In 2018, there was one air-styling device on the market powered by the Coanda effect: the Dyson Airwrap. (As an aside, I can’t believe that was six years ago!) Now there are others; each of which is putting its own stamp on the category, whether it’s with a new design, accessories, price point or a mix of all three. The T3 Aire 360 is the latest to join the group, and I had a chance to chat all about it with the brand’s cofounder Julie Chung. Here’s what I like about it and what makes it stand apart from the rest.
The T3 Backstory
Chung started the brand with her husband 20 years ago. The two were living in San Francisco—he was in finance, but grew up in a hairdresser family. “He noticed I was obsessed with fashion and beauty, but I was always at a loss with my hair. The quality of my hair tools weren’t great, so he actually built me a hairdryer. He had contacts because he knew the salon world. We soon realized there was no premium beauty tool for women that was easy to use at home.”
Chung tells me she has really coarse, thick hair, and she was surprised at how well the dryer he made worked. “My hair dried really fast, it was smooth and soft, and the dryer was really calm,” she explains. “I said, ‘I think we have something here.’ So we started the company while we were dating. We made our dryer look beautiful instead of like a power tool, but it was still technologically advanced.” Fast-forward two decades, and the brand’s new Aire 360 combines all the technology from its other products into one.
How the T3 Aire 360 Is Different
Chung admits she wasn’t sure where the air-styling category was headed when it debuted five years ago. “We sat back and watched it, and then we learned that there are some real benefits to the ease of styling to achieve a blowout curl,” she says. “This is very different than a curling iron curl—it’s a volumized curl. The only issue with the other products on the market was that there were a lot of social media hacks. I was seeing hashtags like ‘this is how I get it to work,’ etc. That’s when we knew we needed to create a Coanda air styler that really holds a curl. It made sense to enter the category if we could make something that was an improvement, in our opinion, and really delivered.”
This new kit includes a base and four attachments: a dryer for rough-drying, the brand’s beloved Airebrush attachment to smooth, and two ceramic barrels to curl. This is also a bit of a streamlined approach compared to other similar kits that have double the number of attachments. “We will come out with plenty of attachments later on, but I don’t want anyone buying attachments until they feel really comfortable with the base,” says Chung. “Women also want simplicity with their hair care. It’s so much different than 12-step routines in skin care.”
Compared to the Airwrap specifically, I noticed the length and width of the barrels are slightly different. When I asked Chung, she said there is a difference of a couple centimeters. To me, this didn’t affect the function or results. However, “it’s also 20 percent lighter,” Chung says. This I also noticed, and I am a big fan of lighter-weight hair tools! Let me also give a shout-out to T3 about the color of the Aire 360. The blush pink is feminine, luxe and subtle (the brand also just launched a white version). “I like this pink because it’s sort of a neutral-y pink,” Chung says. “Women want beautiful devices.”
The price points are also different: Aire 360 is $299; Shark Beauty’s FlexStyle is $299; BondiBoost’s Everlast AirStyler is $188; and Dyson’s Airwrap Complete is $599.
The Benefit of Two Curling Barrels
My first question for Chung was about the decision to launch with two barrels versus one (you have to switch them to curl your hair in different directions). This is also the question most people have asked T3 on social media, Chung tells me. A valid question, as we all know Dyson launched an updated version of its Airwrap in 2022 to include a single barrel that rotates both directions. However, BondiBoost and Shark Beauty also have air-stylers with two barrels.
“We studied the one barrel versus two quite a bit and did a lot of comparisons,” says Chung. “The reality is that using two barrels wraps the hair better, and you need it to be tighter to get a better curl. We also found in our focus groups that most users changed the barrels just once. So it’s not like click, click, click and you’re changing it all time. If we can find a way to have it switch and wrap the way it does, then sure. We’re constantly evolving our products, so who knows. For now, the Aire 360 is far superior and wraps the hair tighter than anything else on the market.”
The Storage Bag Is a Big Plus
Unlike other air-styling kits, the T3 Aire 360 comes with a chic, pale pink, heat-resistant, drawstring storage bag. It contains separate pockets for each attachment, and think it’s going to be a big draw for people deciding between these stylers on the market. I love it for storage, but also travel. If you are tight on space (I see you New York City friends), you can hang the bag on your over-the-door organizer, or any hook for that matter. I love that it’s also heat-resistant, so you can throw your tools in when you’re done and be on your way. Personally, this always happens when I need to do my hair, but I also have to check out of my hotel room in 30 minutes. No need to stress with this kit.
“The bag was actually created after a conversation I had with my friend Ashley,” Chung says. “She said, ‘I love my other device, but I bought a bag on Amazon to store it in. I have to be able to travel with it, and you have to make it squishable Julie, so I can squeeze it in my suitcase.’ So, our bag is in response to really listening to women and giving them what they’re asking for. Every little detail is so important to me. We eat, sleep and breathe hair. We’ve never done anything else.”
