Dyson Flyaway Attachment review: is this $99 gadget the answer to delaying a home haircut?

It looks like an elephant trunk but is designed by engineers. Here’s how Dyson’s latest gadget could save you from a cringey home haircut.

It looks like a hairdryer grew an elephant trunk but this is just what happens when you leave engineers in charge of hairstyling.

Another thing that happens: surprisingly smooth tresses that you might not need to cut at home after all.

Engineering firm Dyson may have seemed like an odd entrant to the beauty industry when it launched a hairdryer in 2016 but the company has since won praise from the pros and released a straightener, curler and hairbrush.

Engineering firm Dyson has released a Flyaway Attachment for its hairdryer.

Its latest attachment for that hairdryer — an oddly shaped, magnetic addition — will also require a bit of faith along with its $99 price.

The company says it has science on its side, having capturing data from more than 420 hair stylists in 80 salons over 10,000 hours to capture exactly how a professional blow-dry works on hair around the world.

From this information, they developed the Flyaway Attachment’s unique curve that promises to use the hairdryer’s airflow to pull longer hairs to the front and push shorter hairs, or flyaways, beneath them.

Users with fine hair can achieve this with cold air pumping from their Supersonic machine, Dyson says, while those with thicker hair are advised to turn up the heat setting.

We tested these promises with exceedingly long hair grown during a succession of lockdowns; hair that really should have been trimmed three months ago and has started to look a bit “2021” at the ends.

Mercifully, the results were surprisingly impressive.

Engineering firm Dyson has released a Flyaway Attachment for its hairdryer that promises to recreate a blow-dry finish.

This attachment is only for styling — you must first dry your hair to get the best result.

Users should also be aware that hair can appear clumped together before you brush it out, and Dyson recommends swivelling the attachment to a 45-degree angle to straighten the tricky section at the back of your head.

Styling with this attachment only takes a few minutes but our results lasted all day. In our tests, hair appeared shinier, flyaways were less apparent, its pleasing blow-dry effect made our hair appear fuller, and the ends of our hair seemed neater; further staving off the need for a risky at-home trim.

While it’s not as aggressive as a hair straightener, this attachment can achieve similar look for those with merely wavy hair and might be preferable as it doesn’t flatten locks or require a lot of heat.

At $99, the Flyaway Attachment could be a smart treat for those missing their stylist and who have a Dyson hairdryer already. For others, it will arrive as an inclusion with new Supersonic purchases for $599.

Originally published as Dyson Flyaway Attachment review: is this $99 gadget the answer to delaying a home haircut?