While the Dyson Airwrap you see in these photos is a new special navy edition for this holiday season, I’ve had the grey and pink version of the exact same tool for over three years and can confidently say it is an exceptionally effective feat of modern engineering and an excellent investment. Why? Well, in short, it’s faster than any other tools on the market and better for your hair.

You’ve heard of this product while eavesdropping at nail salons, you’ve gathered information about its superiority at brunch from raving girlfriends. It’s time to stop wasting time, money, and poorly styled strands on anything else. The Dyson Airwrap is a multi-attachment styling tool that’s been engineered to work perfectly on multiple hair types while saving time and leaving hair damage-free. It comes with barrels to curl and wave as well as brushes to control, smooth, or add volume. It’s your hair styling all-in-one, period. Instead of spending time drying your hair with a blow dryer before beginning the entirely separate step of straightening or curling your hair, this tool does it all simultaneously—drying and styling at the same time and cutting your morning routine in half (or more). Even more amazingly, it somehow does all of this without using the damaging extreme heat of other hair dryers and hot tools.

Dyson’s technology and engineering combines the moisture from your damp hair with powerful airflow and controlled (not extreme) heat to style and dry your strands at the same time. It’s all due to something called the Coanda effect—a term that you’ll only run into if you’re designing aircraft, or, in this case, looking for a more efficient, less-damaging hair styling tool. Basically, the Coanda effect refers to the phenomenon in which fast-moving air attaches itself to a nearby surface and maintains its attachment to that surface even when that surface curves away from the original direction of airflow. This Coanda effect allows strands of damp hair to wrap against the Dyson attachments without any clamping mechanisms or use of heat-protectant gloves. The high-speed air causes the strands of hair to dry and be smoothed, straightened and/or curled, depending on the attachment you’re using. In the end, you have a damage-free, professional-quality blow-out. 

Recently, when discussing this glorious tool with my friend Hilary via text, she said, and I quote, “It’s easier than anything else, fast, and all of the attachments actually work.” She has naturally wavy hair and further emphasized, “If all of the attachments don’t work, you are doing it wrong and need to watch a YouTube.” If that isn’t an add-to-cart endorsement I don’t know what is. She’s referring to the multitude of attachments that come with the Airwrap styler including a pre-styling dryer, two 1.2 inch barrels (there are two so you have the option of curling or waving in both directions), 1.6 inch barrels, a firm smoothing brush head, a soft smoothing brush head, and a round volumizing brush. Whether you want bouncy, voluminous curls or sleek straight tresses, you’ve got it all right there and ready to go.

As Hilary alluded to, it does take a few tries to get it down and learn exactly how best to hold the barrel, etc. I recommend going into the process expecting to need at least three tries before you get the hang of it. But, once you do, it’s INCREDIBLE.  

What I personally love about the Dyson Airwrap is how well it smooths my hair. Lots of tools blow dry your hair, but how many can actually leave you happy with the results with no further styling required? As someone with a lot of postpartum hair breakage (in really visible places along my hairline and part), this product has been such a sigh of relief. It smooths all those little baby and/or broken hairs completely, while other items I’ve used just left my hair looking damaged and frizzy. 

The Dyson Airwrap is definitely an investment piece, but when you think about the fact that you’re getting a product that cuts your styling time significantly down, comes with a complete set of attachments for all the styles you could ever possibly want, and the results are gorgeous without damaging your hair, it’s an investment worth making. Particularly when you review your mental archives for all the money you’ve spent on salon blowouts or products you’re no longer using because they simply weren’t this effective. 

A big difference with Dyson, apart from all the actual science, is the practicality. You don’t have to choose between drying your hair and styling your hair when you’re short on time—because it does both simultaneously. You also don’t have to choose between styled hair or damage-free hair, because the Dyson Airwrap is one tool that isn’t harmful. Should we add speed to the list of pros? Let’s! Because nothing is faster at drying and styling your hair, and anyone currently juggling a busy holiday schedule can certainly use as many precious minutes back as possible.

Whatever your hair texture (my curly-haired friends have confirmed!) and however you’d like to style your hair, you’re getting the best-quality style at home by using the Dyson Airwrap and all of its incredibly effective attachments. There’s nothing better on the market. Feel free to send this post to your significant other and then immediately say, “oh, sorry, I meant to text this to myself.” I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find it under the tree on Christmas morning.