I picked up the Shark FlexStyle during the Sephora Sale last month. I have really thick hair that can be hard to style, so I tried to keep my expectations low, but I’ve been using it for about a month now and I am honestly blown away. I love the Shark FlexStyle so much!
If you’re not familiar with it, the FlexStyle basically Shark’s answer to the Dyson AirWrap; it’s a blow dryer with a smoothing brush, round brush, and curling attachments. You can use it as a regular blow dryer, or snap on one of the attachments to do a little styling, whether it’s for a smooth, sleek, straight look or a bouncy blowout look. I’ve tried most of the attachments now and find them really easy to get the hang of and use.
Typically, when I blow dry my hair, I just rough dry it – I point the blow dryer at my head at go, no brush or anything, and then brush it out once it’s dried. Before the Shark, I’ve been using a T3 dryer for years – it’s been the fastest drying and least damaging to my hair. Even as a blow dryer alone, I think the Shark performs incredibly well. You can turn the nozzle sideways so it’s shaped more like a tradition blow dryer, and there’s a concentrator you can snap on if you’re looking for more directed heat. I always let my hair air dry a little bit, but even following my normal routine it took me less than 10 minutes to dry, which is amazing. And my hair felt really nice and smooth and soft afterwards, too. Plus, the dryer without attachments is so lightweight, which is great for people like me with limited strength.
When I use the flat brush, I typically rough dry a little bit first, and then use the flat brush attachment when it’s already mostly dry just to really get it nice and smooth. My hair is already pretty straight, so I can’t say this attachment makes a huge difference on my hair, but I think it does make a nice, subtle difference. My hair just looks a little bit smoother and more polished than it does when I just rough dry it. And it is so incredibly easy to use – there’s no real learning curve for this one for me.
And now, the part I was both the most excited and most nervous to use – the curling attachments. I was really, really not convinced these would work for my hair, but I have been blown away. There’s one for the left side of your head, and one for the right – you snap them on, take a section of hair, and the air suction effect pulls it around the barrel. You then slowly pull and wrap until the whole piece of hair is wrapped around. You can do a cool shot at the end, or turn it off in between curls, but I tend to just pull it out and move on. The size of the section will depend on how thick your hair is – even taking small-ish sections, the whole thing only takes me about 10 minutes. Before I start curling, I use the normal blow dryer to dry the roots, because I found that just the curling attachments alone weren’t really drying the roots enough to keep them from getting a little bit frizzy.
A few things to note: the curling attachments don’t make my hair as curly as a curling iron does. It’s more like if I got a blow out at a salon or at Drybar – the curls fall out and look like nice, loose, blown out curls. I love them and feel like they make my hair look amazing. Also, for anyone else with limited hand/arm strength or mobility reading this – I can’t do the curling by myself. Some people might! I just can’t. But it’s been much easier for my mom or my PCA to help me with than a typical curling iron is.
I know I got the FlexStyle during the Sephora Sale, but honestly, I love it so much I think it’s worth paying full price for. It makes it so much easier and faster for me to do my hair at home, and I could not be more impressed with the results.
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