When I first saw the L'Oreal Colorsonic, a new high-tech appliance that allows you to color your hair at home, I thought, "Wow, this really could have been used during a pandemic."

I was quarantined with my mother and sister for several months. Prior to our confinement, the three of us women had our hair colored professionally at a salon. My sister and I had basic blonde highlights, and my mother had only touch-up dark red roots, nothing too intense. Still, as it became clear that the hair salon would be closed for more than a few weeks, we began to fret about dying our hair at home.

Was I naive to think that using box dye would be easy? Of course not; we fumbled through every step of the at-home hair coloring process, from picking the right shade at CVS, to mixing the chemicals, to applying the dye evenly. He even painted a Jackson Pollock picture in the bathroom.

Suffice it to say that the moment our regular salon reopened, we made an appointment to undo the blotchy, mismatched mess we'd created.

But I think if we had Colosonic, our DIY hair-dyeing challenge might have turned into a long-term lifestyle change. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars a year on hair color and hours at the salon, we can now dye our hair beautifully from the comfort of our own home, whenever we want.

The ColorSonic looks a lot like an ordinary hair tool. In fact, it reminds me of a Dyson AirWrap with a brush attachment. Instead of styling the hair, the brush vibrates, combing the dye evenly through the hair without splattering the color onto clothing or counters.

L'Oreal's ColorSonic collection includes 40 different colors, ranging from red, blonde, and black to "bold" colors, explained L'Oreal Technology Incubator Global Vice President Gib Baruch in an interview at CES 2022. The fixtures and products will also accommodate all hair lengths and curl types.

The color comes in an airless cartridge, which when inserted into the machine, the dye and activator are divided into smaller portions as needed. This means that no product is wasted, and those with short hair or who just want to touch up their roots a little can theoretically use one pod over and over again. The reason is that once the dye and activator are mixed, that product can only be used for a limited amount of time.

Most other general questions and uncertainties about home hair color can be answered with the Colorsonic companion app. For some reason, I skip reading the instructions on the physical box, but follow the app's guidance like my life depended on it. The app then told me the correct color of red my mother needed and brought me to where I could purchase the corresponding cartridge online.

Unfortunately, we will have to wait until early 2023 to see if the L'Oreal Color Sonic is as easy to use and convenient to maintain as it claims. The company has not released pricing information either. While it makes sense to pay $550 for a Dyson AirWrap, the Color Sonic is not likely to cost more than that, or even as much as you would spend in a salon in a year.