Backstory: was interested in the Dyson, then Shark, but couldn’t justify the cost. I have T3’s curlers and DryBars dry brush, so I had the individual tools.Sephora Sale, I saw the Bondi with great stars, could buy it for $150, so I immediately pulled the trigger. Ended up returning it, and bought this for $70 more during Black Friday. Including my review of both products in case it’s helpful for decision making.BondiInitially: I loved it. I could blow dry my hair in 5 minutes and do a quick blow out in 10-15 minutes.Additional thoughts: 1.) The appliance itself felt cheap compared to my T3, but I had no frame of reference for airstylers.2.) I hated how hot the styler attachments got, I had to use my hot pad to remove them/put new ones on (like the different direction barrels).3.) The curls do not last, but I really liked the circular brush/blow out style I was getting, so was still happy. 4.) The air suction isn’t strong, whatsoever. I don’t know the numerics of my hair type, but I am a natural blonde, very fine hair, slightly wavy, but it is very thick and quite long (natural waist maybe?). The air suction on the curlers would barely pick up any of my hair, I truly can’t imagine how it would work on coarser hair. I’m talking 1/3-1/2 of the hair I’d normally section/curl with my iron. 5.) I would get heat marks in my hair during curling, which was super alarming to me (I use protectant, but I do not color my hair) Then, I was using the circular brush, and the whole attachment snapped off. In investigating, the plastic of the the connection would get so hot that it would bend the plastic — making the attachments unusable.SharkImmediately, the appliance is more sturdy, substantial and feels quality. The difference feels like Bondi=Plastic, Shark=Metal.Speed: Dried my roots in 1 minute, root to tip in 4 min, and curled in an additional 9 min.Notable improvements:1.) Better materials2.) No troubles with the heat of attachments, there’s grips at the ends, but the attachements themselves don’t get as hot either making it super easy to change out3.) beautiful curls on the first try, and have lasted this far with no hairspray4.) huge improvement in air suction/strength, I can actually curl normal sections of hair5.) no heat marks thus far!I would highly recommend saving until the Shark is in budget!
Just got this today. Initial review-- Dries hair FAST, I have very fine hair but a LOT of it, and this dried my hair in maybe half the time of a regular dryer- I dried my hair on the next to lowest heat setting- it didn’t burn my head at all but was still very effective at drying- I used the curling rods (comes with 2, one for left side and one for right side of head) and was pretty pleased with how easy they were to figure outSee attached photos- for context, I used no products in my hair to combat frizz or add volume, etc. Had just washed my hair and was excited to test this out. Blow dried my hair until it was about 85% dry, and then grabbed a few sections to test the curling rods. I literally half-added this and only curled a small number of sections in my hair, so just know that if you spend more than literally 6 minutes curling your hair with this, I think it’ll look ten times as good.This thing isn’t too heavy, and the attachments are very easy to switch out (they do have a locking mechanism so they don’t fall out while you’re using them). A lot of people have commented on the volume, but honestly- it doesn’t sound any louder to me than a typical blow dryer? The noise is slightly more high pitched than a normal dryer, so maybe that’s what people don’t like, but after 5 seconds of using it the sound literally became white noise to me. Honestly, I think it’s quieter than most hotel dryers.My one complaint isn’t really a complaint, I just didn’t read and realize that there’s a different curling wand for each side of the head. So you’ll basically curl one side of your head, then swap out the rod and curl the other side. I kind of wish it was just one rod to do the whole head, but with how they’re designed that wouldn’t work (unless you didn’t care about which way the curls face.) Each rod is clearly marked on the end with an L or an R so there’s no guesswork.As someone who loves to have nice hair but is infinitely lazy and unskilled with a curling iron or round brush, this seems like it was very well worth the purchase for me. If you’re already a pro at doing hair, you might not get as much use out of this set, but for me I’m very happy with the purchase.I chose this over the dyson because of the price point, but also because I’ve owned other products (vacuums lol) from each brand and I’ve found Shark products to be more reliable and dependable than Dyson stuff.Update: two weeks in and I’m loving this. Surprisingly, my favorite attachment is the round brush. It’s so easy to use that with the dryer to dry my hair and give it volume so my roots aren’t so flat. This thing also travels well- when your straighten out the dryer barrel, this was super easy for me to fit in my carry on bag and then I just threw the paddle brush attachment in my backpack. Easy peasy and I was able to use it to keep my hair looking full and lovely on a long weekend trip to the lake. Very happy with this purchase.Edit 2- 2 month update. I freaking love this thing. I actually don’t use the curling wands very often- I’ve been using both brush options to get volume and even curls in my hair. I’ve never been skilled (or patient) at doing my hair but this thing has been pretty much a game changer for me. Walked out of the house the other day looking like I had just gotten my hair professionally done, felt like a goddess.
I have very thick hair and it typically takes me 45 minutes to an hour to style — with the Shark I did everything in less than 20 minutes! It dries it so fast and I love that you can control the air speed and the temperature. I’ve curled it and given myself a blow out and both results were amazing and it’s so easy to use. If you’ve been debating whether to treat yourself to one, take this as your sign to just do it!!!!