CEW’s annual Beauty Creator Awards celebrates the best beauty products—and of course, the creators behind them. One of this year’s finalists in the Hair Tools category is Dyson, a company that started with vacuum cleaners but quickly became recognized for its innovative hair tools. In this interview, Cheddar News spoke with Dyson Design Manager Veronica Alanis to learn more about the design process behind the Supersonic Flyway Attachment.

To create the attachment, the team at Dyson observed that professional hairdressers use a technique with a round brush to smooth the hair—including the little hairs at the hairline that often become misaligned. As engineers, Dyson wanted to mimic that action with one tool, hence the Flyaway Attachment.

The team created several iterations until they achieved the right shape. They knew that with a round brush and the styling concentrator, hairstylists would get the result they were looking for: sleek flyways.

To develop breakthrough products, Dyson employs more than 6,000 engineers, scientists, and stylists – and even has its own engineering school, The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. “Hundreds of Dyson engineers work on each product to meticulously prototype and test the machines,” the company has said.

Another point of difference is consumer education offered via its website along with tutorials from a cadre of influencers, including celebrity stylist Jen Atkin. There are even Dyson Demo Stores around the country, including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and just outside Washington D.C., where customers can have their hair styled by professionals who also teach them how to use Dyson’s products. In New York City, consumers can even make an appointment for a full style the way they would go to a salon for a blowout. The service cost is refunded if a product is purchased.

Go to our Beauty News section on Friday, November 11th at 3PM EST to find out the winners in all 33 CEW Beauty Creators categories (so you can immediately order what you’ve been missing!) And click here, now, to check out all of this year’s Product Finalists!