LEIGH CAMPBELL: 'Dyson just launched something brand new, and it doesn't use electricity.'

Cast your mind back to 2016.

A household brand famous for its vacuums launched a hairdryer.

Dyson, a company synonymous the world over for its cleaning appliances pivoted from just home electronics to hair when they released the Supersonic. At the time it was wildly unexpected, and has since proved a huge success.

Dyson is about to do it again, but this time the side step doesn't need electricity, or involve the use of their iconic airflow technology.

Watch: Speaking of Dyson, take a peek at our Youbeautorial for curls three ways. Post continues below.

I travelled with the brand to Malmesbury, England, a few months ago to attend the confidential product reveal ahead of the global announcement in August. It was so secret that the Dyson team couldn't even tell me what I was flying to the other side of the world to learn about.

The reveal from left field was hair products. 

Two of them. Or five, depending on how you look at it. 

Image: Leigh Campbell.

"I think the initial reaction from the public will be one of surprise, but then I think quite quickly people will come to the conclusion of, 'yes, of course'. Ultimately, chemistry is just another form of engineering," Robyn Coutts, Dyson Senior Design Manager, told me when we sat down to chat in the UK back in June.

The range is called Dyson Chitosan.

Featuring a Pre-Style Creme used on wet hair, and a Post-Style Serum used once your style is done, the products are formulated with a molecule originally derived from shellfish, but Dyson researchers discovered a version of Chitosan from oyster mushrooms.

Firstly, let's look at the Pre-Style Creme. 

Listening to customer feedback, Dyson discerned that people were struggling with hold when it came to their final hairstyle. Although Dyson's styling appliances feature a cooling mode to set your style, not a lot of people use it. So, they wanted to offer an extra solution. 

The Pre-Style Creme was created to solve that problem, applied to wet hair with the aim of retaining the end style for longer as it is designed to prime, hold, and condition.

Image: Leigh Campbell.

It comes in four variants, but you only need one depending on your natural hair type and texture, with straight, wavy, curly and coily all covered.

Then there's the Post-Style Serum, a one-size-fits-all formula applied to your dry hair once you've finished styling. It's designed to hold, hydrate and define.

Asking Coutts about the move into hair products, and why specifically these two, she told me it wasn't a decision made lightly.

"It's about us completing the styling story for our devices. It's a natural progression from devices into formulation." 

"It's really purposeful, with Dyson listening and understanding how far our devices can take you. I'm personally someone who struggles with retention. I have very fine hair, and I can get a good Airwrap curl and it lasts, but I do need product to give it that long-lasting effect. We listened to those problems consumers are having — around 30 per cent of people struggle with retention — so it was a good problem for us to solve in a space we're already in which is styling devices," Coutts said.

Image: Leigh Campbell.

At Dyson HQ in Malmesbury I got a first-hand look (and trial) of the new products. My first impression was the packaging — it’s sleek and sexy but of course functional, which is so very Dyson. 

The bottles feature an airless pump that distributes precisely 0.22ml of product, meaning you can custom dose the exact amount you need without the risk of overuse, which is common when using styling products. 

I had a play with two of the Pre-Style Creme variants — Straight To Wavy Light Conditioning, and Straight To Wavy Rich Conditioning — both of which would work on my hair, which is fine but I have a lot of it. 

The texture is like a light cream lotion, designed to be sheered out in the palm of your hand, then distributed through wet hair. One or two pumps was the perfect dose for me, but you can prescribe how many pumps you require depending on your hair length.

The Post-Style Serum works the same way, but the formula was created to lock in the style on all hair types. The texture is akin to a face serum, luxe and super lightweight, and it can't be felt in the hair once applied and doesn't leave any crunch or residue.

Speaking with Coutts about the choice to offer four options in the first product, we discussed how paramount the wet styling step is. So many consumers aren't aware that what you do (or what you use) after washing your hair will have a huge impact on the final result. This is why so many women complain about frizz, even if they air-dry.

"When you dry your hair you are resetting the bonds in your hair, and that is such an important moment to be able to set you up," Coutts said. 

"When you wash your hair, with the water you're breaking the hydrogen bonds, and with the heat and drying process or mechanism, that’s when you’re resetting them, so that's when you’re going to get the most alignment. It's also when you need to look after your hair, so it's important you're getting those hair health benefits from your hair product. The step when your hair is wet is really, really important, whereas after your hair is dry, or post-styling, although it is still important, it’s not quite as important as the wet to dry phase."

The Chitosan products come housed in a stunning outer case, with a refillable inner cartridge.

Image: Leigh Campbell.

Refills are a contentious topic in beauty because they're only helping from a sustainability aspect if people actually love the product enough to keep using it and purchase the refills.

"The refills are a big bet for us, because consumers need to love the products inside to then use a refill, that’s what's going to get them to come back. It doesn't matter how beautiful the packaging is — that’s just to enhance the user experience — and it's to make sure people are applying it in the right way, but ultimately we believe that we are going to have that loyalty and that people will put that trust in us, and once they start to use the product. I really do think people are going to love it," Coutts said. 

I wasn't allowed to take the products home from the UK, they were that top secret. I tried them over there when a Dyson hairstylist used them on me, and again the next morning to style my own hair, and then the bottles were whisked away and locked up somewhere safe.

Image: Leigh Campbell.

Since then I'd been considering the side-step into formulation and the premium price tag of the products — because they're not cheap. I only just got my hands on them again a few days ago, and I truly do think they’ll be a success. 

They're easy to use and understand, leave my hair feeling beautiful and soft (probably because the precision pump means I'm not using too much, which I often do with other products), and ultimately I think if the addition of two new bottles to a woman's bathroom means she's able to ace her hairstyle and maintain it until she next washes it after she's invested in a Dyson tool, then I think they'll be worth it.

Each product will retail for $89, with refills costing $79. Dyson Chitosan will be available in Australia from the 23rd of August, and you can sign up to receive updates and more information on the Dyson website.

What are your thoughts on the new Dyson launch? Would you try it? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Supplied.