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Hair Straightening Brush 101 | NHP BEST 7 Hot Brush List & Reviews
- NHP
- Flat Iron Guide
- Hair Straightening Brush
You ever tried a hair straightening brush for Black hair? You might even wonder if they reaaaaaally work or not, right?
I got you sis. I’ve done the research on these brushes when I wrote about them back around 2017 or earlier when they were costing dang-near $200. Thank the Lordt, they’re somewhat cheaper now...
And I’ve recently got some new information that’s gonna help you figure out if this is a good buy for you or not.
In today’s tutorial, you’ll get a detailed breakdown and reviews on these unique hot tools and you’ll even learn which is the winner in our “flat iron hair straightener or brush” which is best comparison.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
What Is a Hair Straightening Brush?
So look sis, first-things-first, I want you to fully understand what a hair straightening brush is and does. Also called “hot brushes” (not to be confused with blow dryer brushes)...
...these bad girls straighten your hair using heated plates and bristles that glide through dry hair strands to relax the molecular bonds that keep hair kinky and curly. They straighten hair and add shine while maintaining volume.
If you’re terrified of too much heat from pressing with a flat iron, you may feel more comfortable with a hot brush. It’s generally seen as the safer option although it still applies heat, ofcourse.
[ See our Babyliss Flat Iron Reviews Article ]
Many hair straightening brushes feature ceramic and ionic technology like tourmaline or diamond infusion that add shine to your hair while neutralizing static to remove frizz.
You can more easily protect your hair from damage using lower temperatures and not needing to worry about hot spots that you’ll often get from cheap flat irons. Bristles are made of nylon, silicone and ceramic materials to glide gently and smoothly through your hair.
Straightening brushes are a great way to multitask as you style. In a couple quick passes, you can detangle, straighten, and increase shine.
These devices work pretty much as you'd expect: The straightener brush heats up so that you can run the hot bristles through your hair, efficiently smoothing strands without tamping down the volume and body of your “luscious” locks.
Some naturals even prefer them to flat iron straighteners since hair straightening brushes can make contact with areas of your head where your flat iron straightener can't. You can flip your head upside down and side-to-side to get the underneath areas with a straightening brush, and the brushes give your hair more volume, fullness and body.
Just note that you still need to blow dry or air-dry before using a straightening brush (much like flat irons, they'll fry wet hair) and apply a premium-grade heat-protectant spray first (you gotta love your luscious, don’t go cheap on your heat-protectant, THOU SHALL...RESPECT...THE...LUSCIOUS!). This is a best practice...
Which Hot Tool Is Best? A Flat Iron or Hair Straightening Brush?
So, let’s get down to brass tacks sis! Imagine that in front of you, you have the best flat iron hair straightener and the best hair straightening brush, which is best?
Welp... not to be wishy-washy with you sis, the thing is this…
It really depends on YOUR desires because these two different hair tool types don’t give you the same results.
So Im’ma show you which one is better for you according to what you want out of your straightening session.
A hair straightening brush is best for you if:
- You're looking for more of a blowout hairstyle.
- You want to slightly detangle while straightening.
- You want to smooth your strands without tamping down volume & body.
- You want to get to areas on your head where a flat iron can’t.
- You want a hot tool with a reputation of being less damaging.
If your hair is average thickness to thin or damaged, hot straightening brushes are a good choice.
Straightening brushes tend to be less damaging to your hair because you're not clamping direct heat down on both sides of your hair, and you're also avoiding the tugs and snags that sometimes happen with even some of the best flat irons.
A professional flat iron is best for you if:
- You want a truly "bone straight" silk press hairstyle.
- You know the tricks of how to flat iron with very minimal damage done.
- You have very thick, coarse hair that resists straightening attempts.
- You want a truly brilliant shine after a straightening session.
Flat irons giving you that TRULY bone straight press look that you'll never achieve with a hot brush. But they can cause damage quicker in the hands of someone who doesn't follow proper flat ironing procedure.
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Best 7 Hair Straightening Brushes & Benefits
1. GHD Glide Hot Brush, Professional Hot Brush for Hair Styling
The ceramic technology & ionizer of the GHD hot brush tames & minimizes frizz. This hot tool has a combination of high density shorter & longer bristles for larger sections of hair to be styled. Maintains an optimum styling temperature for a healthier straightening session and look.
The award-winning hair styling GHD flat iron and heat tool brand has a mission to create good hair days. The brand’s scientists work with stylists to develop unique patented technologies that other brands can't duplicate.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- One of the truly Professional-grade hot hair brushes.
- GHD's heat brush tames and smoothes dry hair, for quick & effortless styling.
- 365ºF optimal styling temperature minimizes hair damage & breakage.
- Combination of high density short bristles and long bristles allow for large sections of hair styling.
- Eliminates frizz with ceramic and ionic hair straightener brush technology
- Transforms your hair in a few quick strokes.
- Perfect for second day hair.
- 9 ft cable & Universal voltage.
- Automatic sleep mode after 60 minutes of non-use.
- 2 year GHD manufacturer’s guarantee
Transform your hair in seconds with the GHD Glide hot brush: the first professional hot brushes for hair styling from GHD, tames and smoothes dry hair for quick and effortless styling.
2. Enhanced Hair Straightener Brush by MiroPure, Hot 2-in-1 Ionic
The Enhanced Hair Straightener Brush by MiroPure is a high density nano comb brush that’s fit for all kinds of hair types, such as wavy, fine to coily hair. This hair straightening brush gives you more control of your style while reducing flyaways and static.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- 16 heat settings provide you with total control for all your hair styling needs.
- 2-in-1 MCH heating and ionic straightener brush.
- Temperature settings range from 300℉ - 450℉ for different hair types.
- Temperature lock & auto-shutoff after 60 minutes.
Metal ceramic heater (MCH) technology delivers a consistent optimum straightening temperature in no time. This hair straightening brush can heat up in one minute. While the double ionic generator gives your hair a smooth, silky, natural lustrous look by sealing your hair cuticles.
3. InStyler Straight Up Ceramic Straightening Brush
No matter whether you’re looking for something to travel with, or just need a small hot brush to touch-up your bangs or face-framing layers, this mini fits the bill.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- 65 ceramic heated plates deliver consistent even temperature across the entire surface.
- INSTANT HEAT: Quickly heating up in 30 seconds.
- Has cool touch ionic bristles that prevent the heated surface from touching your scalp.
Tiny but mighty, it still packs a powerful punch. It heats up to 400 degrees and has a built-in heat recovery feature to ensure you’re getting that same level of heat with every pass ensuring consistent results every time. [See BONUS reviews of CHI flat irons...]
4. Revlon Salon One Step XL Straightening Heated Hair Brush (Best for Thick Hair)
Many naturals with thick hair are fans of this heated hair straightening brush option, which boasts an especially large surface area that makes it great for reaching more hair with every pass, a major win for those with thicker type 4 hair textures.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- Unique XL heated brush head design for root to tip contact & faster styling.
- Ceramic hair straightening brush w/ plates & duo detangling bristles - snag-free styling.
- 10 Variable LCD high heat settings up to 430⁰ (F) for complete styling control.
- Worldwide dual voltage.
- Lightweight design is ergonomically balanced for ease of use.
It’s lightweight and ergonomically designed to be comfortable to hold, has 10 different heat settings, and the detangling bristles glide through even ultra-coarse strands. And let’s not forget to mention the affordable price tag.
5. Remington Pro 2-in-1 Hair Straightening Brush (Best Drugstore Option)
Believe it or not, sometimes you can find quality hot tools at the drugstore; this multi-tasker hair straightening brush is proof positive. Ceramic bristles glide seamlessly through your hair, while the anti-static coating and ionic technology work in tandem to smooth frizz.
There are three heat settings to choose from, and in true drugstore fashion, this hair straaightening brush won’t break the bank, it's relatively cheap.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- Ceramic Smooth Glide Bristles for Less Snagging.
- Cool Tip Bristles for Comfortable Styling.
- Anti Static Coating + Ion Generator for Less Frizz.
- 450°F Salon High Heat.
- 3 Heat Settings + LED Indicators.
Straighten and brush in one easy step! The Remington Pro 2-In-1 Heated Straightening Brush with Thermaluxe Advanced Thermal Technology combines smooth glide bristles with salon quality high heat to save you time creating beautiful styles.
Digital controls make it easy to choose from three heat settings (450°F max) and find the best performance for your hair type. The anti-static coating and ion generator help prevent frizz and static.
The tangle-free salon quality swivel cord lets you style at any angel. Safely store your hair straightening brush in the included heat protective pouch, which not only keeps the ceramic bristles covered, but also protects them from damage in storage.
6. Prizm Enhanced Hair Straightener Brush, 2-in-1Ion
Happy reviewers (with various hair textures) repeatedly comment on how well this hair straightening brush works.
A whopping six million ion generators work to smooth frizz and minimize damage, while the widely-spaced bristles distribute heat more evenly to decrease styling time. This hair straightening brush gives your hair smooth, silky, natural lustrous look, thus reducing split ends and knotting.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- Double Ionic Generator for Healthy Silky Hair.
- Smart Heat Memory System & Auto Shut-Off for Safe.
- State-of-the-art design.
- Automatically recalls the last temperature as your preferred heat setting.
- More Bristles Design.
- 360° swivel power cord.
- Travel-friendly - dual voltage ranging from 110V to 240V
- 15 Level Temperature and LED Display.
The entire heated area is surrounded with hard plastic bristles to protect you from burning. This hair straighteneing brush has an automatic turning off feature after a usage of 60 minutes to keep you and your counters safe.
This hot comb hair straightening brush has 7-row bristles, which produce heat that is then absorbed by the hair by steadily brushing it with the hair straightening brush.
7. DAFNI Ceramic Hair Straightening Brush
DAFNI is an innovative hair straightening brush based on a unique 3D ceramic surface design, incorporating the most advanced hair care technologies. Easy to use, it saves you time while protecting your hair with a constant temperature of 185 Degree C.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- Unique patent pending 3D technology that creates multiple contact points with your hair to achieve healthy and straight hair in minutes.
- DAFNI is made of top quality materials that ensure best results with every use.
- DAFNI hair straightening brush takes 50 seconds to heat up to the optimal temperature.
- Unique design along with its safety mechanism makes it easy to use from the scalp all the way down and also straightens hair on the back of the head.
- DAFNI heats up to 185 Degree Celsius, which is the optimal temperature to achieve the straightening effect without damaging the hair.
The Dafni brush is the perfect mix between a flat iron and a regular hair brush making your styling sessions easier as you only have to hold and maneuver one single tool to get the job done.
As it only has a single button to power it on and off, you don’t have to fumble with the controls or try to experiment with temperature. This makes it a whole lot easier to work with and allows it to simplify your hair styling routine magnanimously.
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BONUS PICK: CNXUS Ceramic Hair Straightener Electric Brush (Best for Beards)
As a general rule of thumb, you want to make sure hair is pretty much snarl-free before using one of these brushes, but if you’re prone to lots of tangles, this pick is great for fellas with kinky beards.
The slightly curved design of the brush head helps keep hair smooth, and it also heats up in just one minute. Other noteworthy features include a 360-degree swivel cord and a 30-minute automatic shut-off.
Hair Straightening Brush Features:
- Advanced Ionic Technology.
- 2-in-1 Metal Ceramic Heater (MCH).
- MCH stones have fast heating response time and plateau.
- 360° swivel power cord and prevents wire twining.
- LED display.
- Adjustable temperature setting for all hair types.
- High quality ceramic iron comb teeth.
Every man with a beard that gets naturally kinked and twisted up needs this hair straightening brush. This brush will help you keep an extremely curly beard looking good. Just crank the heat up on this hot comb, do a little man primping, use smooth slow strokes and enjoy the gorgeous #beardgang vibes.
Heat Straightening Brush on Natural 4C Hair
- (Shrunken vs Tangled vs Detangled Results)
If you have very kinky type 4C hair, you might think that a hair straightening brush won’t work for your 4C, especially on a lower setting, but high-quality straightener brushes really do work.
As long as you’re not expecting the results that you’d get from a professional-level flat iron like the BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Prima Ionic Straightener.
With a hair straightening brush you should expect the look of a good blowout.
I'm going to quickly give you a few important details on hair straightening brush results when you try to work it on shrunken 4C hair, poorly detangled 4C hair and fully detangled 4C hair.
If you have 4a and/or 4b, you can expect similar results.
The minimum heat level of most hair straightening brushes is around 150-170 degrees Fahrenheit and the max is often near 450 degrees.
You'll want to make sure that your hair is completely dry and fairly well-detangled to get the best straightening results.
The positives about the best hair straightening brushes is that…
- They really do work for a decent straightening while leaving your hair with volume.
- They’re extremely easy to use.
- They’re effective at accomplishing some minor detangling.
- Great for women who are terrified of heat damage.
- Great for women who don’t like to use flat irons straighteners.
The only negatives about a hair straightening brush are that…
- Often, the back and the sides of the brushes get really hot.
- If the brush tips are very large, you can't get your roots very effectively.
- No matter the brand, even the best hair straightening brush will not give you bone straight.
So here’s what you’ll see and experience when using a hair straightening brush on:
I personally watched a hair straightening brush reviews demonstration just so I could come back and tell you how the brush responds to completely shrunken hair, poorly detangled hair, and well-detangled hair.
I know. I have no life…. Shut uuuup! Lol…
It’s just that I wanted to see these three scenarios for myself just to get a good idea of what parameters and circumstances us 4C kinky hair naturals could use the straightening brush in and how well it would work.
So let’s start off with the demo of a hair straightening brush on completely shrunken hair.
Using a Hair Straightening Brush on Complete 4C Shrinkage
Oh hunty, looook... You and I both know that the shrinkage is ALL TOO REAL. So can a hair straightening brush fight the fine fight through completely shrunken patches of hair?
Well….
If you have allowed your hair to shrink to full “Houston we have a problem” shrinkage capacity, you’re going to run into some major “snaggage” towards the ends of your hair, just like with a regular denman brush, a hot hair straightening brush is going to be far less effective at its job on shrunken and tangled natural type 4 hair.
Now, if your hair is not terribly tangled the brush will slide on through once the heat contacts it.
However I do recommend having a wide toothed comb or proper detangling tool available so that you can comb through the hair if needed, after some slight detangling in spots that hot hair straightening brush will slide on through your hair pretty easily.
The straightening demo that I observed employed 285 degrees Fahrenheit and managed to get the 4C hair fairly straight.
Using a Hair Straightening Brush on Poorly Detangled 4C Hair
The next scenario is detangled, yet, poorly detangled hair. I don't recommend using a hair straightening brush on kinky hair that is poorly detangled because you're just not going to be able to get the brush through your hair.
So, if you wanted to know if a hair straightening brush could be used AS a detangler brush to detangle your hair. You’ll soon find that the answer is a big, fat, NOPE!
You'll see major snags in a short amount of time and it literally feels like the brush is going to get permanently stuck in your hair and that you're not going to be able to get it out.
It’s not that the hot tool is going to absolutely tear your hair out because the bristles are usually very wide, but it's definitely best if you detangle your hair and have a wide tooth comb on deck and ready for battle.
This is true for all kinky hair types, and especially on type 4C hair.
Still though:
You'll find that if your type 4C hair is pretty decently detangled, that the hair straightening brush is going to slide through for the most part.
And any minor tangles that you have you'll be able to kind of lift the brush up and out and then go back in. This action/motion will help to relax and loosen those tangles to the point that you can slide the straightener brush through and give you a nice straightening effect.
Using a Hair Straightening Brush on Fully Detangled 4C Hair
This last scenario is on well-detangled hair and although you and I both know that it’s not always easy properly & perfectly detangle type 4C hair. Still...
As long as you aren’t being a “lazy natural” and do a pretty good detangling job, you'll be able to slide the straightening brush through your hair with ease and it will relax & remove any of the minor tangles and shed hairs that are trapped in there.
And as you’ll see, you'll get the best straightening job when your hair is already properly detangled, and if you use a heat temperature level of about 325 to 350 you’ll enjoy longer-lasting results.
CONCLUSION: Hair Straightening Brushes Serves Purpose - It’s Not a Flat Iron Press
The final results after using a hair straightening brush on type 4 hair is similar to a blowout hairstyle. It’s not going to be bone straight like you get with a professional titanium flat iron.
One great tip for you is to twist your hair up at night just to avoid any further reversion or shrinkage. And you can enjoy the feeling of just combing through your hair.
As I told you before, it looks like you did a blowout with a quality blow dryer for kinky hair, or very similar to the way 4C hair looks when properly stretched with magnetic rollers.
With a hair straightening brush it feels like you got a light press to be honest with you. You get a pretty good stretch without having to burn your hair out. You end up with hair that’s extremely soft and extremely fluffy. If you want to grab one of the best hair straightening brushes on the market, click here.
Follow Author of Hair Straightening Brush Tutorial...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melissa Lee
Melissa Lee is a Contributing Editor to NHP and a former owner of the BlackhairOMG website. She formed 4C Trichology Growth Services, LLC., a US based hair care consultation service. She has also contributed as a writer and consultant for various hair and beauty websites. Melissa can be followed on Twitter here.
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