A hair styling appliance

A hair styling appliance comprises a first and second arm (30, 31, fig. 3) arranged to move between a closed position and an open position. One or more electrodes 40, 41 are provided in a least one of the first arm and the second arm to dielectrically heat hair in a heating zone (25, fig.3) between the arms in the closed position. An electromagnetic field is generated by the electrodes when energised. At least one hair gathering member 32 is disposed on the first arm or the second arm and extends along an edge of the heating zone. The hair gathering member is conformable and comprises shielding material to inhibit the electromagnetic field from leaving the heating zone beyond the hair gathering member. The hair gathering member may comprise a flexible structure such as a mesh 34 or it may comprise a flexible structure which has castellated structures (136, fig.8a) or electrically conductive particles (238, fig.9a) distributed evenly throughout. The hair gathering members may be located on both arms forming a contact seal when the arms are in a closed position.