Dyson launches £400 hair styler called the Airwrap

Dyson is extending its foray into the beauty industry with the launch of a hair styling tool following the success of its £300 Supersonic hair dryer.

The £400 Dyson Airwrap goes on sale on Wednesday and uses the company’s V9 digital motor to create jets of air to style hair into curls, waves and smooth blow dries without the need for extreme heat.

The Wiltshire-based company, best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, said the tool’s motor created high air pressure at the top of the styling barrel to force jets of air from six slots around the barrel.

This generated a physical phenomenon known as the “Coanda effect” – when a jet of air remains attached to a curved surface – to encourage the hair to curl around the barrel to style without the need for high temperatures.

Dyson said a team of engineers and scientists spent more than six years testing and researching different hair types and styling habits around the world to solve common problems experienced by users of styling tools such as heat damage and hair becoming tangled.

The styler measures its temperature up to 40 times a second to ensure hair does not become exposed to extreme heat and is designed to dry hair to the ideal moisture level – damp to touch – before curling.

It comes in three variations for different hair types, with an online tool directing consumers towards the right one.

Sir James Dyson, the company’s founder and chairman, said: “We have been obsessively manipulating airflow for more than 25 years. It is one of our core areas of expertise.

“Harnessing the power of Dyson’s digital motor, we have engineered a unique styling tool which prevents extreme heat damage when styling. I’m immensely proud of what our engineers have achieved.”

In September last year, Dyson revealed that it has been working on developing an electric vehicle and would be investing £2 billion into the development ahead of the launch in 2021.

Dyson employs more than 12,000 people across the world, with 4,800 working in the UK.

Last year, profits in the Wiltshire-based company surged 27% to a record £801 million, boosted by the 2016 launch of its Supersonic hair dryer.