Sitting in front of a small stage in Malmesbury, England, the mysterious little black box beneath my chair seems to have its own attraction. I’m at the Dyson Research and Innovation Campus, a destination on every beauty editor’s bucket list. The sharp-edged glass buildings that jut out from the rural Cotswolds landscape – complete with a Harrier jet in the car park – are where the brand has unveiled its previous groundbreaking devices, including 2016’s Supersonic hairdryer and last year’s wet-to-dry Airstrait, to name a few.
And now I’m among the international media who will be the first to know what Dyson is making next in modern hair history. Inside the box is an innovation that’s been five years in the making, “a new frontier… that doesn’t require electricity,” reveals Kathleen Pierce, Global President of Dyson Beauty. Although I’ve spent most of my evening guessing what it might be, when I finally get to rip open the box, it’s completely unexpected. Not a high-powered device at all, but two hair care products.
What is Dyson Chitosan?
Joining Dyson’s hair range is Chitosan, a series of five styling products designed to provide flexible hold. Yet there’s no hairspray or mousse to be seen. Instead, the collection includes four pre-style creams (with options for different hair types and care preferences) and a post-style serum.
“We wanted something that didn’t crunch and had natural movement so the style would stay put,” founder Sir James Dyson explains to me after the presentation in his immaculately tidy office, which doubles as a mini museum to some of his greatest inventions. After launching the Airwrap in 2018, the brand saw style maintenance as a new hurdle to overcome. The all-in-one styling tool creates natural-looking waves with less damage, but some hair types – depending on their natural texture and overall hair health – struggled to maintain their style throughout the day. “We had ideas about how we could improve things, so it was natural to develop formulas,” says Dyson.
In their search for ingredients that would hold a style in place without feeling stiff or leaving residue, the brand’s engineers came across chitosan, a large macromolecule found in the cell walls of the oyster mushroom. “If you think about the mushroom, it’s an embodiment of the style we want to create,” says Robyn Coutts, senior design manager at Dyson. “It has this amazing structure on the outside, but it’s flexible – what we call ‘giveness’ in engineering. It’s really beautifully pliable.”
Even better, engineers discovered that just a small amount of the ingredient provides an impressively flexible hold (think of the 0.3 percent concentration, compared to traditional polymers that require up to 10 percent). “It allows the hair strands to move instead of sticking together,” says Coutts.
In addition to chitosan, each formula is packed with nutrients. The Pre-Style Creams contain different oils, such as grape seed, castor and coconut oil, as well as an argan nanoemulsion (a smaller, lighter version), depending on which formula you choose for your hair type. The Post-Style Serum is enriched with the same proportion of chitosan, as well as amino acids and hyaluronic acid to repair and moisturize the hair.
The range’s packaging is well thought out, with bottles featuring a self-dispensing pump to minimise waste and prevent hair from being weighed down with too much product. Each click dispenses 0.22 millilitres, giving you over 450 pumps per 100-millilitre bottle, which can then be refilled with a new cartridge. How much you need per application will depend on your hair texture and length, but a small amount goes a long way, helping to mitigate the salon price of $70 per bottle (refills cost $65).
How is Dyson Chitosan used?
In classic Dyson fashion, chitosan is reinventing how we set styles. Rather than leaving it as the last step in our routine, chitosan is designed to provide hold even when hair is wet. “When you wet your hair, you break the hydrogen bonds and return it to its natural state, whatever that may be,” says Coutts. “So when you dry your hair, you’re actually setting yourself up for success.”
Designed for this purpose, Dyson Chitosan Pre-Style Cream is applied to towel-dried hair after a shower. It creates a triangle-like structure of bonds that coats each individual strand, allowing hair to retain its natural movement. “The product coats your hair and aligns your cuticle—then you reap all the benefits,” says Coutts. Think of it like a primer that locks in your look while minimizing frizz and flyaways. After your hair dries, the post-style serum glides onto hair like a shiny topcoat, giving it extra hold for up to 12 hours. If you plan to brush out your waves or curls after styling, the brand recommends applying the product first for maximum hold.
Do Dyson chitosan products work?
When developing the range, Dyson engineers conducted the same lab tests as for all other devices. They applied the products to different hair textures, combined them with different tools and observed how they reacted in different environments – including in a room where the humidity was permanently set at 80 percent.
During my own testing on a particularly muggy morning, I was pleased to find that my straightener’s curls stayed in place all day, even though a lot of hair was touching—my strands felt so soft that I found myself playing with them more than usual.
I started with three pumps of the pre-styling cream (for my fine hair, I chose the Straight to Wavy Light Conditioning) on my damp mane. I first rubbed it in my palms until the formula went from white to clear, as Dyson’s stylists demonstrated at the launch, and then smoothed it down a few inches below my roots. I found it helped with detangling, and after blow-drying it roughly, my hair already had a lot more volume than usual. Then I added beach waves with my flat iron, which effortlessly pulled my hair into shape.
At this point my style looked great but it was still missing a silky finish and this is where the Post-Style Serum is the key. Again, I took three pumps of this and rubbed it through my waves to add shine, extra hold and a fresh salon scent. And best of all, I hate the feel of the product in my hair, and it left no stickiness or residue – perfect if you want to extend the time between washes.
What’s next for Dyson in the hair sector?
The brand’s entry into the hair care space doesn’t mean it’s taking a break from devices: On September 19, the next generation of the Airwrap, called Airwrap id, will be launched with Bluetooth connectivity for guided routines and three new attachments.
But this new era of Dyson also offers the founder the opportunity to pursue another passion: sustainable circular agriculture. “When I was young, we rented a house with a big vegetable garden and I worked on friends’ farms picking potatoes,” says Dyson. “When I started earning a bit of money, I wanted to buy plants and get into farming, and now I have quite a few farms.”
Currently, Dyson Farming grows and sells a range of products, including peas and strawberries (grown year-round in state-of-the-art greenhouses), but they’re also experimenting with beauty ingredients, including the oyster mushroom. So far, their farms are only growing the mushrooms for experimental purposes, as it’s too complicated to process them in-house for the products. When I ask Dyson if he’ll be growing haircare ingredients in the future, he’s predictably evasive (during our interview, he jokingly replied, “I can’t tell you,” and remained silent on some of my questions), but he hinted that we’ll be seeing more from their farms in the future. I can’t wait for the next mystery box.
Buy Dyson Chitosan
This first step styler (available in Straight to Wavy Light Conditioning, Straight to Wavy Rich Conditioning, Curly to Coily Light Conditioning and Curly to Coily Rich Conditioning) is designed for use on towel-dried hair to add flexible hold to your style.
After styling, add a few pumps of this serum to increase hold from the first step and add a silky shine.
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