I Have Zero Styling Skills: Can This Viral Hair Tool Finally Give Me a Salon Finish?
Main image – Courtesy of writer
It’s been something of a personal bug bear since I was about 13. While my friends all seemed to instinctively know how to style the perfect French braid, slicked bun or glossy blowout, my own abilities to tame my stubbornly triangular, wavy hair have always been sadly lacking.
Don’t get me wrong, I love natural waves (and coils and curls). But the problem with my own locks is that they never do *quite* what I’m expecting.
One day my strands might dry naturally into perfectly-formed waves, the next (this happens far more often) I’ll have a mass of fluff where a normal hair style would lie.
I never know which way it’s going to go – so it would be nice to have the skills to take control of my style without having to call in the professionals.
There have been attempts, yes. Like the time I doggedly spent a week armed with a round brush, blow dyer and an array of YouTube videos trying to master the secrets of the perfect at home blowout – only to achieve frazzled strands and a strange halo of frizz that never seemed to leave.
There was the heated flat brush, and the GHDs too, both of which definitely straightened my ends, but did nothing to my wavy roots, leaving me with an odd half and half effect, as well as even more heat damage.
So you’ll understand why over the years I’ve come to accept my au naturel locks, whatever they choose to do each day – or, in a pinch, paid a professional for a blow out.
Image – Courtesy of writer
It’s also why when T3 contacted me about their Aire 360 multi-styler (£249.99 from T3 UK/ $299.99 from Sephora US), I was understandably sceptical. After all, I’ve been burnt (or at least singed) by the promises of hair tools before.
So could this multi styler finally help me achieve salon-worthy locks from home? And could it do it all without any heat damage (as per the brand’s claims)?.
Read on to find out.
The product details
T3’s Aire 360 is the world’s first ceramic air styler. And while it’s been out in the US for over a year, the tool has only launched into the UK.
Containing four attachments, the kit includes the ‘base’ (the main electrical part of the tool that you add your attachments to), the Softaire Drying Attachment (essentially a normal blowdrying attachment that looks a lot like Dyson’s Supersonic), the Oval Airebrush- the bit I was most excited to try for slick hair- and two ceramic curling attachments.
The kit also comes in a (very cute, very handy) vegan leather storage tote.
The tool is available in two colours – mint ( a soft green) or satin blush (a light pink, and the colour I have).
Image – Courtesy of writer
According to T3, the Aire 360 was developed in response to listening to consumer feedback on pain points like bulky attachments and lacklustre results.
The ceramic here supposedly helps create a smoother and shinier style with longer hold time. Meanwhile the high volume of air flow is meant to make styling quicker and easier. The overall result, according to the brand? Curls and styles that last all day with zero heat damage.
Let’s see how it lived up to those claims for me.
How I tested T3’s Aire 360
I’ve been using this tool at least twice a week now for the last six weeks.
Always working on freshly-washed hair, I used heat protectant each time, alternating between Moo & Yoo’s beautiful Miracle Milk leave in conditioner, John Frieda’s Frizz Ease leave in conditioner (a winner in this year’s Live That Glow awards no less), and Philip Kinsley’s Frizz-Fighting Gloss.
Image – Courtesy of writer
During this time, I’ve also been using another multi-styler I own at least once a week straight after washing to get a feel for how the results compare from each tool over time.
With the T3 Aire 360, I was particularly interested in testing its dryer attachment and oval blow-dry brush, to see whether I could finally achieve a smooth, straight finish from my own bedroom.
After roughly blow drying my hair to around 90% dry with the dryer attachment, I’ve been separating my hair into four sections before using the Oval brush attachment to brush each section through (both from above and below the hair) for a straight blow dry look.
I also used the curling attachments on semi dry hair a couple of times when I felt like changing up my style.
First impressions
Firstly, let me say that I’m a shameful sucker for beautiful packaging – and the boxing this tool is housed in doesn’t disappoint.
Stashed in a sturdy hexagonal cardboard outer shell is the vegan leather tote containing the tool and its attachments. Each attachment was individually wrapped in protective paper and secured snugly in its own pocket within the tote.
Image – Courtesy of writer
From the packaging alone, the first impression here is that serious effort has gone into this launch. Even the plug has a little cable tidy attached to it to help you wrap it all neatly back up in its carry case again – a nice touch.
My one niggle? The tag had fallen off the end of one of the ties securing the tote – something which I’ve noticed others have complained of in reviews too. I could see that the cap was screwed in and that the tiny screw had just fallen out, so I was able to easily fix this myself. But it may be something for the brand to look out for if others are noticing the same thing.
Once out of its little pockets, the base and its attachments feel lightweight yet sturdy. I set to work removing their protective paper casings and adding the dryer attachment.
Image – Courtesy of writer
What I will say here is that adding and removing the attachment wasn’t quite as intuitive as I imagined. It took me a couple of goes to a. Make sure I had the attachments facing the way round I wanted and b. Make sure I’d locked them into place securely (you’ll hear a little click when you do).
Once I’d got the hang of that though, I was ready to start styling.
There are three heat and three power settings here, as well as a cool shot option (when the heat button is pressed down continuously).
My results
Without wanting to sound like too much of a fan girl, I can honestly say I’ve been thrilled with my results.
You’ll see from my before and after shots how a combination of the dryer and oval brush attachments gives me considerably sleeker hair. Even after a full 7 hours in the summer heat too, my waves had barely returned – very unusual for me.
More than that though, I can honestly say my hair doesn’t feel drier or more damaged for using the Aire 360.
In fact, it almost feels suspiciously healthier than when I air dry my hair ordinarily (this is probably a combination of a newly smoothed hair cuticle and the fact that, done properly, blow drying can actually be better for your hair than air drying since wet hair for longer = more potential for breakage).
In comparison, my hair also definitely feels healthier using this tool than when using the other multi-styler I have at home. I don’t know if this is because the Aire 360 uses ceramic attachments or perhaps lower heat settings, but there’s a definite difference in my hair texture when I use it.
The weirdest bit though is that after using the oval brush attachment for the first couple of weeks, I actually began to gain confidence in blowdrying my hair straight using just a normal hairbrush and the dryer attachment.
Image – Courtesy of writer
It’s like using the tool somehow trained my hands into naturally simulating the wrist action and tension used by hairdressers when they do a blow out – and the very action I’d previously spent years trying to achieve.
Similarly, on the few times I’ve used the curling attachments, they’ve been so intuitive. You simply introduce a section of hair to the curling attachment and the air wrap technology and ceramic barrels do the rest.
In short, I’ve gained a confidence in styling my own hair that I had long since given up on attaining.
Image – Courtesy of writer
If I did have to find a negative though; while I love the cool shot- it adds shine to my otherwise fairly un-shiny hair and it does feel like it’s helping to set my style- it’s not the most users friendly of buttons to use.
You have to hold the heat button down continuously while you use it, which can be a little fiddly as you try to style various sections of your hair at the same time. In contrast, my other multi-styler simply has an on/off button for the cool shot, which is actually a lot easier to use.
Beyond that though, you’d be hard pushed to get a bad word out of me about this tool.
What other users are saying
Taking to Reddit, it seems that most other users agree with me that the Aire 360 produces sleek, healthy feeling hair, with many praising its light weight and its quietness while using.
Key-Scallion-1163 said: “Just bought one last week and have used it three times and I love it! Super lightweight and so much healthier than a curling iron. The blowdry attachment is super fast. Similar to the Dyson and super quick at drying.”
Comment
byu/Big-Increase4545 from discussion
inbeauty
And while I saw one reviewer complain that it left their hair feeling dry, others say it feels a lot softer using this than the Dyson or Shark. I would agree with this – my hair feels a lot softer and healthier using this than my normal multi styler tool.
I did see one complaint though that a user’s tool stopped working the first time she used it. Extension-client3119 said: “Just got mine yesterday and used it tonight for the first time. It stopped working midway and has two blinking blue lights and won’t turn back on!!! I literally used it for maybe 3 minutes! So utterly upsetting. ? Returning it for sure. ?”
This seemed to be a one-off though as I haven’t noticed other complains. In the six weeks I’ve been using mine too, I haven’t experienced any tech issues.
Finally, I’ve also seen quite a few comments calling on the brand to release more attachments. Beneficial_Part_4397 said:
“I absolutely love my t3 aire 360 it’s my fav im just sad i cant find a diffuser for it.” I would agree that it would be useful to have the option to buy the matching diffuser and perhaps different barrel sizes for the curler too.
Overall value for money
As ever, whether this tool represents good value to you will depend on both budget and what you want to achieve with it.
If, like me, you have zero confidence in heat styling your hair and therefore spend a bunch on professional blowouts, then I would imagine the Aire 360 would quite quickly cover its own costs.
Equally, if you’re using an existing tool that you feel is damaging your hair- and are therefore spending extra money on treatment and trims- I would say this tool could be a worthwhile investment.
Compared to the prices of its nearest competitors too – the Dyson Airwrap ID multi-styler is from £479.99/$599, and the Shark FlexStyle is £279.99/$349- the T3 stacks up well (although with both the Dyson and the Shark you do get more attachments).
That said, there’s no getting away from the fact that £249.99/$299.99 is a lot of money. So if you’re happy with your existing hair health and styling routine you likely don’t need to invest.
Equally, if you don’t think you’ll regularly use each of the separate tools but still want to try the brand then it’s cheaper to buy either T3’s blow dryer or dryer brush separately.
The takeaway
I’m genuinely buzzing about finding this tool. It’s not only given me the ability to create softer, smoother, salon-finish hair from home, but it’s improved my overall confidence in my ability to style my own locks.
And while- depending on what you’re looking for- it won’t be for everyone, I honestly can’t imagine not using my Aire 360 at least once or twice a week going forwards. Sleek blowouts on demand here I come!
Get Glowing!
