Welcome to Capsule Considers, where we try out and review the latest products on the market and offer our honest, unbiased opinions, free from any obligation or expectation because if you’re parting with your hard-earned money based on any of our recommendations, we’re gonna make sure it’s damn well worth it.
When you think of Dyson, odds are your mind instantly goes to a boujee vacuum cleaner hanging on an influencer’s wall.
We all know the technology company makes a bloody good hoover, but in recent times they’ve diversified into haircare with hair dryers, curlers and now, straighteners.
Enter the Dyson Corrale, a little tool that Dyson reckons changes the game. One, it’s cordless, the first ever hair straightener to be so, and two, they promise half the damage of a normal model.
Although with these biiiig promises comes a biiiig price tag – $749 to be precise.
So, is forking out double the usual amount worth it?
Enter me, Kelly – someone who has both a limited ability with making my hair look good and who has long, annoying and insubordinate hair. What could go wrong.
First impressions:
First things first – it’s heavy. I mean, not wrist-breaking heavy, but definitely heavier than your standard straightener and it does take a bit to adjust to.
A slight criticism I also have is the colour – I hate pink, but it is Dyson’s signature hue when it comes to their hair appliances. I personally don’t care for keeping the styler on display in the charging base because of this.
But then, you realise how great it is not to have a cord. I live in an old house with power points in veeeery odd places, so the ability to pluck the Dyson off the chic charging base and carry it to the mirror instead of awkwardly stretching a cord was a huge plus.
You get about 30 minutes of charge per use – that will inevitably keep increasing as the technology does, I’m sure – but for me it’s plenty of time. However if you have a long, thick mane you might need longer, which is a consideration, although you can of course use the Corrale with a cord like normal.
The details:
Now to the tech speak – what does the Corrale actually promise to do better? (They were in development for seven years at a cost of more than $50m, you’d expect some bloody TECH).
According to Dyson, the secret is in the flexible plates, which are coated in an aluminium copper alloy. Essentially what they do is actually gather every strand of hair into the straightener, without splaying and slipping.
A traditional straightener will only provide heat to the thickest part of the hair, which is why you have to do so many passes over a section to get it uniform. But Dyson’s movable plates mean you should only have to do one pass over every section, meaning less damage and less time.
There’s also three heat settings – 165C, 185C and 210C – meaning you can go as low or as high as your hair needs, which is great for controlling heat and therefore potential damage.
And, somewhat weirdly for a hair appliance, there’s a flight mode (so you don’t have any battery issues with airlines!).
The results:
Ok, now to the good stuff – the results. I’m not big on wearing my hair poker straight because I’m convinced it makes my face look fatter (whether or not it does is another story) so I always go for a bit of a wave.
However to truly test the Corrale’s hair gathering and smoothing ability, I straighten a couple of sections to see just how straight we can go, and it’s impressive. It only takes one pass to go from just-out-of-the-shower boof to sleek and smooth, and it leaves my hair feeling very soft and silky.
And when it comes to curling, it’s the same. I have to play around a little to get my technique right, as I was finding my hair wasn’t gliding through as smoothly as I would like, until I realise that I’m gripping the tool too tightly. Because the plates do a bit of the gathering for you, you don’t need such a firm grip as usual, and once I’ve figured that out I’m away laughing, managing to get a tight curl that I fluff out into a sturdy wave.
The verdict:
It’s a bloody good hair straighter. My hair does feel healthier after using it as opposed to my regular straightener, and the fact it’s cordless is an absolute dream.
But the price, as all new pieces of technology are, is high – there’s no getting around it. But if you can afford it, it’s a beauty junkie’s dream. I’d recommend if you travel a lot (well you know what I mean – soon!) or if you have damaged hair, but you still like to style with heat.
