By far, the tools we get asked about the most are the hair tools from Dyson. Specifically the Dyson air wrap. It promises quick magical curls, healthier hair, and so much brand loyalty because.....you know....Dyson.
The real question is: Is it worth the hype? Are there dupes just as good? Well, we did it so you didn't have to. We bought an air wrap and two dupes and we compared!
In our effort to try and provide the most thorough comparison we thought we'd first explain what the Air Wrap is and why everyone is curious about it.
The Dyson Air Wrap is a multi functional blow dryer. It features the base handle, and 8 styling accessories.
The first accessory is the blow dryer attachment. The attachment is small but packs a big punch. It dries hair pretty quickly, but not at quickly as a single function blowdryer. In the case of the dyson air wrap you typically won't be using this attachment to completely dry your hair so it is ok that it isn't as effective and a stand alone dryer.
Next for accessories you have two brush flat brush attachments. One has softer bristles for finer more delicate hair and the other has sturdier bristles for thicker coarser hair. These brushes are perfect for smoothing out waves or curls during the blowdry process. They are also perfect for a quick final smoothing on naturally straight hair.
The third brush accessory is a round brush attachment. This is perfect for people searching for the perfect blowout. You can add volume and curl all with one attachment. For extra hold we like to set our blowout with velcro rollers. The barrel of the brush heats up evenly, and you can lower the airflow to keep the hair smooth around the brush. This brush will also provide additional tension to help smooth wavy or curly hair. We recommend drying the hair to 80-90% dry before using the round brush attachment.
Next are the 4 accessories that make everyone the most excited for the Air Wrap. The curling attachments. They come in two sizes 1.2inches and 1.6 inches. In contrast to a curling iron these use air to curl the hair and your hair should be slightly damp before you use them. These are by far the most impressive because when you hold your hair up and turn you air wrap on, the whirlwind of air grabs the hair and wraps it around the barrel. So easy, and so fun to watch!
Because it isn't a curling iron and the heat is not at strong as a curling iron, the result is a soft bouncy curl similar to what you may get with a professional round brush blowout. We find the smaller attachments better for short hair that wants curls or longer hair that wants tighter curls and the larger attachment is better for longer hair, after wave.
These are the basic attachments that came with our airwrap but there are other attachments you can purchase to better customize your air wrap.
There is a slimmer curling barrel 0.8 inch (maybe we need this one), and all of the barrel diameters come in longer barrels perfect for people with longer hair.
In addition the brush attachments listed above there are smaller flat brushes with soft and firm bristles, a small round brush, and a wide tooth comb attachment. The wide tooth comb attachment is perfect for stretching extra curly hair during the drying process.
Alright, that was a long dissertation on the air wrap, and it's pretty cool but at $700+ its an investment or a luxury to say the least. That is why we are always on the search for a dupe that actually works. There aren't many out there and they can be hard to find our out of stock. Also, they aren't from reputable supplier even on amazon so you never know what you're going to get.
We ordered two dupes from amazon, so you didn't have to!
The first one definitely didn't feel as high quality as the Dyson (shocker 🤪) the attachments were hard to get on at first but over all it seemed to work. One day it overheated, the motor started sounding weird and then it just shut off. Fortunately after giving it some time to cool off it turned back on. The curling attachments (the real star of the show didn't work as well as the dyson, and the attachment I was using on my left side didn't work as well as the right side.
The second dupe definitely felt more high quality in comparison to the first despite the boxes being virtually identical. The second one felt heavier and had a second filter which should better protect the motor. The attachments, however, had the same issue. the counterclockwise curling attachment worked ok, but the clockwise curling attachment didn't work. This time I tried adjusting the blades on the attachment to see if I could get it to work better, but it didn't really make a difference.
All in all, the two dupes I tried definitely don't work as well as the original but they style well, if you're willing to put in a some work to understand the tool and work with its capabilities.
We are also on the hunt for other dupes of the air wrap to try, if you find one send us the link and if it seems different than what we've tried so far, we can't wait to try it out!