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For a recent Hamptons getaway, I packed not one… not two… but three hot tools in my carry-on bag: a Dyson Supersonic blow-dryer, a GHD Platinum flatiron, and a Dyson Airwrap. All three were necessary to bring along. (Hold any eye-rolling, please.) All three were, in fact, used to style my hair throughout the long weekend. And though I’m not a light packer—evidently, I like to be fully accessorized—I would happily only pack a single tool if it could create the different styles (straight and polished, a voluminous blowout, soft waves) I regularly wear and keep my bangs sleek. T3’s brand-new Aire 360 might just be the solution.
At first glance, T3’s pretty-in-pastel-pink gadget looks familiar. To the Dyson Airwrap (I hold both side-by-side) and the numerous other air stylers on the market, certainly, but also to the brand’s existing Airebrush Duo that launched in 2021. That’s because it’s a similar concept: there’s a base complete with three heat settings, a cool shot function, and three speed settings, plus four attachments (a concentrated dryer nozzle, an oval brush—it’s the same design as the 2021 version—and two curling barrels for creating waves in opposite directions). What makes it unique: “Our barrels are ceramic, not plastic, so the heat management is different,” T3 cofounder Julie Chung tells me at the launch event. She emphasizes, “It's not tech for the sake of tech.”
What that means: the Aire 360 gets HOT. (Warning: Do not touch the attachments after styling—except on the heat-proof ends—or they will burn you.) But not too hot for your hair: T3 did independent testing on the tool to determine exactly how high they could turn up the heat to lock in a style—without causing hair damage. According to the brand’s research, tools over 320 degrees Fahrenheit will cause damage, specifically to wet hair. The highest setting on the Aire 360 is well under that at about 237 degrees Fahrenheit (Remember to keep your fingers—and ears—at a distance from the barrels!), whereas most curling irons reach nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Even so, prepping with a heat protectant is still imperative to shield your hair from potential damage.
And like most other “blowout brushes,” heated air is flowing through the attachments, but “air is not just air,” says Chung. Like the brand’s other Best of Beauty-winning dryers, the SoftAire Drying Concentrator attachment emits ion-enriched air to speed up drying time.
When I went to put the Aire 360 to the test on my fine, wavy hair, I was impressed before I even pulled the tool out of its millennial pink vegan leather storage bag. Each attachment has a dedicated pocket in the pouch. Chung tells me it’s called the “Ashley bag” internally, named after her friend who expressed the need for a proper, non-bulky, and elevated place to keep all the gadgets (because, with most hot tools, you get a bulky box… or nothing) between uses and easily on the go.
Inside the bag, I reached for the dryer attachment first (this eliminates the need to have a separate blow-dryer on hand—hallelujah!) and started by rough-drying my hair. “A good way to avoid over-blow-drying is to rough-dry your hair first to get a good amount of the moisture out and then smooth it with a boar-bristle brush,” Rachel Bodt, a colorist in New York City, previously told Allure. The delicate gust (on the medium setting) was enough to sweep my bangs into formation.
Once my hair was about 80% dry, I grabbed the Custom Oval Brush attachment to get volume at the roots, smooth the ends, and polish my bangs. Unlike a traditional round brush, you don’t have to be a professional to operate it (I type this from experience), and the flexible bristles easily glide through my hair for a sleek finish after just a few passes. I was pleased with the flowy, polished finish but could have added more of a bend with the round brush, too.
Another day, I took things a step further, testing out the curling barrels. Each barrel rotates in opposite directions (to curl your hair away from your face and not have to do gymnastics with your arms). One minor caveat: I have been spoiled by Dyson’s curling barrels clicking back and forth into different airflow directions, whereas with T3's design, you have to swap out the entire attachment—but it requires very minimal effort to interchange the two. Once locked in, T3’s barrels do all the work for you, creating pristine curls (in about five to seven seconds). Hairstylist Xavier Velasquez advises grabbing one-inch sections and hitting the cool shot “for five to ten seconds” before releasing the curl for the best results. Velasquez explains, “You don’t have to twist or twirl the [curling barrels].” Instead he “pushes and pulls the tool in and out.”
Allure’s associate manager of special projects Talia Gutierrez was initially drawn to the Aire 360 for its oval blow-dry brush attachment. “The bristles allow for a tight grip around my thick hair, shortening the number of passes needed to smooth my otherwise wavy, coarse hair,” says Gutierrez. That said, she was even more impressed by the curling barrels: “My hair can typically hold a curl for days, but it usually requires the heat of a curling iron, and with T3's new tool on the highest heat and airflow settings, I was able to get shiny, large, bouncy ringlets that lasted.”
That was the brand’s big goal: “The curls will last. No hacks. Full stop,” says Chung. And we can confirm they do—on both the finest and thickest hair. After wearing soft waves to a night at the ballet, I woke up to “bedhead” that looked more like a fresh, wavy blowout. And that is no small feat.
You can shop the T3 Aire 360 for $300 on t3micro.com and sephora.com.
Read more haircare reviews.
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Now watch Brooke Shields' hair care routine.
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