Says Durham-Wilson, the Pattern product development team dreamed up the steamer while discussing and reflecting on hair issues that are common among a variety of natural hair types and styles. “It is something that our consumers were asking for too,” she adds. “We did a whole consumer audit, and a steamer actually [ranked] quite high as something that they wanted to see from Pattern.”
The Pattern team began developing the steamer about 15 months ago, and according to Durham-Wilson, it took them 19 iterations to land on the perfect model.
About the Tool
The Pattern Hair Steamer comes in the brand’s signature mustard color and has a flat base (so it sits upright on flat surfaces) and a neck that fits comfortably in one hand. Built into its head are seven prongs that deposit steam to hydrate, detangle, and lift your hair. It also comes with two attachments: a disc that snaps on with four additional prongs that lay at the middle of your original seven for better detangling, and a diffusing cone that twists on to help define your curls.
Setting it up is simple: Remove the water cartridge by pressing two buttons on the sides of its base. Once the cartridge is off, lift the small, circular tab on it and fill with distilled water. If you fill to the maximum fill line (150 mL), your steamer will run for 16 minutes.
How I Tested It
I recently got my hair colored and silk pressed for the start of fall, but after about two weeks, it was time to wash my hair—and to pray my curls survived the heat and chemical processing I had put it through. I planned to use a few intensive treatments, such as the Pattern Bounce Back Pre-Shampoo and Pattern Breakage Barrier Repair Mask, to revive my curls and thought I’d also put this steamer to the test. After all, the brand did say the tool is best used to enhance treatments.
I’m not a natural hair novice (I’ve been natural for about 10 years now), but I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to using hair tools. Despite my lack of experience, I found the steamer easy to use. I briefly read the instructions, which led me to open the water cartridge at the bottom and fill it with water. After popping the cartridge back in, I pressed the start button, waited for it to stop blinking, switched on the steam function, and voilà! Steam was coming out of the device in seconds.