I cannot believe how quickly this tool dries my hair – the Shark FlexStyle tackled my thick midlife mane in minutes

As editor of woman&home, I have been lucky enough to try a fair few hair styling tools now. Over the years they have become wildly more advanced, but my biggest test for them all is how quickly they can dry my hair.

I have always had a very thick head of hair, which I am, of course, very grateful for. But after turning 40, the texture and look of it changed significantly – my once sleek blonde locks turned into a mass of straw-like frizz. A focus on protein and the right dose of HRT has definitely made a difference, but I do find I have to spend more time styling my hair in order to get it to do what and look how I'd like.

Being very low on time and having a thick mass of hair don't always go together well, so one of the best hair dryers is something I have both invested in and highly valued. When Shark released its new limited edition FlexStyle Champagne Diamond Limited Edition 5-in-1 Air Styler and Hair Dryer, I was keen to see how it would fare in my drying challenge. And it's genuinely wowed me.

Fresh out of the shower, I towel-dried my hair, spritzed it with (the divine-smelling) Revlon Professional Equave Hydro Instant Detangling Conditioner, brushed it through and got ready to set the timer.

Set on the highest heat and speed setting, as soon as I pointed this sparkly tool at my head, I silently mouthed 'wow'. The power in this thing is seriously impressive, and it got my hair to 90 percent dry in little more than five minutes. Yes, you read that right, five minutes. For context, my previous hair dryer took at least double that.

As a mum of three kids with a full time job, dog, house and everything that entails, the speed at which this tool dried my hair left me reeling with excitement (yes, I need to get out more). It's a game-changer if, like me, you have a really thick head of hair that you want to dry quickly but also have looking and feeling sleek and soft – the Shark FlexStyle really delivers, just with the dryer alone.

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This also has a multitude of other tools to style hair, none of which I have tried just yet, but if the dryer is anything to go by, I have extremely high hopes of just what this can do for my 'needs a little more TLC' midlife hair.

In our full Shark FlexStyle review, two beauty editors tested every part of this tool out, and it came up trumps with a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars – the only downside being some of the attachments are fiddly to get on and off.

The price is definitely a consideration, this tool is by no means cheap, but it's also not the most expensive of these kinds of stylers currently on the market. The Dyson Airwrap, for example, retails for £100 more than the FlexStyle. I'm looking forward to trying this tool in full, and then comparing to similar tools like the Airwrap, but based on the hair dryer alone, I'm sold.