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Opportunities for AI in Accessibility
In reading Joe Dolson’s recent piece on the intersection of AI and accessibility, I absolutely appreciated the skepticism that he has for AI in general as well as for the ways that many have been using it. In fact, I’m very skeptical of AI myself, despite my role at Microsoft as an accessibility innovation strategist who helps run the AI for Accessibility grant program. As with any tool, AI can be used in very constructive, inclusive, and accessible ways; and it can also be used in destructive, exclusive, and harmful ones. And there are a ton of uses somewhere in the mediocre middle as well.
I’d like you to consider this a “yes… and” piece to complement Joe’s post. I’m not trying to refute any of what he’s saying but rather provide some visibility to projects and opportunities where AI can make meaningful differences for people with disabilities. To be clear, I’m not saying that there aren’t real risks or pressing issues with AI that need to be addressed—there are, and we’ve needed to address them, like, yesterday—but I want to take a little time to talk about what’s possible in hopes that we’ll get there one day.
Alternative text
Joe’s piece spends a lot of time talking about computer-vision models generating alternative text. He highlights a ton of valid issues with the current state of things. And while computer-vision models continue to improve in the quality and richness of detail in their descriptions, their results aren’t great. As he rightly points out, the current state of image analysis is pretty poor—especially for certain image types—in large part because current AI systems examine images in isolation rather than within the contexts that they’re in (which is a consequence of having separate “foundation” models for text analysis and image analysis). Today’s models aren’t trained to distinguish between images that are contextually relevant (that should probably have descriptions) and those that are purely decorative (which might not need a description) either. Still, I still think there’s potential in this space.
As Joe mentions, human-in-the-loop authoring of alt text should absolutely be a thing. And if AI can pop in to offer a starting point for alt text—even if that starting point might be a prompt saying What is this BS? That’s not right at all… Let me try to offer a starting point—I think that’s a win.
Taking things a step further, if we can specifically train a model to analyze image usage in context, it could help us more quickly identify which images are likely to be decorative and which ones likely require a description. That will help reinforce which contexts call for image descriptions and it’ll improve authors’ efficiency toward making their pages more accessible.
While complex images—like graphs and charts—are challenging to describe in any sort of succinct way (even for humans), the image example shared in the GPT4 announcement points to an interesting opportunity as well. Let’s suppose that you came across a chart whose description was simply the title of the chart and the kind of visualization it was, such as: Pie chart comparing smartphone usage to feature phone usage among US households making under $30,000 a year. (That would be a pretty awful alt text for a chart since that would tend to leave many questions about the data unanswered, but then again, let’s suppose that that was the description that was in place.) If your browser knew that that image was a pie chart (because an onboard model concluded this), imagine a world where users could ask questions like these about the graphic:
- Do more people use smartphones or feature phones?
- How many more?
- Is there a group of people that don’t fall into either of these buckets?
- How many is that?
Setting aside the realities of large language model (LLM) hallucinations—where a model just makes up plausible-sounding “facts”—for a moment, the opportunity to learn more about images and data in this way could be revolutionary for blind and low-vision folks as well as for people with various forms of color blindness, cognitive disabilities, and so on. It could also be useful in educational contexts to help people who can see these charts, as is, to understand the data in the charts.
Taking things a step further: What if you could ask your browser to simplify a complex chart? What if you could ask it to isolate a single line on a line graph? What if you could ask your browser to transpose the colors of the different lines to work better for form of color blindness you have? What if you could ask it to swap colors for patterns? Given these tools’ chat-based interfaces and our existing ability to manipulate images in today’s AI tools, that seems like a possibility.
Now imagine a purpose-built model that could extract the information from that chart and convert it to another format. For example, perhaps it could turn that pie chart (or better yet, a series of pie charts) into more accessible (and useful) formats, like spreadsheets. That would be amazing!
Matching algorithms
Safiya Umoja Noble absolutely hit the nail on the head when she titled her book Algorithms of Oppression. While her book was focused on the ways that search engines reinforce racism, I think that it’s equally true that all computer models have the potential to amplify conflict, bias, and intolerance. Whether it’s Twitter always showing you the latest tweet from a bored billionaire, YouTube sending us into a Q-hole, or Instagram warping our ideas of what natural bodies look like, we know that poorly authored and maintained algorithms are incredibly harmful. A lot of this stems from a lack of diversity among the people who shape and build them. When these platforms are built with inclusively baked in, however, there’s real potential for algorithm development to help people with disabilities.
Take Mentra, for example. They are an employment network for neurodivergent people. They use an algorithm to match job seekers with potential employers based on over 75 data points. On the job-seeker side of things, it considers each candidate’s strengths, their necessary and preferred workplace accommodations, environmental sensitivities, and so on. On the employer side, it considers each work environment, communication factors related to each job, and the like. As a company run by neurodivergent folks, Mentra made the decision to flip the script when it came to typical employment sites. They use their algorithm to propose available candidates to companies, who can then connect with job seekers that they are interested in; reducing the emotional and physical labor on the job-seeker side of things.
When more people with disabilities are involved in the creation of algorithms, that can reduce the chances that these algorithms will inflict harm on their communities. That’s why diverse teams are so important.
Imagine that a social media company’s recommendation engine was tuned to analyze who you’re following and if it was tuned to prioritize follow recommendations for people who talked about similar things but who were different in some key ways from your existing sphere of influence. For example, if you were to follow a bunch of nondisabled white male academics who talk about AI, it could suggest that you follow academics who are disabled or aren’t white or aren’t male who also talk about AI. If you took its recommendations, perhaps you’d get a more holistic and nuanced understanding of what’s happening in the AI field. These same systems should also use their understanding of biases about particular communities—including, for instance, the disability community—to make sure that they aren’t recommending any of their users follow accounts that perpetuate biases against (or, worse, spewing hate toward) those groups.
Other ways that AI can helps people with disabilities
If I weren’t trying to put this together between other tasks, I’m sure that I could go on and on, providing all kinds of examples of how AI could be used to help people with disabilities, but I’m going to make this last section into a bit of a lightning round. In no particular order:
- Voice preservation. You may have seen the VALL-E paper or Apple’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day announcement or you may be familiar with the voice-preservation offerings from Microsoft, Acapela, or others. It’s possible to train an AI model to replicate your voice, which can be a tremendous boon for people who have ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) or motor-neuron disease or other medical conditions that can lead to an inability to talk. This is, of course, the same tech that can also be used to create audio deepfakes, so it’s something that we need to approach responsibly, but the tech has truly transformative potential.
- Voice recognition. Researchers like those in the Speech Accessibility Project are paying people with disabilities for their help in collecting recordings of people with atypical speech. As I type, they are actively recruiting people with Parkinson’s and related conditions, and they have plans to expand this to other conditions as the project progresses. This research will result in more inclusive data sets that will let more people with disabilities use voice assistants, dictation software, and voice-response services as well as control their computers and other devices more easily, using only their voice.
- Text transformation. The current generation of LLMs is quite capable of adjusting existing text content without injecting hallucinations. This is hugely empowering for people with cognitive disabilities who may benefit from text summaries or simplified versions of text or even text that’s prepped for Bionic Reading.
The importance of diverse teams and data
We need to recognize that our differences matter. Our lived experiences are influenced by the intersections of the identities that we exist in. These lived experiences—with all their complexities (and joys and pain)—are valuable inputs to the software, services, and societies that we shape. Our differences need to be represented in the data that we use to train new models, and the folks who contribute that valuable information need to be compensated for sharing it with us. Inclusive data sets yield more robust models that foster more equitable outcomes.
Want a model that doesn’t demean or patronize or objectify people with disabilities? Make sure that you have content about disabilities that’s authored by people with a range of disabilities, and make sure that that’s well represented in the training data.
Want a model that doesn’t use ableist language? You may be able to use existing data sets to build a filter that can intercept and remediate ableist language before it reaches readers. That being said, when it comes to sensitivity reading, AI models won’t be replacing human copy editors anytime soon.
Want a coding copilot that gives you accessible recommendations from the jump? Train it on code that you know to be accessible.
I have no doubt that AI can and will harm people… today, tomorrow, and well into the future. But I also believe that we can acknowledge that and, with an eye towards accessibility (and, more broadly, inclusion), make thoughtful, considerate, and intentional changes in our approaches to AI that will reduce harm over time as well. Today, tomorrow, and well into the future.
Many thanks to Kartik Sawhney for helping me with the development of this piece, Ashley Bischoff for her invaluable editorial assistance, and, of course, Joe Dolson for the prompt.
User Research Is Storytelling
Ever since I was a boy, I’ve been fascinated with movies. I loved the characters and the excitement—but most of all the stories. I wanted to be an actor. And I believed that I’d get to do the things that Indiana Jones did and go on exciting adventures. I even dreamed up ideas for movies that my friends and I could make and star in. But they never went any further. I did, however, end up working in user experience (UX). Now, I realize that there’s an element of theater to UX—I hadn’t really considered it before, but user research is storytelling. And to get the most out of user research, you need to tell a good story where you bring stakeholders—the product team and decision makers—along and get them interested in learning more.
Think of your favorite movie. More than likely it follows a three-act structure that’s commonly seen in storytelling: the setup, the conflict, and the resolution. The first act shows what exists today, and it helps you get to know the characters and the challenges and problems that they face. Act two introduces the conflict, where the action is. Here, problems grow or get worse. And the third and final act is the resolution. This is where the issues are resolved and the characters learn and change. I believe that this structure is also a great way to think about user research, and I think that it can be especially helpful in explaining user research to others.
Use storytelling as a structure to do research
It’s sad to say, but many have come to see research as being expendable. If budgets or timelines are tight, research tends to be one of the first things to go. Instead of investing in research, some product managers rely on designers or—worse—their own opinion to make the “right” choices for users based on their experience or accepted best practices. That may get teams some of the way, but that approach can so easily miss out on solving users’ real problems. To remain user-centered, this is something we should avoid. User research elevates design. It keeps it on track, pointing to problems and opportunities. Being aware of the issues with your product and reacting to them can help you stay ahead of your competitors.
In the three-act structure, each act corresponds to a part of the process, and each part is critical to telling the whole story. Let’s look at the different acts and how they align with user research.
Act one: setup
The setup is all about understanding the background, and that’s where foundational research comes in. Foundational research (also called generative, discovery, or initial research) helps you understand users and identify their problems. You’re learning about what exists today, the challenges users have, and how the challenges affect them—just like in the movies. To do foundational research, you can conduct contextual inquiries or diary studies (or both!), which can help you start to identify problems as well as opportunities. It doesn’t need to be a huge investment in time or money.
Erika Hall writes about minimum viable ethnography, which can be as simple as spending 15 minutes with a user and asking them one thing: “‘Walk me through your day yesterday.’ That’s it. Present that one request. Shut up and listen to them for 15 minutes. Do your damndest to keep yourself and your interests out of it. Bam, you’re doing ethnography.” According to Hall, “[This] will probably prove quite illuminating. In the highly unlikely case that you didn’t learn anything new or useful, carry on with enhanced confidence in your direction.”
This makes total sense to me. And I love that this makes user research so accessible. You don’t need to prepare a lot of documentation; you can just recruit participants and do it! This can yield a wealth of information about your users, and it’ll help you better understand them and what’s going on in their lives. That’s really what act one is all about: understanding where users are coming from.
Jared Spool talks about the importance of foundational research and how it should form the bulk of your research. If you can draw from any additional user data that you can get your hands on, such as surveys or analytics, that can supplement what you’ve heard in the foundational studies or even point to areas that need further investigation. Together, all this data paints a clearer picture of the state of things and all its shortcomings. And that’s the beginning of a compelling story. It’s the point in the plot where you realize that the main characters—or the users in this case—are facing challenges that they need to overcome. Like in the movies, this is where you start to build empathy for the characters and root for them to succeed. And hopefully stakeholders are now doing the same. Their sympathy may be with their business, which could be losing money because users can’t complete certain tasks. Or maybe they do empathize with users’ struggles. Either way, act one is your initial hook to get the stakeholders interested and invested.
Once stakeholders begin to understand the value of foundational research, that can open doors to more opportunities that involve users in the decision-making process. And that can guide product teams toward being more user-centered. This benefits everyone—users, the product, and stakeholders. It’s like winning an Oscar in movie terms—it often leads to your product being well received and successful. And this can be an incentive for stakeholders to repeat this process with other products. Storytelling is the key to this process, and knowing how to tell a good story is the only way to get stakeholders to really care about doing more research.
This brings us to act two, where you iteratively evaluate a design or concept to see whether it addresses the issues.
Act two: conflict
Act two is all about digging deeper into the problems that you identified in act one. This usually involves directional research, such as usability tests, where you assess a potential solution (such as a design) to see whether it addresses the issues that you found. The issues could include unmet needs or problems with a flow or process that’s tripping users up. Like act two in a movie, more issues will crop up along the way. It’s here that you learn more about the characters as they grow and develop through this act.
Usability tests should typically include around five participants according to Jakob Nielsen, who found that that number of users can usually identify most of the problems: “As you add more and more users, you learn less and less because you will keep seeing the same things again and again… After the fifth user, you are wasting your time by observing the same findings repeatedly but not learning much new.”
There are parallels with storytelling here too; if you try to tell a story with too many characters, the plot may get lost. Having fewer participants means that each user’s struggles will be more memorable and easier to relay to other stakeholders when talking about the research. This can help convey the issues that need to be addressed while also highlighting the value of doing the research in the first place.
Researchers have run usability tests in person for decades, but you can also conduct usability tests remotely using tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or other teleconferencing software. This approach has become increasingly popular since the beginning of the pandemic, and it works well. You can think of in-person usability tests like going to a play and remote sessions as more like watching a movie. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. In-person usability research is a much richer experience. Stakeholders can experience the sessions with other stakeholders. You also get real-time reactions—including surprise, agreement, disagreement, and discussions about what they’re seeing. Much like going to a play, where audiences get to take in the stage, the costumes, the lighting, and the actors’ interactions, in-person research lets you see users up close, including their body language, how they interact with the moderator, and how the scene is set up.
If in-person usability testing is like watching a play—staged and controlled—then conducting usability testing in the field is like immersive theater where any two sessions might be very different from one another. You can take usability testing into the field by creating a replica of the space where users interact with the product and then conduct your research there. Or you can go out to meet users at their location to do your research. With either option, you get to see how things work in context, things come up that wouldn’t have in a lab environment—and conversion can shift in entirely different directions. As researchers, you have less control over how these sessions go, but this can sometimes help you understand users even better. Meeting users where they are can provide clues to the external forces that could be affecting how they use your product. In-person usability tests provide another level of detail that’s often missing from remote usability tests.
That’s not to say that the “movies”—remote sessions—aren’t a good option. Remote sessions can reach a wider audience. They allow a lot more stakeholders to be involved in the research and to see what’s going on. And they open the doors to a much wider geographical pool of users. But with any remote session there is the potential of time wasted if participants can’t log in or get their microphone working.
The benefit of usability testing, whether remote or in person, is that you get to see real users interact with the designs in real time, and you can ask them questions to understand their thought processes and grasp of the solution. This can help you not only identify problems but also glean why they’re problems in the first place. Furthermore, you can test hypotheses and gauge whether your thinking is correct. By the end of the sessions, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how usable the designs are and whether they work for their intended purposes. Act two is the heart of the story—where the excitement is—but there can be surprises too. This is equally true of usability tests. Often, participants will say unexpected things, which change the way that you look at things—and these twists in the story can move things in new directions.
Unfortunately, user research is sometimes seen as expendable. And too often usability testing is the only research process that some stakeholders think that they ever need. In fact, if the designs that you’re evaluating in the usability test aren’t grounded in a solid understanding of your users (foundational research), there’s not much to be gained by doing usability testing in the first place. That’s because you’re narrowing the focus of what you’re getting feedback on, without understanding the users’ needs. As a result, there’s no way of knowing whether the designs might solve a problem that users have. It’s only feedback on a particular design in the context of a usability test.
On the other hand, if you only do foundational research, while you might have set out to solve the right problem, you won’t know whether the thing that you’re building will actually solve that. This illustrates the importance of doing both foundational and directional research.
In act two, stakeholders will—hopefully—get to watch the story unfold in the user sessions, which creates the conflict and tension in the current design by surfacing their highs and lows. And in turn, this can help motivate stakeholders to address the issues that come up.
Act three: resolution
While the first two acts are about understanding the background and the tensions that can propel stakeholders into action, the third part is about resolving the problems from the first two acts. While it’s important to have an audience for the first two acts, it’s crucial that they stick around for the final act. That means the whole product team, including developers, UX practitioners, business analysts, delivery managers, product managers, and any other stakeholders that have a say in the next steps. It allows the whole team to hear users’ feedback together, ask questions, and discuss what’s possible within the project’s constraints. And it lets the UX research and design teams clarify, suggest alternatives, or give more context behind their decisions. So you can get everyone on the same page and get agreement on the way forward.
This act is mostly told in voiceover with some audience participation. The researcher is the narrator, who paints a picture of the issues and what the future of the product could look like given the things that the team has learned. They give the stakeholders their recommendations and their guidance on creating this vision.
Nancy Duarte in the Harvard Business Review offers an approach to structuring presentations that follow a persuasive story. “The most effective presenters use the same techniques as great storytellers: By reminding people of the status quo and then revealing the path to a better way, they set up a conflict that needs to be resolved,” writes Duarte. “That tension helps them persuade the audience to adopt a new mindset or behave differently.”
This type of structure aligns well with research results, and particularly results from usability tests. It provides evidence for “what is”—the problems that you’ve identified. And “what could be”—your recommendations on how to address them. And so on and so forth.
You can reinforce your recommendations with examples of things that competitors are doing that could address these issues or with examples where competitors are gaining an edge. Or they can be visual, like quick mockups of how a new design could look that solves a problem. These can help generate conversation and momentum. And this continues until the end of the session when you’ve wrapped everything up in the conclusion by summarizing the main issues and suggesting a way forward. This is the part where you reiterate the main themes or problems and what they mean for the product—the denouement of the story. This stage gives stakeholders the next steps and hopefully the momentum to take those steps!
While we are nearly at the end of this story, let’s reflect on the idea that user research is storytelling. All the elements of a good story are there in the three-act structure of user research:
- Act one: You meet the protagonists (the users) and the antagonists (the problems affecting users). This is the beginning of the plot. In act one, researchers might use methods including contextual inquiry, ethnography, diary studies, surveys, and analytics. The output of these methods can include personas, empathy maps, user journeys, and analytics dashboards.
- Act two: Next, there’s character development. There’s conflict and tension as the protagonists encounter problems and challenges, which they must overcome. In act two, researchers might use methods including usability testing, competitive benchmarking, and heuristics evaluation. The output of these can include usability findings reports, UX strategy documents, usability guidelines, and best practices.
- Act three: The protagonists triumph and you see what a better future looks like. In act three, researchers may use methods including presentation decks, storytelling, and digital media. The output of these can be: presentation decks, video clips, audio clips, and pictures.
The researcher has multiple roles: they’re the storyteller, the director, and the producer. The participants have a small role, but they are significant characters (in the research). And the stakeholders are the audience. But the most important thing is to get the story right and to use storytelling to tell users’ stories through research. By the end, the stakeholders should walk away with a purpose and an eagerness to resolve the product’s ills.
So the next time that you’re planning research with clients or you’re speaking to stakeholders about research that you’ve done, think about how you can weave in some storytelling. Ultimately, user research is a win-win for everyone, and you just need to get stakeholders interested in how the story ends.
The TikTok-Viral Tarte Marajuca Juicy Lip Vinyl Trio Is on Sale for $40 at QVC
It is worth all the viral hype.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.