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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
