Shark FlexStyle Drying & Styling System Review: A Cheaper Dyson Alternative

It's not necessary to spend an arm and a leg to get Dyson-like quality from your hair tools. The look and performance of Dyson's Supersonic was compared by Shark to that of its Hyper Air dryer. The FlexStyle hair system wants to beat the Airwrap.

You can save $329 over the Airwrap with this curling iron, blow-dryer, and blow-dry brush. The two curlers count as one attachment. There are also bundles for curly and coily hair, and one for straight and wavy hair that uses a paddle brush. You can get any of them separately if you realize you need more than one. It does not work as well as the Airwrap, but it is close.

It's shark week.

The Dyson Airwrap was the most popular hair tool because it used less heat than traditional curling irons and caused less damage to hair. The big draw is the curling wand, but the Airwrap has different brush attachment for lightly drying and blow-drying hair as well.

The Coanda effect is used by Dyson. The 1.25-inch curling barrel has a vortex of air inside it that draws hair that wraps around it. Shark doesn't need a hot barrel to force hair into a shape because it doesn't use as much heat. This will cut down on the hair damage caused by heat on hair.

In my tests with the FlexStyle, my hair was wrapped around the barrel almost as well as on the Airwrap, but I had to convince my hair to come off. Two barrels are included in the FlexStyle, one for curling to the left and the other for curling to the right. The first version of the Airwrap had a single barrel that could change direction by twisting a lever at the top. The Airwrap's high price is not worth the convenience of one barrel.

The FlexStyle works better as a hair dryer than the Airwrap does. I don't always change my hair color. A hair dryer is needed. That is not included in the Airwrap. It's not meant to keep brittle hair free of frizz. I have to spend more to get a good dryer, so I only use the Airwrap when I want to make my hair look better.

One of my favorite hair dryers is the Hyper Air from Shark. The FlexStyle is slightly smaller than the same Diffuser. If you want to dry your hair or extend the length of it, you can shorten the diffuser prongs. The handle will be used straight up and down. The handle of the hair dryer looks like the number seven. A cold shot button and four heat settings are included.