Everyone who is ready for a super duper silent $399 hair dryer, please form a line behind British designer and engineer Sir James Dyson. The famed vacuum cleaner designer unveiled his sleek black and pink Dyson Supersonic this week in Japan. Sephora will launch the Supersonic in this country in September.
If you are among the 75.5% of U.S. women who devote 20 minutes to drying your hair, you know that aching arms is the price you pay.
The Supersonic design cuts down on the dumbbell weight-lifting effect you feel when you maneuver your old-fashioned hair dryer. The breakthrough comes as a result of Dyson positioning a tiny, high-speed, 13-blade motor in the handle instead of at the top of the dryer. The unconventional placement also gives the compact Supersonic better balance than other hair dryers.
Jen Atkin, a celebrity hairstylist to stars such as Katy Perry, Jessica Alba and Kim Kardashian, says taking the arm ache out of styling your personal image is a game-changer for women. She calls Dyson’s latest innovation the “break the Internet” dryer. Atkin is on board to explain to the millions who follow her on social media how to use the lightweight hair dryer through online tutorials.
Revamping the hair dryer structure meant Dyson could cut noise dramatically by using a longer silencer tube and smaller fan. You can’t hear the noise because the Supersonic lives up to its name; it puts out sound waves at higher frequencies than the human ear can detect.
The Supersonic is less prone to singeing your scalp. Conventional hair dryers heat up quickly because their motors produce pressure. Dyson’s smaller motor blasts out air but not pressure. The new design also incorporates magnetic heatproof nozzles and intelligent heat sensors to reduce the risk of damaging your hair.
The innovative design is the product of four years of effort that produced 100 patents and 600 prototypes. More than 100 engineers were put to work on noise, weight and speed. Cost of the effort was about $72 million, and that’s reflected in the Supersonic’s $399 cost. Conventional hair dryers available in the U.S. carry price tags ranging between $13 and $220.
Why try? Dyson says your old hair dryer is a “hideously inefficient” waste of your time. Put down the hair dryer, save your weight lifting for the gym and take back your morning.
