Best hair-straightening brush UK: Create sleek strands at home
Hankering after smooth, straight locks? Then the best hair-straightening brushes deliver salon looks with minimum fuss
If, like most people, your hair refuses to grow in a sleek, shiny curtain that hangs beautifully from the roots to the ends, then the likelihood is you may have had to resort to paying a styling professional to work their magic with a paddle brush and blowdryer in a salon. Trying to achieve straight and silky locks with a paddle brush and dryer at home can take a bit of time and practice, however – which is where the ease and speed of the best hair-straightening brushes come in handy.
A hair-straightening brush features a heated paddle (usually coated with ceramic – more on that below) with smoothing bristles, delivering the ease of a brush with the straightening power of a hot plate. If you’ve never quite achieved a super-straight blow-dry at home, a straightening brush can be a quick and easy way to add sleek polish to your hair.
Straightening brushes are suitable for all hair types, but are especially effective on long, thick and wavy hair that resists easy smoothing with a flat iron. The bristles on a straightening brush are also great for reducing frizz and flyaways; many hot brushes also include ionic technology to hydrate the hair as you style, thus reducing heat damage.
Read on for our guide to choosing the best hair-straightening brush for your hair type and budget, and below that our pick of the best straightening hot brushes you can buy.
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Best hair-straightening brush: At a glance
- Best for speedy styling: Revlon Salon One Step Straight Shine XL | £35
- Best for wet and dry styling: Revamp Progloss Deepform Straight Style | £90
- Best for thick hair: GHD Glide Hot Brush | £159
How to choose the best hair-straightening brush for you
What is a hair-straightening brush?
A hair-straightening brush usually resembles a paddle brush and has the same hot plates that feature on your straighteners. You might also refer to these brushes as “hot brushes” – you’d be right to do so, but it’s worth pointing out that not all hot brushes are built for straightening hair. In our roundup below, we haven’t included round brushes that are designed to lift the roots and deliver a more bouncy blowout style. You can read about those in our roundup of the best hot brushes and hot-air stylers to buy.
To use a hot brush, simply allow the hot plate to reach the desired temperature and stroke the brush through your dry hair. The heated paddle and the smoothing bristles will take all the work out of achieving straight hair, and should be both easier and quicker to use than a hairdryer and brush. You may also find a hot straightening brush easier to use than traditional flat irons.
What features should I look for?
Keep an eye out for brushes that use ionic technology to moisturise your hair as you style, reducing damage and frizz. In addition, ceramic materials reduce friction and pull on the hair. Hot tools with a range of temperature settings are great for hair health, allowing you to select a lower temperature for finer hair. The best hot straightening brushes monitor the temperature of the tool in use to avoid damage to the hair from overheating.
A longer cord allows the brush to be manoeuvred more easily around the head. An automatic switch-off function is also a good feature to have to avoid accidental fires from leaving the brush switched on when not in use.
How do I use a hair-straightening brush?
Straightening brushes are designed to be easy to use: simply pull the brush through dry hair to create sleek, silky locks. Always begin by spritzing the hair with heat protector spray to prevent any damage; this will stop your hair from snapping or splitting (check out our roundup of our favourite heat-protective products here).
Start by choosing a temperature that’s suitable for your hair type and texture – lower temperatures are good for fine or damaged hair, while higher temperatures suit thick and coarse hair. As you would when using a straightener, start at the top of the hair and glide the brush slowly down, pulling the hair taut as you go; you may find you need a couple of passes on each lock to achieve a fully straightened look. Finish with your favourite styling spray to hold your final look in place.
How we test hair straightening brushes
At Expert Reviews, we know that only hands-on testing delivers the most complete information about a product. With that in mind, we test all the straightening brushes we review, either at home or during a live product demonstration. We use the tools as instructed on clean, dry hair (or damp hair, where this is recommended). Where applicable, we test all of the different heat settings and, if possible, we test on more than one hair type.
When testing, we first note the materials used in the tool and the styling method – hot plate or hot air. For hot plate brushes, we measure the time taken for the tool to heat up after being switched on. We time how long it takes to style a full head of hair, taking into account the hair length and texture, and we evaluate the overall ease of use of the straightening brush. We take note of the softness, shine and feel of the hair after styling, and how well styles last over the course of a typical day. Finally, we confirm the weight and dimensions of the straightening brush and note any extras included in the box.
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The best hair straightening brushes to buy in 2023
1. GHD Glide Hot Brush: Best brush for thick hair
Price when reviewed: £159 | Check price at John Lewis
This simple-to-use hot paddle brush works best on large sections of hair, and with its combination of shorter and longer bristles it will certainly cut down your styling time compared to straightening irons – especially if you have long or thick hair. Like other GHD products, the Glide’s ceramic plates maintain an optimum styling temperature of 185°C to prevent heat damage. The brush also includes ionic technology to hydrate hair for a silky-soft and frizz-free finish.
The GHD Glide delivers a soft, straight look to hair without leaving it looking limp or lifeless. For safety, there’s an automatic sleep mode that turns off the tool after an hour of non-use. The classic matte black Glide looks chic; there’s also a limited edition champagne gold brush currently available. For a bouncier finish with more volume at the roots, there’s also the barrel-shaped Rise from the same manufacturer.
Key details – Material: Ceramic; Heat settings: 1; Cord length: 1.7m; Auto switch-off: Yes (1 hour)
2. Revamp Progloss Deepform Straight Style Blow Dry Brush BR-2500: Best brush for wet and dry styling
Price when reviewed: £90 | Check price at Revamp
Like other products in Revamp’s Progloss range, this hot brush uses a combination of ionic technology and a ceramic barrel infused with keratin protein, argan and coconut oils to condition hair for a bouncy, glossy finish. The brush can be used on wet or dry hair: there are two heat settings and two levels of airflow, so you use the brush with air to dry and style wet hair, or without air to straighten and style dry hair. Either method is quick and simple, and the brush left our hair soft and frizz-free.
Revamp’s ceramic bristles make light work of detangling hair and adding sleekness and volume, and used on wet hair the brush is a great time-saver compared to blow-drying and then straightening with a separate tool. With a little spritz of hairspray to finish, our hair held its style well throughout the day.
Key details – Material: Ceramic; Heat settings: 2; Cord length: 3m; Auto switch-off: No
3. Revlon Salon One Step Straight Shine XL Hot Brush: Best brush for speedy styling
Price when reviewed: £35 | Check price at Amazon
We’re big fans of Revlon’s One Step hot air brush for bouncy, voluminous hairstyles. The One Step Straight & Shine XL is a ceramic hot brush from the same brand for straightening dry hair only. The long length of the brush paddle is perfect for smoothing large sections of hair, and the Straight & Shine’s long bristles penetrate easily all the way to the roots – even on thicker hair. Ten heat settings (from 120ºC for fine hair, up to 210ºC for thick and coarse hair) mean you can easily select the best temperature for your hair type. An LCD screen displays the temperature you’ve selected, and it’s easy to switch up or down for styling different areas of the hair using the simple plus and minus buttons on the brush’s handle.
Revlon’s Straight & Shine uses ionic technology to condition the hair as you style, and features a ceramic barrel for snag-free styling. The 2.5m cord makes it easy to plug in almost anywhere and move the brush around the head, and there’s an automatic safety shutoff after 60 minutes. Like its air-based cousin, the Straight & Shine is simplicity itself to use and results in sleek, polished hair that looks salon-fresh in mere minutes.
Key details – Material: Ceramic; Heat settings: 10; Cord length: 2.5m; Auto switch-off: Yes (1 hour)
4. Tymo Ring Plus Ionic Hair Straightener Brush: Best brush for a shiny finish
Price when reviewed: £110 | Check price at Amazon
The original Tymo Ring straightening brush became rapidly popular with stylists in the US, and the upgraded Ring Plus version of Tymo’s stylish-looking tool now ships to the UK. The unique shape of the brush – with unusual wave-shaped bristles placed to control heat flow for even styling – is slightly startling at first, but the quality of the styling soon speaks for itself.
The Ring Plus heats up in under 30 seconds, and there are nine temperature settings to choose from, with 120ºC being the lowest and 210ºC the highest. The brush also has temperature monitoring to prevent scalding and scorching, and uses ionic technology to create beautifully glossy, supple straight locks. Our frizz-prone hair looked noticeably shiny and healthy after brushing, and for several hours after styling. The Ring Plus also has a safety shut-off that kicks in after 30 minutes, and comes with a neat travel bag and two handy sectioning pins.
Key details – Material: Titanium; Heat settings: 9; Cord length: 2.5m; Auto switch-off: Yes (30 minutes)
5. Amika Polished Perfection Straightening Brush: Best brush for dry and damaged hair
Price when reviewed: £110 | Check price at Cult Beauty
Dry, chemically treated and heat-damaged hair needs to be handled carefully to prevent further damage and dehydration. US beauty brand Amika’s Polished Perfection brush uses infrared heat to style gently and evenly; the heat penetrates the hair shaft for faster styling, which requires less exposure to heat, while ionic technology locks in moisture. The result is super-soft hair that looks and feels healthy – and, as an added benefit, it took just minutes to style our medium-length hair.
The Polished Perfection brush has a variable range of heat settings from 180ºC to a very high 232ºC (for super-thick hair only). An LCD panel lets you know exactly what temperature you’ve selected, and smart monitoring keeps the heat even and consistent. The brush is lightweight and easy to manoeuvre through even long or thick hair, and the long cord makes styling super-easy. The matte black brush also looks neat and stylish on your dressing table.
Key details – Material: Ceramic; Heat settings: Variable; Cord length: 2.75m; Auto switch-off: Yes (1 hour)
6. T3 Edge Heated Smoothing and Styling Brush: Best brush for taming frizz
Price when reviewed: £130 | Check price at LookFantastic
T3’s Edge heated styling brush is great for reducing frizz and static with its ionic heat and ceramic paddle. The firm, tooth-like bristles look a little unusual at a first glance, but the design helps to ensure even heating all the way across the surface of the brush. Unusually, the edge of the brush is heated, which helps keep the temperature even as you stroke the brush through the hair and allows easy styling of waves as well as poker-straight hair. There are also shorter, nylon bristles around the edge of the brush that help to detangle the hair as you style and smooth down flyaways for a polished finish.
The Edge features three heat settings: a cooler setting (127ºC) suitable for fine hair and two higher settings (149ºC and 177ºC) for coarser hair and tighter curls. Ionic technology helps moisturise and condition the hair as you style, further reducing static and frizz. An ideal product for moisturising, smoothing and taming frizz-prone and flyaway hair.
Key details – Material: Ceramic; Heat settings: 3; Cord length: 2.4m; Auto switch-off: Yes (1 hour)
7. Flower Beauty Ceramic Straightening Brush: Best-value straightening hot brush
Price when reviewed: £50 | Check price at Superdrug
Drew Barrymore’s Flower beauty and lifestyle range has consistently delivered simple but effective products that do what they say on the tin since its launch ten years ago. This straightening brush is no exception. It’s a relatively simple ceramic paddle brush that doesn’t add any bells or whistles to the basic heated brush concept, but it delivers a good straightening and smoothing effect at a value price.
The Flower straightening brush has four heat settings and includes conditioning ionic technology for fast styling with a soft and shiny finish. Arriving in a pretty pink colour, it will look cute on your bedside table. It’s perfect if you’re looking for a good-value straightening brush at a low price.
Key details – Material: Ceramic; Heat settings: 5; Cord length: 1.5m; Auto switch-off: Yes (45 mins)
