Best hair brush

Which hairbrush is best?

If you’re someone whose hair dominates your look and echoes your personality, caring for it with a quality brush is serious business. When choosing a hairbrush, you need to consider your hair texture, styling needs and which products you’re using.

It’s not unusual to find that a hairbrush doesn’t fit into a one-size-fits-all category. Some brushes are better for wet hair than others, and some are better suited for short hair than long. You may need more than one brush in your arsenal of styling tools. But the best is the Crave Naturals Glide-Thru Detangling Brush, the ultimate tool for wet or dry styling.

What to know before you buy a hairbrush

Popular brush types

• Paddle brushes: These hairbrushes are ideal for detangling wet hair and dispersing product. There’s a bit of cushion to the bristle pad, so they’re soft with a little bit of give for those with sensitive scalps.
• Vented brushes: These promote air circulation through the brush, instead of concentrating it at an endpoint. As a result, your hair sustains less heat damage when you blow dry it, and drying is often faster.
• Styling brushes: These feature bristles on one side, making them easy to control for more in-depth styling to add lift or create more defined styles.
• Teasing brushes: Used correctly, teasing brushes add volume through a technique called back-combing. These tend to be small and narrow with densely packed bristles to grab hair as you work with it.
• Round brushes: The best brush for voluminous blowouts, round brushes require a level of mastery to manipulate, so they don’t become tangled in your hair. They’re ideal for smoothing curly and wavy hair, and are well-liked by those with straight hair who want a frizz-free finish.

Bristle types

• Natural bristles: Natural bristles are made from boars’ hair. They have a flexible feel and cause the least amount of damage to hair. They’re universally liked for those with long, short, wavy, curly and straight hair.
• Metal bristles: These have nylon or plastic balls as buffers to your scalp. They’re great for brushing out curly hair and wigs, but often become caught in locks. They also heat up quickly, which could cause heat damage during a blowout.
• Synthetic bristles: Made from plastic and nylon, these are the most popular bristles. Not only do they make hairbrushes inexpensive, they also work well with various hair textures.
• "Porcupine" bristles: These incorporate more than one of the three bristle types to achieve multiple styling capabilities. Often times, the different bristles are staggered to promote smoothing and detangling, especially during blowouts.

What to look for in a quality hairbrush

Materials

• Ceramic hairbrushes are gentle heat conductors that speed up drying without causing excessive heat damage. They may also have ionic coatings on the barrel, which promote shine during blowouts.
• Copper plating is seen in high-quality brushes and is also known for speeding up the heating process.

Comfort

Because you spend a decent amount of time using a hairbrush, some are equipped with comfort features. Ergonomic handles provide molded grips that are easier to hold, especially as you flip and style hair in awkward positions. Some brushes have air-cushioned heads, which spaces out the bristles and makes for softer contact with your scalp.

How much you can expect to spend on a hairbrush

You can find a decent hairbrush for less than $10, though it might only have a couple of the features you want. Spending $10-$20 is where you’ll find one with better-quality bristles that will also last longer. For a salon-quality brush for bouncy blowouts and extreme frizz reduction, you'll spend closer to $40.

Hairbrushes FAQ

Q. How can I use my hairbrush to tame flyaway hair?

A. Boar bristles are ideal to handle flyaways and frizz, so if you don’t have one, it’s worth making the switch. You could also spray the brush with a light mist of hair spray, and then brush your hair lightly to disperse it.

Q. How often should I replace my hairbrush?

A. Even if you’re religious about cleaning it, hair care experts recommend replacing it annually. If you begin to notice bristles are shedding or breaking off, definitely replace it sooner.

What's the best hairbrush to buy?

Top hairbrush

Crave Naturals Glide-Thru Detangling Brush

What you need to know: It offers impressive versatility as an effective detangler and wet hairbrush. Its ergonomic shape is good for blow drying.

What you’ll love: It performs well with wet and dry hair of all lengths, especially hair with product in it.

What you should consider: Not everyone is sold on the unique shape and design, and it’s not comfortable to hold for some people.

Where to buy: Sold by Amazon

Top hairbrush for the money

Wet Brush Pro Paddle

What you need to know: This classic brush style with quality construction comes from a reputable name in hair-styling tools.

What you’ll love: Ideal for brushing out wet hair and wigs, it also works well for blow-drying long hair in a straight, smooth style.

What you should consider: There are mixed reviews on how it performs with thick long hair.

Where to buy: Sold by Amazon

Worth checking out

Suprent Nano Thermal Ceramic and Ionic Round Barrel Brush

What you need to know: This is ideal for those who have mastered the art of using a round brush for blowouts.

What you’ll love: It's effective at eliminating frizz and adding body to hair. The boar bristles glide through wet hair that has product in it.

What you should consider: It's a bit more expensive than other brushes, and not ideal for short hair.

Where to buy: Sold by Amazon

Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.

Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.

Sian Babish writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.