‘After 15 years of trying, I can finally curl my hair without paying a professional’

Those who have known me for 15-plus years can attest to me pretty much having the exact same hair style for that length of time. Save for a fringe cut in every now and then, I’ve always had long, poker-straight hair. Until now…

I always figured my hair was manageable, until one day I went to a hair salon (not my usual) for a blow-dry and the stylist asked would I mind if another hairdresser took over with the dryer. Not at all, I said. I assumed she had another client waiting.

But the other hairdresser took his dryer and started blowdrying the other side of my head. Yes, two hairdressers were blow-drying my one head of hair at the same time.

“You really have a lot of hair and it’ll be quicker this way,” said the first stylist, after I gasped at them in the mirror.

I’d never really taken the time to find out just how long – and tiring – it was to dry and style my hair. I usually blast it dry with a hairdryer and go over it with a straightener. I have naturally straight hair, but from the photo below, you can see that although straight, I have a lot of hair and it’s in need of ‘calming down’ once blow dried. I’ve never learned to blow-dry my own hair, so blasting is my preferred style since I was a teen.

Eva, pictured before she used the Dyson Corrale after blasting her hair dry with the hairdryer. Photo: Supplied

I’ve never managed to successfully curl my hair or perfect that beach wave that every influencer seems to be able to do with ease in a time-lapse video. I’ve tried, and failed. Any photo you’ve ever seen of me with a curly blow-dry has been paid for. Sometimes with two stylists!

So when I got the opportunity to try out the Dyson Corrale – a hot tool which claims to style any type of hair – with less damage than a conventional straightener, I wasn’t just sceptical, I was afraid! I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to figure it out and I’d be the only girl on the planet who couldn’t do her own hair, even with a state-of-the-art hot tool.

The Dyson Corrale is the latest hot tool in the Dyson haircare range. Photo: Dyson

The Corrale, which launched in March, contains manganese copper alloy plates that flex around your hair to gather it and style it. I could actually feel the plates move with my hand and I could achieve the style I wanted at a lower heat.

You can probably see from my photos, that after years of heat styling, I have hundreds of broken hairs at the top of my head. The Corrale promises 50% less breakage*, reduced frizz and fewer flyaways** thanks to this clever technology.

Straightening with the Corrale was the easy part – I’ve had that down for years. The device glides over your hair like satin, leaving a perfectly straight bundle of hair that loses the frizz after just one glide (there is no need for multiple glides, just one gave me a sleek ‘do, as in the photo below).

Eva showcasing her sleek ‘do after straightening her hair for 30 minutes with the Dyson Corrale. Photo: Supplied

Next up was the curl. Now, I’ve watched countless YouTube videos, studied my own hairdresser while she tackles my mane, and practiced what must be hundreds of times and I cannot curl my hair with a conventional hair straightener. I grasped the bend and pull technique, but my hair always seemed to either get caught in the straightener or I clasped it too tight and the pull never worked. If I wasn’t left with a knot, I just had straight hair at the end.

So, I set my Dyson Corrale to the second highest setting of 185°C as I have thick hair (I also used this setting for straightening). For finer hair you may only need 165°C. It also increases to 210°C. It takes just 10 seconds to heat up (really).

I clasped my hair at the middle, bent the tool around my hair by twisting my wrist and managed to pull down every single time. And when I did the bend and pull technique until the end of my hair and released, I was left with the perfect curl! Well, perfect for me!

As you can see from the below photo, I was pretty happy with my efforts. This was the first time I’d ever managed to successfully curl my hair myself. I added a little bit of salt spray, as recommended by a Dyson insider, and the curl lasted the whole day.

Eva with a successful head of curls after using the Dyson Corrale to curl her hair. Photo: Supplied

And I haven’t even gotten to the best bit yet! The Corrale is cordless, so you can enjoy up to 30 minutes of cord-free styling time (depending on your hair type). It usually takes me around 30 minutes to straighten my whole head and it was no different with the Corrale. It took slightly longer to curl it, but I simply placed the device in the charging dock in between brushes and it charged on the go.

You can also charge it by attaching the plug to the bottom of the device. It takes 70 minutes to charge it fully.

The Dyson Corrale can charge in this dock, or can charge by attaching the cord to the bottom of the device. It can also be used cordless once fully charged. Photo: Dyson

The Corrale also comes with a heat-proof mat, so if you’re not using the charging dock, you can simply place it down on the mat in between uses and it won’t burn any surfaces. I can’t be the only one with two burn marks on pretty much every duvet cover I have?

It also turns itself off if you’ve left it idle too long, which is a very nifty safety feature.

So my overall verdict is: The Dyson Corrale left me a very happy customer and, after pretty much exclusively wearing my hair straight my whole life, I’ve worn it curly every day since I got my hands on the Corrale. Worth the investment.

The Dyson Corrale is available now. See more on dyson.ie. 

* Thermal damage measured by hair strength, when creating the equivalent style. Tested on flexing plates vs solid plates
** Direct image analysis vs untreated hair.