I found my favourite tool for effortless bouncy blow dries with £70 off for Black Friday
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If you've ever ummed and ahhed about buying the hottest hair tool in the market (a.k.a the Shark FlexStyle), today is the perfect day. Right now, you can snap up the styler with £70 off in the Shark Black Friday sale, knocking the price down to £199.99.
Any loyal follower of the FlexStyle will know that it's rarely on sale – and with good reason, too. Since its launch, the all-in-one styler has been flying off the shelves and labelled with many 'sold out' badges. Indeed, the FlexStyle is like gold dust in the world of hair care.
While its popularity is undeniable, it's fair to say that the styler is no light investment. So if you've had qualms about parting ways with the cash, allow this sale to edge you towards that check-out button. Trust me, it's worth every penny.
So, what is the Shark FlexStyle?
The FlexStyle is complete with five attachments to dry, straighten, curl and boost volume. Unlike other expensive stylers, this is a high-tech hairdryer at its core; but with a flick of a switch (literally), you can transform it into a hot brush, curler and diffuser.
But before we continue, let's address the elephant in the room: this gadget is not light investment. But when you consider that this singular tool combines your curler, hair dryer and straightener in one, the initial sting seems much more justified. Plus, with the Shark Black Friday sale going full steam ahead, you can shop it today with a generous £70 off.
Speaking of Black Friday, the deals across fitness, tech and beauty are already coming in fast, so you can check out all the deals that the WH editors are shopping this sale season.
How to the use the Shark FlexStyle
At first glance, I had flashbacks to that time I tried to build an Ikea bookshelf on my own, but once I'd unpacked all the attachments I was pleasantly surprised at how intuitive the whole thing is.
All the attachments easily snap into the top of the styler to straighten and curl, or if you want to use it as a hairdryer, you simply rotate the top portion of the styler and it switches into dryer mode (pretty nifty, huh).
Temperature and airflow buttons are easily accessible on the side and something that truly amazed me was the ‘cool shot’ feature. After styling with heat, it injects a burst of cool air to seal your cuticles and lock in the curl for longer (sensible and stylish!).
The brand recommends to use the styling attachments on slightly damp hair, but even after wash day, it still does a good job at curling and boosting volume when completely dry.
If there’s one thing my patience didn’t get along with, is that you have to switch between a clockwise and counterclockwise curl attachment to create different directional waves. I found it a little fiddly, so best practice is to do one side of your hair at a time.
How well does it curl and straighten hair?
Let’s start with straightening (paddle and oval brush, we’re looking at you). The simple answer is: it’s a winner. My hair naturally dries kinky, but in one fell swoop the oval brush managed to give sky-high volume, and still made my hair look incredibly sleek (plus, this was the real winner for taming flyaways).
I didn't find the paddle as jaw-dropping as the oval brush – probably because I’m a sucker for volume – but it still straightened my hair and gave it a welcome shine. Does it last the day? Even with my hair that’s prone to going a little skew-whiff by midday, I’m happy to report that it kept its fresh-looking finish.
Moving onto the curlers: I found that using a volumising mousse or texture spray made all the difference. As your hair leaves the wand, you’re left with a stunning loose curl; however, I found that it started to lose its definition after a few hours (probably due to my hair type).
Because it uses air rather than direct heat, keeping the curl retention was a little more challenging: I’d suggest using a spritz of hairspray or pin the curls up and let them cool to set. If you’re looking for a super tight curl, stick to a traditional wand. So, in summary:
Fine/thin hair type: Yes, it’s perfect for a bouncy blow dry; however, the curls may start to fall out and lose definition throughout the day.
Thick/coarse hair type: You won’t have a problem here. It will create strong curls that will last all day, and is powerful enough to smooth and tame frizziness.
Does it damage your hair?
Using a heat protectant spray helps, but realistically, any heat tool will come with some sort of damage. Unlike traditional stylers (a.k.a curlers or straighteners) where your hair is exposed to heat that’s hot enough to induce a sweat, the FlexStyle measures temperature 1000x per second so it never gets too hot. Plus, using heated air means the temperature doesn’t have to be scorching to create effective, bouncy curls.
My overall verdict: Is the Shark FlexStyle worth it?
Now for the big question. Is it worth the price tag? I think you can tell from my slightly embarrassing facial expressions in my tutorial (if you haven’t watched it, scroll on up), that YES, it is worth it.
Inevitably, it took a bit of figuring out – especially as the curling barrels are so unique compared to traditional stylers – but after a few attempts, it’s foolproof. Not only is the entirety of the kit luxe and beautiful to look at, but the overall finish makes it something comparable to what you’d pay for in a salon.
It may look like it weighs a tonne, but really it’s super lightweight and painless to use (no aching arms here). My only gripe is that I can already sense my annoyance trying to fit it into a small suitcase as it is a little bulky to fly with. But, if you’re road-tripping the storage box is compact and can be chucked in the boot.
It may be the most underestimated element of the styler, but the hairdryer was a big win for me. I’m not exaggerating when I say it took roughly 3-4 minutes to dry. The air it ejects is so powerful, yet is surprisingly low in temperature (which is ideal if you have damaged hair). Especially for my type, the concentrator nozzle is brilliant for taming frizz and locking in that fresh blow dry finish.
In terms of the attachments, the oval brush blew my mind. It held tension really well, meaning it straightened without tugging, and the final finish was all about volume. My hair looked so healthy and bouncy with a full-bodied flick at the end.
The Auto-Wrap curlers take a bit of adjusting to, but once you’ve nailed it, they create the perfect curl with little heat. If you’re partial to a super defined, tight curl I’d stick to a traditional curling wand, but for a natural bounce, it’s incomparable to anything else I’ve tried.
And maybe for my favourite part of all, not only was my hair looking as good as it does post-salon, but it felt 10/10 the entire day. I didn’t feel like I’d barbecued my ends on a 180 degree curling wand, but for once, my hair felt healthy and glossy.
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