10 Best Hair Straightener Brushes for Smooth, Silky Hair
Updated: Dec. 15, 2022Put away the flat iron. These heated hair straightener brushes are easier to use and will have you looking sleek in seconds.
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Forget the flat iron
It’s one thing to pay for a salon blowout that leaves you with smooth, silky, straight hair. It’s another thing entirely to go the DIY route at home with a blow-dryer, hairbrush, and straightening iron. Cheaper? Yes. Easier? Heck no, especially when you’re trying to tackle the back of your head. Enter the heated hair straightener brush, a brilliant multitasking tool that allows you to nail truly sleek, shiny hair quickly and easily—minus the dents and damage of a traditional flat iron.
“Hair straightener brushes are different from flat irons,” explains Colleen Cronin-Torres, owner of 1202 Hair Studio in Burlingame, California. “They both smooth the hair and add shine. But with a flat iron, hair is pressed between two heated plates, creating a straight, flat surface from roots to ends. A heated hair straightening brush is just that: a brush that you run through your hair to smooth frizz [but] leaves volume at the roots for a slightly fuller, more voluminous look.”
Deciding which tool to use generally depends on how straight you want your hair. If your goal is an extreme, glass-like finish, a flat iron might be your best bet. But for everyday straightening, this novel tool is a game-changer. “I like that you can get a quick, smooth finish without having to work extremely hard, especially for those with softer wavy hair,” says Joico artistic educator Leticia McKay. To simplify your search, we’ve tapped experts, reviewers, and even beauty influencers to bring you the best hair straightening brushes for your hair type and needs.
How to use a hair straightener brush
You don’t have to laboriously blow-dry your hair with a paddle or round brush before styling. Just try this hairstylist secret: Simply rough-dry your hair and then use the straightening brush finish the job. Cronin-Torres likes to dry hair completely before sectioning the sides and back of the hair with a clip.
“Make sure you keep the brush moving,” she says. “Slowly run it through sections of the hair, starting at the nape, letting down one section at a time to do the back of the hair. Once the back is smooth, let down the sides and brush the rest of the hair until you have reached the desired smoothness.”
L’ange Le Vite Straightening Brush
Best for: Damaged hair
When hair is already suffering, the last thing a stylist would do is expose it to extreme heat that can cause cuticle damage, split ends, or rough texture. Not only does L’ange’s Le Vite have adjustable heat settings that can help you bypass thermal damage, but it also delivers infrared heat and negative ions that distribute deeply and evenly throughout the hair. Plus, the ceramic plates glide smoothly and easily, sans snagging or breakage. Its cool-tipped ceramic bristles offer added safety.
Toss a damage-preventing heat-protectant product in your cart while you’re at it. “I like to say you wouldn’t go out in the sun without sunscreen, so why would you put over 400 degrees of hot tools on your hair without some kind of protection?” says Tiffany Molina, a hairstylist in Vancouver, Washington. She loves Joico’s Heat Hero Glossing Thermal Protector, a next-generation hair guardian that springs into action to shield hair from the assault of sizzling tools.
Highlights:
- Heats up to 450 degrees
- Has an automatic shut-off feature
- Reaches desired temp in under one minute
Tymo Ring Plus Hair Straightener Comb
Best for: Shine
A unique hybrid between a hair straightener brush and a straightening comb, the Tymo Ring Plus manages to deliver the best of both worlds. The dense, titanium, 3D teeth reach deep into the hair, so you get a sleek and shiny finish from roots to ends. Nine precise temperature settings allow you to monitor the level of heat and bypass damage, while a built-in ionic system brings long-lasting shine and reduces frizz. A 2.0 version of Tymo’s earlier Ring tool, this updated hair straightener comb has been winning rave reviews from online fans, including YouTube beauty influencer Fabulous Bre, whose natural hair became poker straight with just a few passes of the tool. “My hair is so freakin’ straight,” she said in a video. “Whenever I flat iron, I cannot get my roots this straight…. This is as straight as my roots have ever been. I’m so excited right now.”
Highlights:
- Distributes heat evenly
- Dense teeth penetrate to roots
- Nine temperature settings for greater heat control
Drybar The Brush Crush Heated Straightening Brush
Best for: Speed
Consistently rated one of the finest hair straightener brushes on the market, this Mercedes of tools reduces frizz, boosts shine, and straightens curls (even tightly coiled ones) with minimal passes through the hair. Admittedly a bit on the pricey side, it lives up to its luxury price with digital temperature control that allows you to toggle the heat up to 450 degrees, or lower it for finer, more fragile hair. And like many of its sisters on the market, The Brush Crush features ionic technology designed to seal the cuticle and impart a gorgeous sheen to your newly straightened hair. “I have very thick, long curly hair, and with a flat iron, it takes me around two hours to straighten,” says one reviewer. “I was able to do all my hair in under half an hour with this!!! Never in my life has it been so easy to do my hair—100 percent worth the purchase.”
Highlights:
- Gets the job done quickly
- Has an automatic shut-off feature
- Heats to 450 degrees
Amika Polished Perfection Thermal Straightening Brush 2.0
Best for: Smoothing
Its features sound like something out of Star Trek, but maybe that’s because the Polished Perfection brush yields out-of-this-world smoothing results. Red beam technology delivers heat quickly to preserve moisture and minimize damage, and an ion generator seals the hair’s cuticle and minimizes frizz. What all that lingo means for you: Frizz backs off, and the smooth finish sticks around longer. “Seriously, this thing is worth it,” writes one reviewer. “I don’t know what kind of witchcraft this thing does with the infrared light, but the results last longer, and my hair is softer, than with any other heat-styling tool I’ve ever used. It makes straightening my hair an effortless experience.”
Highlights:
- Infrared technology minimizes damage
- Cool-tip bristles offer comfortable styling
- Customizable temperature controls
Moroccanoil Smooth Style Ceramic Heated Brush
Best for: Fighting static
Plagued by flyaway hairs? It’s a common scenario, and the solutions to static are just as prevalent. Who among us hasn’t tried running a toothbrush over those staticky suckers or hair-spraying them into submission? Well, here’s a curly hair tip for you: Use Moroccanoil’s ceramic hair straightener instead. Its ionic technology provides negative ions that help separate the water molecules known to cause static. One fan calls it a lifesaver for early Zoom classes. “I never look nice for my morning Zoom classes, so I wanted to tidy up my hair ahead of time,” the reviewer writes. “Didn’t really feel like putting in the work to properly flat iron it, though. So I pulled this thing out of the box and gave it a go. And holy crow, I love it—10 minutes later, I have smooth, natural-looking straight hair.”
Highlights:
- Heats up quickly
- Leaves hair flyaway-free
- Works on all hair textures
MiroPure 2-in-1 Enhanced Hair Straightener Brush
Best for: Tight curls
It’s a hair myth that straightening brushes work equally well on all hair types. “A softer wave or finer hair is much easier to straighten out than a tighter curl or more coarse hair,” says McKay, explaining that not all hair straightening brushes will do the trick for super-curly natural hair. But MiroPure’s two-in-one hair straightener features a high-density comb that not only tames the curliest tendrils but also provides a nice scalp massage. The ion-generating technology means your hair will look sleek and smooth. For added damage control, use a hair mask weekly.
Highlights:
- Reaches desired temp in 60 seconds
- Offers massaging benefits
- Has an automatic shut-off feature
Remington Pro 2-in-1 Heated Straightening Brush
Best for: Curly girls on a budget
With all the bells and whistles of far pricier models, Remington’s two-in-one tool delivers a lot of bang for a little buck. A smooth titanium coating helps the brush heat quickly and efficiently, while ceramic bristles with a smooth-glide finish help avoid snagging—and breaking—delicate strands. Like its luxury counterparts, this styler includes an anti-static feature and ion generator to keep flyaways at bay.
Highlights:
- Heats to 450 degrees in 30 seconds
- Swivel cord makes styling easier
- Smooth-glide bristles penetrate even tight curls
Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Styler
Best for: Thick hair
There’s a good reason the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer and Styler is our pick for super-thick hair: It’s designed with extra-long bristles that dive deep to smooth out hard-to-manage strands. What’s more, it’s a jack-of-all-trades that enables you to blow-dry, brush, and straighten hair with a single tool.
Don’t believe us? Check out the—wait for it—43,000 reviews on Amazon, nearly 31,000 of which have five stars. “This product really deserves its five-star review,” says a reviewer with 4C hair, a natural hair type that’s characterized by tightly coiled curls in a zigzag pattern. “Let’s be really clear here: I have 4C hair. No, really, 4C hair. I spend so much time detangling my hair that it is ridiculous!!! I have tried every trick in the book. This product is well worth the price. I would have paid three times as much just to be able to part my hair without all of the tangles.”
Highlights:
- Dries, brushes, and straightens all at once
- Ionic technology tames static
- Affordable price point
Eva NYC Mini Healthy Heat Thermal Straightening Brush
Best for: Travel
Nobody likes schlepping luggage across the airport, but it’s hard to limit yourself to a single carry-on, especially when you’re packing a blow-dryer, flat iron, and curling iron inside. Thankfully, Eva NYC’s Mini Healthy Heat hair straightener brush pares down your load to one handy (and sweetly pink!) seven-inch tool to create smooth, straight styles. Use it for straightening wavy hair, tidying unruly curls, and even adding a gentle bend to ends. “People with some wave will love the way this heat brush eliminates frizz and creates a soft, smooth, and shiny finished style,” says Cronin-Torres. As one happy reviewer put it, “It’s super practical, and the color is just adorable. Super easy to take on the go whenever you need a quick touch-up.”
Highlights:
- Convenient size for easy packing
- Dual voltage for international travel
- Cool-tip bristles and ceramic heating
GHD Glide Smoothing Hot Brush
Best for: Second-day hair
Dry shampoo is ace at soaking up oil and adding some fluff back to hair you washed two, three, even four days ago. But if you want to recapture that freshly blown-out sleekness, GHD’s Glide Smoothing Hot Brush is your new best friend. “The GHD Hot Brush is my favorite,” says McKay, who loves that she can “get a quick, smooth finish without having to work extremely hard, especially for those with softer, wavy hair.” One of the reasons it’s the perfect tool to reach for day after day? The styler, which is made with ceramic and ionic technology, only goes up to 365 degrees, which means it won’t cause excessive heat damage. “I have medium-thick, Asian, bleached, naturally wavy shoulder-length hair,” writes one reviewer. “[I] like this product for in-between shower days.”
Highlights:
- Works on all hair textures
- Combines short and long bristles for better hold
- Ionizing technology smooths hair
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Sources:
- Leticia McKay, Joico artistic educator and master colorist at Artistic Hair Design in Dayton, Ohio
- Colleen Cronin Torres, owner of 1202 Hair Studio in Burlingame, California
- Tiffany Molina, hairstylist and owner of All Tangled Salon in Vancouver, Washington
- YouTube: “Fabulous Bre”
