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smolchimken · 4 years

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This Flat Iron Costs What?!

Justifying buying a new fly rod is easy. Explaining to my husband why I bought a new laptop is a none issue. Trying to convince myself I need a $499 hair straightener from Dyson is not something I think I can do. I mean, I do not consider myself to be a person who spends much time in the way I present my hair but I also can’t help but still be attracted to the world of beauty and hair care. But, why would anyone spend that much money for a hair styling tool?!

I had many questions and researched as many sites as possible to figure out IF this product is worth purchasing, and I have to say… I’m more surprised with what I discovered about Dyson as a company rather than by this flat iron itself.

Growing up, I remember the contemporary and stylish Dyson commercials about their vacuums. In fact, I don’t recall any advertisements from Dyson about anything but vacuums. I was surprised to find that Dyson makes a variety of different household items, albeit not a huge variety of items but still rather impressive.

James Dyson, the owner and founder of Dyson, first started making vacuums in 1974. His main focus for all his innovations over the years is to make products that have a low carbon footprint and break the conventional mold of consumer expectations. After many years that turned into decades of prototypes and lawsuits, the current line of Dyson products include vacuums, blade-less fans, air purifiers, hair care products, and lighting equipment.

As mentioned previously, not a huge line of products but it’s clear that Dyson focuses on trying to perfect the products they choose to manufacture instead of creating a large amount of items that could collectively be considered mediocre among consumers.

Well before this new flat iron was released Dyson shook up the hair care world with a hair dryer called the Supersonic. It’s clear from the press release of this device that Dyson wanted to revolutionize small engines within electric hair products and in doing so created the first “supersonic” hair dryer that is the lightest and quietest hair dryer on the market. This hair dryer, much like the hair straightener, is sold at a whopping $400.

With the release of one of the most expensive hair dryers available, James Dyson explained that the reason the cost is so high is because the company spent 4 years and $71 million dollars to make it’s hair dryer. There were 600 prototypes, over 100 patents pending, all done by a group of 103 engineers. That is some serious time, money, and effort for the sake of a hair dryer.

Dyson also went the extra mile for their flat iron, the Corrale. This tool is for both consumers and professionals. It is the first hair straightener to utilize manganese copper alloy to create a “flexible” hot plate that allows for the tool to successfully hold hair evenly while distributing heat which results in less hair damage over time.

As far as what this type of technology is able to do, it’s obviously only used on hair. But the most surprising aspect of this product I found was the fact that it is a cordless tool that can adjust to use a chord if necessary with a magnetic cable. The battery is 4-cell lithium ion that charges rapidly and can detach in special cases where you may need to take the straightener with you, like on a flight.

Dyson is one of the leading companies trying to find a way to make batteries more efficient and safe for commercial use. The largest project Dyson had that involved improving batteries was outside the realm of vacuums and hair care products and in the world of electric vehicles.

Back in 2015, Dyson had spearheaded the EV Project which aimed to create a vehicle that only ran on electricity and dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of personal vehicles. The project lasted four years until last October when James Dyson decided to pull the plug on it, worried there was too much risk to complete it. The company could have potentially had a lot of success with the EV Project, but they are a privately owned company so they do not receive public funding the way a company like Tesla does. The last concern they had was that the battery they had designed may not have been suitable for commercial use.

After reading as much as I could about a flat iron and whether it was worth purchasing, I still can’t determine whether I would purchase it or not. I now think Dyson is the “Tesla” of household appliances and it’s interesting to see what they have decided to put their time, money, and effort into for the sake of innovation. Hats off to Dyson, but I think for now I will hold out on purchasing a Dyson product. Maybe I will purchase this flat iron when I’m no longer a broke college student.

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