a step further and reveals that the dryer is astonishingly quiet. Because the motor is small and is situated on the base of the dryer, the noise of this machine was reduced to a bare minimum because it’s surrounded by acoustic silencers which further condense the sound it produces. Yes, you can finally take calls and listen to music whilst drying your hair.
Katsuya Kamo, a leading Japanese hairstylist and makeup artist in the world of fashion joins the Dyson team and demonstrates the power and capacity of the Supersonic. It merely takes a few minutes to dry the models hair and true enough, her hair is remarkably shiny and seemingly smooth to the touch.
The British inventor then invites us to the last leg of its presentation and promises serious one-on-one time with the Supersonic. Upon entering the space, the first thing that greeted us was the recreation of their hair laboratory. Lined up are the different hair tresses used for their research and development. The engineers who helped develop the product even explained to us the processes and difficulties they encountered throughout the project. Right beside the makeshift laboratory was the engineering journey the Supersonic went through, its 12 prototypes displayed for our viewing pleasure. On the main floor, we got an opportunity to experience a blowout care of Dyson to test its integrity at full force. Did I mention that the gadget comes with multiple nozzles, all engineered to be magnetic, yet which remain cool to the touch?
Fuss-free when it comes to hair damage, performance and appearance, the aim to tame the mane with a hot tool is no longer impossible thanks to Dyson.