I’ll admit: when Dyson launched a hair care range – with no cord or manual – I was interested but also confused. Now, after a week of daily use, I can see why you should be keeping an eye on Dyson Chitosan.
The cycle usually goes like this: Dyson announces a new hair care device, we love it, we try the device, it fills a gap in our routine we didn’t know existed, it’s a huge success, copycats flood the market, we wait for the next exciting launch.
The said launch, Chitosan, is different from the brand’s attempts to create the best hairdryer and other tools. This is obviously because it is not one tool, but a pair of products – a pre-style cream and a post-style serum. Although, say Dyson, they are “constructed” like one tool. Oh, and the two products are technically five, because the four variants of the cream are tailored to the hair type. However, the serum has one formula that is suitable for all hair types. That’s confusing, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I tried Dyson Chitosan every day for a whole week until it all made sense.
What is Dyson Chitosan?
Before we get to my thoughts on these hair styling products, a few important facts are helpful. First, the unusual name: Chitosan is the main ingredient in this range of products, a molecule derived from oyster mushrooms that gives them structure.
The Pre-Style Cream uses this structure-enhancing mushroom to prime the hair and helps to hold heat styling without Strictly speaking It’s sticky, designed for high humidity and contains nourishing oils. You can choose from straight to wavy and curly to frizzy variants, each of which is also divided into light or rich nourishing textures. I hope you’re still with me.
The serum focuses on hair feel rather than hold, although it still contains chitosan. It’s applied after styling to smooth and silken all that frizzy hair we use serums for. Of course, both are designed to be used with the brand’s tools – particularly the Dyson Airwrap – but Dyson says the range is “compatible with all styling routines, no matter what tool you use.”
Dyson Chitosan Pre-Style Cream
RRP: £49 (£44 for refills)
Based on ‘Triodetic’ technology with chitosan molecules, this lightweight primer is designed to be applied before your hot tools to ensure flexible hold. The packaging dispenses the perfect amount, is refillable and – cleverly – NFC-enabled, so you can tap the lid with your smartphone to access information, styling instructions and order refills.
Dyson Chitosan Post Style Serum
RRP: £49 (£44 for refills)
This silky serum adds shine to hair after heat styling and can be used with the cream or as a standalone finishing product. It contains chitosan for better hold, as well as amino acids and moisturizing hyaluronic acid for healthy hair.
What I learned after using Dyson Chitosan daily for a week
It’s no secret that the idea of chitosan blew me away. What do these high-tech people know about formulating ingredients? And why does a product cost nearly a full fifty quid? I suppose the genius of Dyson is that no matter how unlikely a product sounds (I’m old enough to remember it sounding unlikely when a vacuum cleaner brand launched a groundbreaking hairdryer), they have a knack for pulling it off.
So I bravely used chitosan for a week. I chose the light conditioning pre-style cream for straight to wavy hair and the serum. During the test, I experimented with drying my hair straight with my Dyson Supersonic hairdryer, creating bouncy curls with my Airwrap and also letting it air dry for a few days, even though Dyson didn’t recommend this in any way.
And you know what? Yes, you do. I now 100% “get” these products. As soon as I picked up the bottles, with their velvety texture that feels exactly like a Dyson tool, the magnetic lid that flips open and closes so satisfyingly, and the concave dispenser that squeezes out the product and also “catches” it, I was hooked. This Is advanced technology, only in liquid form. Trust this forward-thinking brand to formulate with mushrooms – a favorite as the future of beauty for skin and hair.
The products feel expensive and smell like they should. You only need a tiny amount (the dispenser bottle is 22ml) so there’s no waste and they last quite a while. And what about the results? My main takeaway is this: if you struggle to set styles with the Dyson Airwrap, this will help you out tremendously. I’d always accepted patchy hold in exchange for the lack of heat, but with this my fluffy blow-dry really did last all day without crusting. When I dried my hair straight, it wasn’t affected by an overly sticky commute and my air-dried hair didn’t have its usual frizzy halo.
If that appeals to you and you have a few quid to spare, these products should please you, but if you only buy one, start with the cream. Offering lightweight/rich formulas for straight and curly hair is a nice touch. Just because you have curls or squiggles doesn’t mean you need an ultra-heavy product, and vice versa – straight hair might need a lot of TLC. This attention to detail and the addictively luxurious Dyson quality of it all kept Chitosan at the top of my styling list long after my testing week was over. It will take some effort before another product displaces it.
