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Shark SmoothStyle Review: This Is the Best Blow-Dryer Brush I’ve Tried

I can go from shower to silky blowout in 20 mins.
Shark SmoothStyle Review Photos of the author before and after using the Shark tool and a photo of the tool itself on a...
Jessica Kasparian/Laneen Wells

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Pros
  • Dries hair quickly
  • Under $100
  • Long cord
  • Easy to restyle hair
Cons
  • Very loud

I have to be honest: The first time I tried the Shark SmoothStyle ($79, amazon.com), I didn’t get how it was different from the many, many other blow-dryer brushes out there. I was testing the SmoothStyle for our 2024 Healthy Beauty Awards, and we only crown products we think are total game changers—so I went into testing feeling kinda judgy (I wanted to be wowed!). But the more I used it, the more I realized how wrong I was for casting it aside so quickly.

Sephora

Shark

SmoothStyle Heated Comb + Blow Dryer Brush

Turns out, the SmoothStyle would become the one tool I reach for every time I style my hair—and it’d give me the best blowout I’ve ever had.

The design

Before I explain why this corded blow-dryer brush is so great: The SmoothStyle has a four-sided head—the wider sides have hairbrush-like bristles, while the thinner sides feature heated combs.

Shark notes that you can use the brush in “wet mode” or “dry mode.” Wet mode means turning the dial to one of three temperature settings and brushing through your damp hair, while hot air comes through the bristles to dry it and add volume. In dry mode, you twist the dial to the heated comb setting (which turns off the air) and run the other sides of the brush through your hair to smooth it.

Worth noting: You’re only supposed to use the combs on dry hair. Also, Shark doesn’t note how hot the brush gets—it only claims that the SmoothStyle won’t cause as much damage as other dryer brushes or straighteners do.

Honestly, I thought the combs seemed gimmicky, and they definitely came with a learning curve. The first few times I used the brush, I dried my hair with the bristles before running the hot combs through my straightened style. My hair looked a little less poofy, but the results weren’t anything to write home (or a review) about.

Then, one day, after drying my hair, I decided to wrap some sections around the brush and run them through the heated combs at the same time. I gotta say—I felt like an idiot. My hair looked sleek, bouncy, and flippy in all the right spots. This is what I’d been missing out on all the weeks before.

Original image by SELF commerce writer Jessica Kasparian
Original image by SELF commerce writer Jessica Kasparian
The results

The SmoothStyle dries my hair just as fast as other dryer brushes I’ve tried, even though it has less surface area for air to blow through because of the heated combs on each side. I have a lot of long, curly, medium-fine hair, so before this tool I had to use a blow-dryer and then a flatiron if I wanted to straighten it. Now, I like to let my hair air out for a while or use my regular dryer until my whole head is damp. Then, I use the SmoothStyle to zap any last moisture out of my hair while styling it at the same time.

The real magic is in the combs—they create that silky, bouncy look I’m after every time I blow dry my hair. Plus, they make it super easy to restyle my hair in the morning, after it’s started to look wavy and messy in a not-so-cute way. Most days, I reach for the SmoothStyle over my usual flatiron just for the combs—they’re that good.

After using the dryer on wet mode.

Original image by SELF commerce writer Jessica Kasparian

After using the heated combs.

Original image by SELF commerce writer Jessica Kasparian
The competition

As a former beauty editor, I’ve tested more hair tools than any one person should—that includes lots of blow-dryer brushes like this one. I’ve taken the Dyson Airwrap for a spin, but it’s a little too complicated (and takes up too much space) for me to commit to it. I feel similarly about the Shark FlexStyle (an Airwrap dupe)—it’s a great tool at a more stomachable price, but I don’t reach for it because I can’t be bothered with changing out the attachments as I’m styling my hair.

I’ve always preferred round brushes to more complicated hair tools, and I’ve tried a few of those too: Revlon’s One-Step Volumizer and Drybar’s The Double Shot Oval Blow-Dryer Brush. The Shark SmoothStyle falls in the middle price-wise, and to me it’s well worth the price. The original Revlon One-Step is what introduced me to blow dryer brushes, but after months of using it, it started to get scary hot in just a few minutes, and I always worried about the damage it was probably doing to my hair. (Meanwhile, I’ve been using my SmoothStyle for about six months, and I haven’t noticed any changes in how it works.) The Drybar Brush just isn’t worth the money, when the Shark costs less and has hot combs to better style (and restyle) your hair.

Bottom line

I eventually realized that I judged the Shark SmoothStyle too harshly at first. But if I hadn’t come to that conclusion on my own, my mom and friend would later make it obvious when they each visited me in New York and borrowed it. Normally, my mom uses the Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus that I bought her a few years ago—but she was blown away by how smooth her hair looked (and how well it stayed) after using the Shark, even on a hot day in the city. And my friend said the Shark was a lot faster than her Hot Tools Professional 24K Gold One Step Volumizer and Hair Dryer. Both of them have told me they want to buy the SmoothStyle now, and I think they should! It’s everything I know and love about a hair-dryer brush, but even better.

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