You might be done after this step, but I prefer to add curls—whether I’m flat-ironing or doing it this way, my hair looks a little better with some wave as to not draw attention to the crispy ends. Like the wands you might be used to from Dyson or with the similarly impressive Shark Flexstyle, T3 auto-wraps your hair around the curler and keeps it in place with airflow, no clamps needed. One thing to note, though, is Dyson went from needing two curling wands to go in each direction to just one, with a switch at the top to change direction. So far, Shark and T3 still need two.
Photograph: Medea Giordano
The first thing I noticed upon unboxing the Aire 360 was how much nicer the wands are in construction than the others I’ve tried. They’re ceramic rather than plastic, so they’re sturdier but also distribute heat evenly. There are three heat settings (and three speeds), and it gets hotter than others, reaching 237 degrees Fahrenheit. You can’t touch these barrels straight away, but there are cool tips on top so you can still take them off and switch between the attachments. I like that there’s not a separate cold-shot button cluttering up the handle. Instead, you just long-press the heat button, though I did think it didn’t get as cool as hair tools typically do.
Even being hotter, it’s significantly lower than the temperature I’d need from a traditional curling iron, which I usually crank up to 400 degrees or more. It’s hot air, but it’s not a scalding hot plate, which means you’re not singeing your hair. Though I wasn’t willing to confirm this with my own hair, I can’t imagine you’d accidentally burn a piece of hair off if you left it too long.
High-End Finishes
Photograph: Medea Giordano
For about the same price as the Shark Flexstyle, you get fewer attachments. There, you can choose between different types of brushes, a wide-tooth comb, a diffuser and concentrator for drying, a frizz smoother, and two different thicknesses of wands. That one is a total tool, in my opinion, because I can own just that and diffuse curls on the days I wear them natural or blow them out other days. However, depending on your hair type and needs, all those attachments could be overkill. If that’s the case, I’d go with the T3 that looks and feels higher-end.
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