Straightening brushes should be an essential tool for all hair conscious women. The fact that you can use these brushes at home and get salon-quality results is what you make them popular. But you must get a brush that is suitable for your hair type for an amazing experience. In this guide, we have put together all the best types of brushes in the market for you:

According to the Literal Shapes of the Brushes

When it comes to shapes, there are two main types of straightening brushes that you can select from. They include:

Regular Brush Shaped

These straightening brushes can be confused with the typical brushes. They have the same shape as the regular brushes, and you straighten your hair just way you do with the typical brushes. The only difference is these brushes have temperature settings and heating facility that produces salon-level results. However, you cannot use these brushes like a flat iron. So, you will need to brush a portion several times to straighten your hair. But these handy brushes are pocket friendly and good for starters.

Flat Iron Shaped Brushes

As the name suggests, these straightening brushes resemble flat iron. Just like the flat iron, they are designed with two plates. To straighten your hair, you have to put a portion of it between the plates and press them as you move down slowly. Unlike the regular brush shaped straightening brush, this version is fast since you don’t need to brush a portion several times straighten your hair. They are a bit expensive, but the cost is worth it.

Depending on Hair Types and Lengths

The length of the hair is a crucial factor when buying straightening brushes.

Whether you have medium, short or long hair, you need you a brush that is designed for your hair type. There two main basic shapes you can select from- handy or big brushes. Handy brushes work for short and medium hair while the latter work long hair. There are two main options for two brushes that you can select from:

Circular or Round Straightening Brush

These brushes are circular with bristles all around the straightening brushes. They work well for people with long hair. Due to their circular shape, they have a larger surface area compared to flat brushes. This means they can cover larger hair portions, hence quick straightening for people with long hair. If you have short or medium hair, these are not the kind of brushes for you.

Flat Brush or Paddle Straightening Brush

These brushes are smaller in size and smaller in surface area compared to the round-shaped brushes. They are, therefore, perfect for short and medium hair lengths. They can also be used by people with long hair but will take a longer time to finish straightening their hair. But if you want to straighten smaller portions of your long hair, you can go ahead and buy these brushes.

According to The Bristles

The choice of the bristles can determine the experience and quality of hair straightening. There are three main types of straightening brushes based on the bristle types:

Boar bristles

Boar bristles are the most common of the three types of bristles in the market. They are very popular with hair experts because of their versatility in use. With these straightening brushes, you can run them on various hair textures and still produce salon level results at home. Boar bristles also help to increase blood flow in your due to its massage effect. That’s how they boost hair growth and overall health of hair.

Ball-tipped Bristles

One of the major reasons why ball-tipped bristles straightening brushes are popular is lack of tangling. Nothing can be frustrating while straightening at home than tangling and hitching of the hair. To avoid this problem, you need this brush. In addition to straightening hair, the brush has a massage effect, which improves blood flow in the scalp for healthy hair. However, these brushes may not work for people with thick hair.

Nylon Bristles

Nylon bristles are highly recommended for people with highly sensitive scalp and those with thick hair. Because of the soft natures of heated nylon, it will not hurt your sensitive skin. For

those with thick hair, the nylon bristles can penetrate easily into your hair and straighten it nicely. However, you might find these bristles a little stiffer than the other two.

According to Plate Materials

There are various materials with each them offering different hair straightening experience. So, you need to be cautious when buying to get what works for your hair:

Ceramic and Ionic Straightening brushes

Ceramic and ionic hair brushes are increasingly growing popular with hair conscious women. They are extremely safe, making them perfect for thin and fragile hair types. The most widely used ionic material is tourmaline. The ceramic hair straightener plates boost the heating of the brush, while the ionic plate releases the negative ions that make your hair silky and smooth. Therefore, ionic and ceramic brushes quicken the process of straightening and produce sleek, shiny straightened hair.

Titanium & Nano Titanium Straightening Brushes

Brushes with these materials not only heat up quickly but produce very high temperature enough to straighten very thick and kinky hair. So, if you have thin or fragile hair, these brushes can damage your hair. Don’t use these brushes on kids.

Due to the different hair types and sizes, straightening brush companies are designing tools that suit the market’s needs, including flat irons and straightening brushes. The basic thing before buying a straightening brush is to know your hair type. Is it soft or thick, coarse, long or short? These are the questions that will help you get an ideal hairbrush straightener for your hair.

But how you clean your hair straightening brush is the most important thing. For proper cleaning, you need to follow a process that guarantees your safety and that of the brush. In this guide, we have put together 7 steps that will enable you to clean your hairbrush straightener like a pro:

1. Remove Strands the Right Way

The first steps should be getting hair strands off the brush bristles. When the strands accumulate in the brush, they make it hard to straighten your hair since they absorb most of the heat. All the hair that breaks when straightening usually gets tangled between the bristles of your hairbrush straightener. Getting rid of these strands can be a bit tough, depending on the kind of hair it has been straightening. But you can make it easy by using the right tools.

Make sure that brush is unplugged and cooled. Then hold the brush in one hand firmly and pull up the strands carefully using a closed scissor or a rat tail comb. Make sure that you are avoiding breaking the bristles. Ensure that most of the strands have been removed before processing to the next stage.

2. Blow Dry the Brush

The second step is blow drying the straightening brush after you have removed most of the strands. Hair strands are not the only thing that sticks to the bristles. There are also dust, dirt, and build-up from hair styling products that may not be removed using the scissors and other tools. You can easily remove these things by blowing them away with your blow dryer. This step is very crucial, especially for a brush that has not been cleaned for a long time.

For you to blow dry your straightening brush properly, plug in your blow dryer and set it at medium speed. The mistake some people make is setting maximum speed. When the speed is too high, the blow dryer may generate a lot of heat, and this could damage the brush. With medium speed, you will give your straightening brush’s bristles a proper blow-dry that to remove build-up.

3. Use a Brush

Blow drying will not remove all debris and strands in the straightening brush. So, you need to find another more effective method to remove the small debris and dirt still attached to the plates and bristles. A brush that contains thin bristles is the best tool to handle this step. The thin bristles work perfectly in collecting most of the remaining hair strands and small debris in the brush. They are also harmless and will not cause scratching of the brush.

However, do not use a toothbrush for cleaning. Their bristles are usually hard, and they can cause scratches. If you have a pipe cleaner or dental floss, they have the perfect bristles for this cleaning. Ensure that you have all the spaces between bristles are cleaned thoroughly.

4. Clean With a Soft Cloth

The brush will remove most of the small strands and debris the blow dryer couldn’t. However, it will not remove most of the tough build-ups and residues of hair styling products on the brush. What you need to clean off such build-up and residue is a small, soft microfibre cloth. The cloth will remove most of the residue still stuck on the bristles and the plates.

Dampen the cloth in lukewarm water so that the small rise in temperature can melt dirt build-up and hair treatment residues. Then wipe the brush properly with the cloth. While wiping, you can keep dampening the soft microfibre cloth in warm water. This will help to maintain a temperature needed to melt build-ups and residues.

5. Use Wet Tissues with Cotton Buds

This step is necessary for the cleaning of the plates. What you need is a wet tissue and cotton bud to clean the plates. The cotton bud helps you to reach the plates through bristles, something that tools in previous steps couldn’t. The facial tissue enables you to scrub your plates without caused scratches.

Start with dampening the tissue in lukewarm water for a little while. The warm water helps to melt build-ups and residues still attached to the plates. Then wrap the wet tissue around a cotton bud and gently clean the spaces between the bristles. You should see the straightening brush plates start gaining their original form.

6. Use Cleaning Solutions

Cleaning solutions are simply chemicals that help to clean off the remaining build-ups and residues from hair styling products. Even with the use of brushes, wet clothes, and cotton buds, you cannot get rid of all the dirt on. However, you need to choose the cleaning solution carefully because some can damage your brush.

Mild cleaning solutions such as rubbing alcohol, liquid Castile soaps, and clarifying shampoos are recommended options. You only need to mix a drop or two drops of cleaning solution with lukewarm water. Then dip a cotton bud or small fibre cloth on the solution and wipe the brush. Do not use the cleaning solution frequently because it can damage the brush. Use it only when the brush has not been cleaned for a long time.

7. Let the Brush Dry

Now that you’re finished cleaning the straightening brush, you need to dry off the cleaning solution. You can use your blow dryer to dry it if you want to straighten hair with it immediately. But if not in a hurry, sun-dry it. If possible, don’t use the brush that day.

If your hair straightening brush has become ineffective because of the dirt, strands, and residues from hair styling products, use these steps to clean to restore it. By cleaning your brush regularly, you will find the process very simple, and you might avoid some steps, such as step 6, most of the time. Need more tips on using your straightening brush? See this article.

Both hair straightening brushes and flat iron apply heat to style your hair. Therefore, both can damage your hair if you forget to set the right temperature or get the settings wrong. In this guide, we are going to help you pick the right hair styling tool between the two products. Here are the main things you need to consider:

Hair Styling

When it comes to hairstyling, the flat iron becomes the ultimate winner. These tools are incredibly amazing in many ways. First, you have plenty of styling options you can create with a flat. Whether you want a wavy, curly or straight hairstyle, then a flat iron would be the perfect tool for you. In addition to that, the advanced technology by flat iron companies makes it possible to have long-lasting styling results and lesser damage to the hair.

But with the straightening brushes, you have limited hairstyling options to select from. As the name suggests, these hair straightener hot brushes are purposely designed for hair straightening. If you want to keep straight hair, then this would be the perfect tool for you. But if you would like to change to several styling, then a hairbrush straightener is definitely not the styling tool to buy. Therefore, for hairstyling, flat iron the best tool.

Hair Damage

Hair damage is one of the biggest problems with styling tools. That’s why it is highly recommended that you avoid styling your hair daily. Both the straightening brush and the flat iron will damage your hair, but the latter is the most destructive. It is one of the styling tools that will significantly lessen the volume of your hair after using it for a while.

Unlike the straightening brush, the flat iron applies heat directly to the hair. Therefore, when used excessively or carelessly, it may cause permanent damage to the hair. Excessive use of the flat iron may also cause scalp dryness, which in turn would make it impossible for new hair to grow. So, you can easily become bald.

Hair straightening brushes are less damaging to your hair. These brushes do not heat the hair directly but use a mechanical action through a rotation mechanism. They do not have hot spots, which the most damaging to the hair. In addition to that, you can also use it for damp hair without damaging it. However, you must also observe the safety measures and use the brush properly. Set the right temperature for your hair

Hair Type

When it comes to selecting the styling tools that work for all hair types, then flat iron hair straightener is the best option. Whether you have a very thick, thin, frizzy, coarse or kinky hair, the flat iron is suitable for all hair types. These tools use high temperature to style your hair and heats directly by clamping the strands tightly between two heated plates. Although irons can be used for straightening thin and frizzy hair, they can cause a lot of damages.

But if you have thin and frizzy hair, then a straightening brush would be the ideal styling tool for you. These tools will protect your hair from direct contact with the heated plates. They do not use very high temperature to straighten the hair as it is with the flat iron. However, the brushes cannot work on very thick and kinky hair types. That’s the main limitation that makes inferior to the flat iron.

Ease of Use

The other factor that you need to consider when choosing between flat iron and hairbrush straighteners is the ease of use features. If you want to style your hair fast, which the best tool to use? If you are straightening hair for the first time, which is the best tool for you?

When it comes to the ease of use features, the flat iron is the best tool. If you buy ceramic and tourmaline flat irons, these plates heats very fast. In just a short time, the iron will be hot enough to handle even the thickest hair.

On the other hand, the straightening brush may heat faster but do not produce very high temperatures like the flat iron. Therefore, they will take a longer time to straighten your hair. In addition to that, brushes cannot handle thick or coarse hair types. So, when it comes to ease of use, go for a flat iron.

Heating Time & Efficiency

When it comes to heating time and efficiency, the Dafni hair straightening brush is the winner, for example. See our review for all the reasons why we recommend the Dafni. A flat iron on the other hand, takes a longer time to reach the desired temperature. The plates of the tools are generally narrow, and this means a smaller surface area compared to brushes. You might need to wait for 10 minutes for plates to get heated unless you are using ceramic and ionic technology. This means it will take you longer to straighten your hair, especially when styling thick or long hair.

With the flat iron, you will need to wash the hair, dry, and wear a heat protectant before you can start with the styling. You also need to put your hair in small sections and straighten each of the sections individually. A straightening brush heats up quicker than a flat iron. So, you don’t have to wait for minutes for the brush to reach the desired temperature. With styling brushes, you can work on damp hair without. Therefore, it will take you less time to style your hair with these tools.

If you have been torn between the flat iron and the straightening brush, now you have an idea of what’s convenient for you. The most important thing to know is your hair type, and then you will be able to get the best styling tool for your hair. Whichever tool you choose, ensure that you are getting the best quality in the market. Looking for help on how to clean your straightening brush? Click here for the perfect how-to guide.

Hairbrush straighteners are very simple to use once you perfect the straightening skills. You will not only produce salon level results but also save the time you use to straighten your hair. In this guide, we are taking you through the best steps on how to use a hair straightening brush to produce sleek, smooth and shiny hair.

Prepare Your Hair

The first and most important thing is to prepare your hair. Before you start with straightening, ensure that your hair is thoroughly cleaned. So, take a shower and use the recommended products for your hair type. There are many shampoos for your hair type to select from.

Washing hair before straightening helps to remove residues of hair styling products you used earlier. You will also be able to remove dust, dirt and debris that you could have collected since the last shower. It has also been proven that washing your hair before styling helps to make your hair stay fashionable for longer.

Protection is a Must

Once you have washed your hair, you need to wear heat protection. As mentioned earlier, a hairbrush straightener uses heat, and this means you need to protect your hair from heat damages. That’s why you should get the recommended heat protectant before using the brush. The heat protector could be in the form of spray, oil or serum. These products give your hair thermal strength to withstand the heat produced by the straightening brush.

The application of the heat protector must be done properly to protect your hair. For proper application, apply the protectant in your hands, if it’s oil or serum, and then use your fingers to spread it through your hair. For the sprays, apply it directly to the hair and used fingers to spread it in the hair. Make sure the ends are well applied with heat protectant as they are the most fragile.

Thoroughly Dry Your Hair

With the heat protectant applied, the next step is drying your hair. You cannot straighten a soaking wet hair since the hairbrush straightener temperature might damage it. There are two effective ways that you can dry your hair. One of the quickest methods is using the blow dryer. Set the blow dryer at medium speed and blow the hair out to dry it. Remember to attach a comb to the dryer to avoid detangling the hair when blow-drying.

If you have time or don’t have a blow dryer, wrap the hair with a towel for about 10 minutes. Wrap the hair with a microfiber towel and not cotton as the latter can cause hair breakage.

Section Up Your Hair

To ensure proper, fast and effective hair straightening, section up the hair. The number of sections that you make will depend on the type of hair. If you have a slightly curly or wavy hair, then you can have just a few sections. But if you have the thicker hair types, you will need to a larger number of sections for effective straightening.

The best way to section up your hair is by dividing it into three main section- right, left and back. Then you can have each of the three sub-divided into several sections depending on your hair type. This is a tip that will enable faster straightening of the hair faster.

Set the Right Temperature

With the hair dry and sectioned up, the next thing is getting the hairbrush straightener ready. Setting the tool’s temperature is the most important thing in this step. Depending on the brand and model of the straightening brush types you are using and the hair type, you need to get temperature settings right.

If you are using these brushes for the first, the ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ buttons provide the temperature control. If you have fragile hair, you need to work with the most minimal temperature and expand as you monitor the straightening. But for thicker, tangled and kinky hairs, you need a higher brush temperature for proper straighten.

Start Brushing

To do proper straightening of your hair, you need to brush systematically. Be guided by the sections that you made earlier. Hold the pack in one hand and place the straightener brush at the roots of the hair. The trick is to have little hair packs at a time for effective straightening.

If you cannot see bristle tips through the hair pack, then you have a huge bunch of hair, and this will make the brushing ineffective. You should also brush through the hair at a medium speed to ensure proper heating of the hair. TIP: Starting from the back always work magic.

Set Your Style

Now that you have finished straightening all sections and the hair looks great, it’s time to set your hairstyle. But first, switch off the brush and give it a minute or two to cool down. Then set your favourite hairstyle or a style that compliments your outfit using the straightening brush. There are plenty of styles you can choose from.

After setting a new hairstyle, treat your hair with products that will ensure your style will stay for a longer time. Sometimes, there are heat protectant sprays that can also be used for hair treatment after styling.

Hold the Style Longer

Our last tip on how to use a hair straightening brush is holding your style for longer. Although hair straightening makes you look nice, it can also damage your hair if done daily. So, you need to find a way that you can maintain the style longer to keep healthy hair.

The best way is to avoid washing the hair every day but after several days. In case you notice that your hair is springing back without washing, just do a quick touch up at a lower temperature to maintain the style for longer.

These are the best tips on how to use a hair straightening brush. However, you need to use a quality brush for a better experience. Ceramic and ionic brushes with nylon bristles are the most recommend as they produce sleek, smooth and shiny hair. The nylon bristles do not hurt your scalp or break the hair.