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Brace yourself for some uncomfortable truths.

I’ll be honest: I am as good as married to my Dyson Supersonic blowdryer and swear by it whether my hair is curly or straight. So I was incredibly intrigued when I learned that Dyson would be releasing its first-ever line of hair products called Dyson Chitosan—a two-part product line that includes the Pre-Styling cream ($60) and the Post-Styling serum ($60), both of which work together to add shine, hold, protection, and moisture, depending on your hair type and how you use the products.

If you’re feeling skeptical, I get it—I was too. It’s one thing to innovate in the hair-tools space, but it’s another to formulate in the already oversaturated haircare market. Thankfully, I got to try out the Dyson Chitosan line ahead of its launch (and took some tested-and-reviewed photos to prove it). Ahead, find everything you need to know about the brand’s new styling formulation, plus my honest review of it.

Table of Contents

About Dyson Chitosan

First things first: “Chitosan” is the name for both products in the Chitosan product line. Though you can buy both products separately, they’re technically part of a two-part system. Here’s what’s included:

Pre-Styling cream

The Chitosan Pre-Styling cream is meant to be used on damp hair to give your hair a bit of flexible hold and moisture. The cream comes in four different formulations to target different hair textures and porosities:

Straight to wavy (choose between “light conditioning” for finer hair, or “rich conditioning” for dryer, thicker hair)
Curly to coily (choose between “light conditioning” for finer curls, or “rich conditioning” for dry or damaged curls)

Post-Styling serum

The Chitosan Post-Styling serum is used, as you’d guess, after styling. It’s a lightweight serum that helps add shine and smoothness to dry, styled hair.

photos of dyson chitosan pre and post styling cream on a white background — Photo credit: Courtesy of Dyson

Dyson Chitosan Pre-Styling Cream & Post-Styling Cream — $59.00

The ingredients

The name “Chitosan” comes from a natural compound called chitosan, a macromolecule found in the cell walls of chestnut, white button, and oyster mushrooms (Dyson’s is formulated from oyster mushrooms). According to research, chitosan can also be found in a variety of other sources, like the crustacean shell. In cosmetics, the ingredient is used as a film-forming agent and can create a protective layer on the skin or hair.

Dyson innovators tapped the ingredient mainly for its ability to help create flexible hold and shine in its new formulas. “Clients have complained about style retention, and we wanted to provide a solution,” Justina Mejia-Montane, Dyson’s global product innovation and packaging development lead, tells Well+Good at the salon preview.

The problem is a lot of products that promise hold can also leave your hair dry and crunchy. To avoid this, Dyson formulators paired chitosan with grapeseed, castor seed, coconut, and argan oils to help soften your hair and add shine. The light conditioning formulas utilizes a lower concentration of oils versus the rich conditioning options, which are more potent. So, the straight to wavy light formula has an even blend of all four oils, while the curly to coily rich formula has more coconut and castor oils to better condition thicker hair.

You should definitely pick a pre-styling formula based on your hair type for best results (I have type 3 curly hair with heat damage, so I used the coily rich conditioning option). The post-styling serum is available in one formulation and is a finishing product that also has hyaluronic acid and amino acids to smooth hair cuticles and add shine.

My honest review of Dyson Chitosan

Celebrity hairstylist and Dyson ambassador Matthew Collins styled my hair with the new products, so I was able to experience their performance firsthand. The scent has notes of bergamot, basil, green tea, and cedarwood, and it gives that lingering clean whiff you want from freshly washed hair. Collins smoothed one pump of Chitosan Pre-Styler on my damp hair and detangled with a paddle brush in large sections to distribute. Then he dried my hair with the Dyson Supersonic before flat-ironing with the Dyson Corrale flat iron.

I was admittedly a bit skeptical about how the products would perform. I’ve mastered my at-home silk press and typically use a variety of products (leave-in conditioner, heat protectant, flexible hold spray, edge control) to achieve a super-straight finish that lasts at least one week. So when Collins and the Dyson team promised me those same results with only two products, I wasn’t totally convinced.

photo of well and good editor with straight hair — Photo credit: Aimee Simeon

I can usually tell at the blow-dry step of a salon service whether or not I’ll like my hair, and at this point, I was impressed with how smooth my hair was with just the Pre-Styling Cream and a round brush. I typically would never use a round brush if DIY’ing my hair at home to avoid too much volume at the roots, but I was committed to trusting the process.

photo of well+good editor aimee simeon with her hair blow dried straight — Photo credit: Aimee Simeon

Once my hair was completely dried, it was time to flat-iron my roots, which Collins did with one pass of the Dyson Corrale in small sections, adding alternating curls as he made his way down the lengths of my hair. He massaged a pump of the Post-Styling serum through my hair, breaking up my curls with his fingers, and I was done (as you can see, my curls were smooth and defined). I loved the immediate results, but the real test happened when I walked outside to brave the NYC humidity.

I ended up sweating a lot the following day, and my roots swelled (which is inevitable with curly hair—just the name of the game), but the rest of my hair maintained a nice wave for days following my salon visit, and all I had to do was smooth out my roots. While sweaty roots is pretty normal, I will say that my lengths staying curled and bouncy for the days following my service was better than normal. Most times when I get my hair done in salon, the curls usually drop within hours.

Final takeaway

Overall, I think the Chitosan range is a great addition to your hair routine if you’re a one-and-done type of person. If you want to cut back on leave-in mists, styling creams, and hairsprays, this does all that in fewer steps. I’m actually eager to see how this would perform at home with my usual steps, this time adding some edge control and tying down my roots after styling. So, once I get my hands on a personal bottle, I’m looking forward to giving this another spin at home.