Black Friday is officially upon us and many brands are offering major discounts on some of their most popular products.
From today (November 29) until Monday (December 2) shoppers can get their festive presents bought now for way less than usual. Whether its beauty, fashion, tech, or homeware, there’s something for everyone.
One brand that has once again participated in the annual sales extravaganza is Shark, which stocks a wide range of highly sought after appliances. As well as its popular line of vacuum cleaners, the Shark Beauty range, which includes various hair dryers to suit all styling needs.
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When Daily Record reporter Lucy Farrell saw that her go-to Shark FlexStyle 4-in-1 Air Styler & Hair Dryer was reduced by upto 30 percent from various retailers, she couldn’t help but sing its praises once again.
The FlexStyle includes four accessories for “versatile multi-styling”, promising to produce in voluminous “salon” wavy curls or straight locks. These include include the auto-wrap curlers, straightening concentrator, a paddle brush and separate oval brush for gentle shaping.
Originally retailing at £269.99, multiple outlets are offering varying discounts on the gadget. The cheapest seen so far is from LookFantastic, where it is available for £188, making for an £88 saving.
After purchasing it a year ago, Lucy, then a self-confessed hair styling novice, shared her experience with her first try of the Shark FlexStyle nearly one year ago. Read below to see how she got on – and if she would recommend it now.
Blow dry
The first accessory that I was excited to try was the oval brush, as my hair is rather flat, so I’m always trying to inject a bit of volume. However, achieving this usually requires several round brushes and a lot of patience.
What makes the Shark’s oval brush stand out is that it features a variety of bristles, to prevent locks from catching. Simply attach it to the hair dryer’s head and you can shape as you dry with just one gadget, which I loved because I tire quickly of holding a hair dryer in one hand and a brush in the other.
The combination of the brush and moveable head made shaping my hair incredibly easy. While I find the back of the head tough to reach, an easy switch of the head from straight to sideways made for seamless styling.
Curling
Next, it was time to test out both of the curling tools included, with one labelled to use on the left side of the head and the other on the right. Again, as someone who is particularly bad at curling hair, this was a dream for me.
With no curling required, the Shark’s suction technology wraps the locks around the barrel for you. This took some getting used to and I found it worked best with strands that are all the same length.
I wasn’t looking for super stiff curls, so I held each one for five to ten seconds, then finished it off by using the cool air blast. With a click of a button, the wand lets through a blast of cold air for extra setting.
I also gave the straightening brush a go, but at the time, I honestly don’t feel that I will be using it much with the hair I have. With it being naturally straight, I figured I wouldn’t get much use from it.
However these days I actually use it interchangeably with the larger oval brush, but more as a volume brush, depending on what part of hair I’m working on.
I didn’t feel that there was anything special about the concentrator accessory and it did a good job of focusing heat to desired areas.
Would I recommend the Shark FlexStyle?
After a year of using the Shark FlexStyle, I can no longer imagine living without it. I absolutely love how even a quick use can give me a salon like look for casual days. At the same time, it also is an asset for when I want to go all out and give myself a bouncy blow dry, or beautiful curls that don’t fall out.
The one drawback that I still find a bit irritating is the sound it gives of. I guess with its technology it makes the running sound far more high pitched than standard hair dryers. I’m not the biggest fan of it when I have to dry near my ears, but when I see the final results, I remember it’s all worth it.
Get the Shark Beauty FlexStyle 4-in-1 Air Styler and Hair Dryer for Straight and Wavy Hair for £188 from LookFantastic here.
For those looking to shop around, Dyson’s Supersonic Origin Hair Dryer can be snapped up for £279.99 with a complimentary storage case that’s worth £60. For those on a budget, the Revlon Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumiser is now half price at £25 from Boots.
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