That’s Dyson the ultimate hair care brand that everyone dreams of, but what if I told you that it’s not worth spending an arm and a leg to get a Dyson brand from your hair accessories? Shark, a long-time competitor of the Dyson vacuum, entered the world of hair recently with the HyperAir dryer, competing with the features and performance of Dyson’s Supersonic. Its latest FlexStyle hair dryer aims to replace the Dyson Airwrap.
This is a curling iron, dryer, and dry brush in one, and at $270, you’re saving about $329 on the Airwrap. You can choose three curlers (don’t worry, the two curlers count as one). But there are also bundles for curly and curly hair that include barrels, a comb, a comb, and a round brush, and one for straight and curly hair that completely replaces the comb and brush. If you realize you need a different connector later, you can get it separately. It doesn’t work of course and Airwrap in some ways, but it comes very close.
Shark week
Image: Shark
The Dyson Airwrap became huge because it was unlike any other hair tool we’ve seen before with its roller curlers that use less heat than traditional curling irons (which damage hair). The curling wand is the main draw, but the Airwrap also has a variety of brush attachments for blow-drying and light blow-drying.
FlexStyle uses what Dyson uses for Coanda. This creates a swirling air inside its 1.25-inch curved barrel that pulls the hair into a natural spiral of curls. Like the Dyson, the Shark uses less heat because it doesn’t need a very hot barrel to force the hair into shape. Heat on the hair every day or several times a week leads to hair damage – this can reduce some of it.
In my tests with the FlexStyle, my hair wrapped around the barrel almost as well as on the Airwrap, but I had to force my hair here and there. FlexStyle includes two barrels, one left-handed and one right-handed. This is the same as the first version of the Airwrap, but the second edition left them to have a single barrel that can change direction by twisting a lever at the top. A single barrel makes the hair styling process a lot easier, but that alone isn’t worth the Airwrap’s high price.
Outside of price, I prefer the FlexStyle over the Airwrap for one reason: It also works well as a hair dryer. I have curly hair, and I don’t straighten it every day. I want a powerful hair dryer with a burner. Airwrap doesn’t have that. The drying process is not designed to keep fragile curls frizz-free. So Airwrap is a tool that I can use when I want to straighten and that’s it curling my hair; I have to spend a lot of money to get a good dryer.
Shark’s HyperAir hair dryer, with its sleek design, is one of my favorite hair dryers. You get the same diffuser as the FlexStyle, just a little smaller. (You can shorten the diffuser prongs for short hair and dry your ends, or lengthen them for long hair and reach your roots.) When curling or blow drying, you use the handle straight down. When drying, the handle rotates like the number seven, just like the hair dryers you know and love. There are four heat settings and three air settings, plus a cool shot button.
