I could tell you all about the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer before I even knew what it looked like. Months before the high-tech blow-dryer hit shelves, I interviewed Dyson's head of product development, Tom Crawford, who led the project, and hairstylists like Jen Atkin, who helped the brand test and finesse the revolutionary hair tool, all in preparation to write up the news of the launch for Allure. It wasn't until nearly a year and a half later that I finally got to try the Supersonic for myself.
So back then I could've told you that Dyson spent four years on and invested $71 million in the Supersonic, that more than 100 different engineers — including dozens of new female engineer hires — worked on the project, and that every single one had to take hairstyling classes. I could've told you that the company put its bladeless technology (the same kind that revolutionized vacuums) in the head and an impeller in the handle, which together can push out 13 liters of air per second. I could've explained that the motor is three times lighter than the one in most hair dryers and located in the handle, which makes it less top-heavy and much easier to maneuver, and that the dryer also measures the air temperature 20 times per second to make sure it never exceeds 302 degrees, which results in more shine, less damage, and no singed scalps. And I could've told you about the four heat settings and the three airflow settings, and that not only is the Supersonic made of the same material used in police riot shields but one of the tones from the impeller is quite literally supersonic — the tone travels faster than the speed of sound.
But what does that all mean for your hair? Last year, when we initially tested the dryer, we asked two Allure editors to try it, one with fine, curly hair and one with thick, coarse, wavy hair. The latter found it dried her hair in four minutes and 17 seconds, versus the usual 15 to 20 minutes it takes her, while our fine-haired tester raved about how it never felt too hot on her skin, cut her blow-dry time in half, and gave her shampoo-ad-worthy sheen.