Look, I’m not usually one to faff around with drying my hair, and once upon a time, you couldn’t have ever convinced me.
Not even the “you’ll get sick” spiel from my parents could get me spending an extra 20 minutes blowing my long locks into a bird's nest, not to mention the extra five minutes spent untangling that frustration.
For years - and I mean YEARS - I was hard against splurging on a hair dryer, because why fix something that ain’t broke? If I can kill two birds with one stone by sitting under the heat pump or just letting nature do its thing, then sweet as.
That was until the powers that be at Dyson twisted my arm by introducing me to the new lighter and faster Dyson Supersonic r, where I quickly learned I’d be eating my words.
It’s 20% lighter, 30% smaller, and somehow even more powerful than Dyson’s OG Supersonic dryer - all while looking like something out of a sci-fi salon.
I know that probably means F all to you reading this, so let me a) just show you, and b) tell you – so you can wrap your head around this too (pun absolutely intended).
The wall plug itself is HALF the size of the device, which lowkey threw me at first.
And when we talk about the weight, it comes in at 325g - that’s less than a can of Coke.
Aside from not making my arm feel like it’s about to fall off, the tech is the real flex.
Intelligent heat control plus jet-like airflow means smooth, shiny hair without the thermo-nuclear shock of holding the elements too close or too long on my locks.
I’ve just picked up box dye again (hairdressers, please don’t come for me), so no further frying does me a world of good if I’m considering actually taking up drying my hair as a post-shower habit.
You get five attachments in the box: A powerful air attachment to dry hair quickly, a gentle air attachment which is easier on the scalp, a pro concentrator to target precise locks, a smoothing nozzle to decrease frizz, and a flyaway attachment using the Coanda effect to attract longer hairs from straying.
They’re all magnetic, so super easy to clip on, but a bit stubborn to yank off. It took me a good few hair-wash days to not be scared I’d break the thing.
It took roughly four minutes to get to 70% dry at top speed. After that, I swapped in the precise nozzle for another 5 mins to tame and style my ends straight before going in with the flyaway attachment and a cool blast at the end for a shiny, smooth finish.
I haven’t found much of a need for the other two attachments, and there’s a good chance you’ll only end up cycling through your preferences, too, but I guess that’s the beauty of things being interchangeable.
I will also say, it doesn’t keep those stray hairs away all day - some products will definitely be needed as extra security on that front - but it will tame them.
The dryer also comes with what Dyson calls ‘intelligent radio frequency ID (RFID) sensors’, which basically means it remembers my favourite settings for each attachment.
By adding the fly-away tool, the RFID automatically knows that I want cooler air blasting as I hold it right up at my roots - no frying my scalp in the process.
As a fine-haired human, the precise nozzle gives a frizz-free look straight style without needing to go back through and punishing my strands with yet another heat tool.
But what might be my game-changing moment of the whole experience is that my hair doesn’t get sucked into the back of the device, like it usually does with other dryers.
The air gets pulled in from below your grip on the device, so targeting my roots became a heck of a lot less stressful due to the unique bend in the shape.
It’s got a washable filter that tells you when it needs a clean, so the back doesn’t end up looking like it’s been sitting under your bed for months on end.
I haven’t needed to yet, and it lowkey looks like admin, so no promises it’ll get done immediately… baby steps, right?!
If you want a dryer that works fast, gives you a salon shine, and doesn’t fry your hair root to end, then the Dyson Supersonic r might just be worth the eye-watering splurge.
Forking out $849 is quite the investment, so you might need to stash a few paydays aside, but it could stop you from going to bed with wet hair ever again.
And at least for me, that’s growth.
