Durham-Wilson says the Pattern product development team came up with the steamer while discussing and pondering hair issues common to a variety of natural hair types and styles. “That’s what consumers were also looking for,” she added. “We did a consumer-wide audit and steamers actually ranked pretty high on what they wanted from Pattern.”
The pattern team started developing the steamer about 15 months ago, and Durham-Wilson said it took 19 iterations to arrive at the perfect model.
About tools
The Pattern Hair Steamer comes in the brand’s signature mustard color and features a flat base (which can be placed upright on a flat surface) and a neck that fits comfortably in one hand. The head incorporates seven prongs that release steam to moisturize, detangle, and lift your hair. It also comes with two attachments. One is a disc that snaps together with four additional prongs in the middle of the original seven prongs for better detangling. The other is a diffuser cone that you can twist to help define your curls.
Setup is easy. Remove the water cartridge by pressing the two buttons on the side of the base. Once the cartridge is removed, lift the small circular tab on the cartridge and fill it with distilled water. When filled to the maximum fill line (150 mL), the steamer will run for 16 minutes.
Test method
I recently had my hair colored and silk pressed for the start of fall, and in about two weeks it’s time to wash my hair. And I prayed that my curls would survive the heat and chemical treatments I underwent. I’m planning to use some intensive treatments like the Pattern Bounce Back Pre-Shampoo and the Pattern Break Barrier Repair Mask to revive my curls, and I thought I’d test out this steamer as well. After all, the brand said that this tool is best used to enhance treatment.
I’m not a natural hair novice (I’ve been natural hair for about 10 years), but I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to using hair tools. Despite my lack of experience, I found the steamer easy to use. After a quick read of the instructions, I opened the water cartridge at the bottom and filled it with water. Put the cartridge back in, press the start button, wait for it to stop flashing, turn on the steam function, and voila! Steam came out of the device within seconds.
