In the 1970s, Braun introduced one of the most unusual hair dryers ever made: the Astronette. It was a hood dryer — but not the kind bolted to a salon chair or attached to a long hose. The Astronette was an inflatable, air-cushion hood that sat directly on your head. It looked strange, but it worked, and it kept selling in Europe and South America for years after its debut.
What made the Astronette different from every other home dryer of its era was its complete freedom of movement. There was no stand to sit under, no hose to manage, and nothing to hold in your hand. Once it was on your head, you were free. You could get up, walk around the house, fold laundry, read, or simply sit back and relax — all while your hair dried.
The drying process itself was surprisingly thorough. Heat blew through 200 tiny air ducts built into the hood, distributing warm air evenly across the entire head. This meant no hot spots and no sections left damp while others were already dry. The even airflow was one of the Astronette’s biggest selling points, and it set the design apart from cheaper hood dryers of the time.
Temperature control was handled through a two-stage heating system. The low setting delivered gentle warmth — ideal for delicate hair or a slower dry. The high setting pushed rapid heat for faster results. Switching between the two was straightforward, giving users real control without a complicated interface.
Portability was another major feature. The Astronette was inflatable, which meant it could be deflated completely and folded down into a compact travel bag. For the time, this was a genuinely practical design. Most hood dryers were bulky, fixed pieces of equipment. The Astronette packed away small enough to take on a trip.
Production of the Astronette ran in multiple countries, including Argentina. Units made there were built for 110 volts, which means they are fully compatible with standard electrical outlets in the United States. Today, working 110V Astronette dryers do still surface in the vintage and collectibles market, and they function just as they did decades ago.
The look of the Astronette was undeniably odd. An inflated plastic dome sitting on someone’s head was never going to blend into the background. But Braun leaned into the design rather than away from it. The name itself — Astronette — suggested something futuristic, playful, and bold. That spirit fit right in with the broader design culture of the 1970s, when product designers were experimenting with plastics, bold shapes, and unconventional forms.
Braun was already well-known for its clean, functional design philosophy by the time the Astronette launched. The company’s products were often praised for combining good engineering with straightforward usability. The Astronette fit that mold — beneath its unusual shape was a well-thought-out piece of engineering that genuinely solved the problems of heat distribution and portability.
Hood dryers were common in professional salons during the 1960s and 1970s, but most home versions required the user to sit still beneath a fixed unit. The Astronette flipped that model entirely. By inflating directly on the head and requiring no external support structure, it gave home users a level of convenience that salon-style dryers simply couldn’t offer.
The fact that the Astronette stayed in production across multiple continents for many years after its introduction speaks to how well the core design held up. It wasn’t a novelty that faded quickly. It was a functional tool with a devoted user base, manufactured and sold long enough to reach collectors who still seek out working units today.
