We tried the new Shark FlexStyle hair styler: is it a dupe for Dyson?

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Right here at The Publish, we're sharks in the case of discovering the right dupe.

From Doc Martens to the viral House Depot 12-foot skeleton, we're all the time on the hunt to avoid wasting you cash and discover twinning merchandise to beloved objects that might not be as attainable for all consumers.

A type of coveted objects is the Dyson Airwrap, with an excessive stock subject and $600 price ticket. We personally love our mannequin, however even the New York Publish struggled to get our arms on one for a lot of months.

Throughout that point, we rounded up some dupes for the viral hair dryer, however as of Sept. 6 there's a new multi-styler on the town that was rumored to blow the remainder out of the water.

We’re speaking in regards to the new Shark FlexStyle, which we coated earlier in August when it was launched for preorders. The hair software begins at simply $250, which is lower than half the worth of its principal competitor.

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Sophie Canon

Sophie Cannon

For a short refresher, the Shark FlexStyle makes use of the identical Coanda airflow know-how to wrap the hair routinely, leading to frizz-free curls with out the everyday kinks left by conventional curling irons. The styler additionally comes with choices for different attachments like a paddle brush, oval brush, styling concentrator and a curl-defining diffuser.

Lastly, not like the Dyson, the FlexStyler can bend at a 90-degree angle to grow to be a hair dryer and diffuser with the attachment. This flex (we perceive the title now!) is nice to get the perfect angle when drying hair, and in addition is much extra snug on the wrists when coping with numerous hair.

Our assessment of the brand new Shark FlexStyle:

Can it curl just like the Dyson Airwrap?

Beginning with hair 90% dry on the left, I dried one aspect of my head with the Dyson and one aspect with Shark. Are you able to inform which is which?

Sophie Cannon

Since we now have each the Dyson Airwrap and the brand new Shark FlexStyle available, it's clearly time for a curl-off.

The auto-wrapping potential of each gadgets is de facto what the entire buzz is about, and since they each use Coanda airflow to make alleged good ringlets, this was the right check to match the 2 multi-stylers. Each require hair to be 80-90% damp, and each must be fed sectioned items of hair, so for this assessment I merely cut up my hair down the center (Gen Z is loving the center half proper now anyway) and set to work.

To notice from the beginning, whereas each the older mannequin of the Dyson and this new Shark styler use two totally different barrel attachments to twist air to the left and the suitable, the brand new Dyson Airwrap Full for 2022 makes use of just one, with the power to change instructions — one level to Dyson there.

The curling course of itself was comparatively the identical, other than having to change the Shark barrel just a few instances. Each fashions have choices to regulate the warmth and the facility of the air, in addition to a button for a blast of cool air to set the curl. The Dyson is a bit simpler to make use of, because the buttons are all nearer collectively, whereas the Shark takes two arms, or a minimum of extra apply to be taught the place all of the buttons are.

With Dyson on the left and Shark on the suitable, you may see that tighter curls are simpler with the Dyson, whereas unfastened waves are seen when utilizing the Shark, particularly on longer, heavy hair.

Sophie Cannon

After curling the hair on both aspect, what do you suppose?

I personally didn’t see an excessive amount of of a distinction, and for $350 extra, I don’t suppose the Dyson aspect appears to be like $350 higher than the Shark aspect. Nonetheless, when used on longer, heavy hair, the Dyson does have extra curling energy, as seen within the photograph above. For looser waves, the Shark can be utilized, and it's possible you'll need to choose up some hairspray must you need the tighter curls that Dyson produced.

Professionals:

• Far cheaper than the Dyson, beginning at simply $250
• The curls are simple to make, with related buttons and options to the Dyson
• Comes with all of the attachments wanted to twist, blow dry and straighten, with choices to customise in your hair kind
• The system can twist to grow to be a hair dryer at a proper angle, making drying and diffusing simpler than utilizing it within the stick kind

Cons:

• The auto-wrap curlers solely go one course, much like the older Dyson mannequin
• Doesn't include a luxurious case or heat-protecting pad
• For heavier or longer hair, the Shark falls a bit flat when utilizing the auto-curling barrels

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