Brushing curly hair is an art form: There are numerous methods, techniques, hot tools, and styling products needed to coax our curls into looking their best. For example, detangling in the shower prevents breakage, but requires a waterproof brush that can perform well without tugging. Meanwhile, brushes with boar bristles help craft slicked back styles and beautifully laid edges.
“Using a specialized brush meant for curly hair types helps reduce breakage and frizz, defines curls, and improves overall hair health,” says Philadelphia-based curly hair stylist and educator, Kee Taylor. “Curly hair can be delicate and it is important to find a brush that is gentle on your strands.”
Simply put, there’s a different hair brush for every curl pattern, hair type, and styling preference, so finding the right brush for your needs can feel overwhelming. To make your search easier, we tested 25 popular brushes for curly hair in our NYC-based Lab. We evaluated the performance of each brush on several curl patterns and textures, along with its detangling ability, handle grip and comfort, and how much shedding it caused.
PHOTO: Amazon
What We Love: This brush efficiently detangled our curls in a single pass.
What We Don’t Love: With its wider size, it was heavier than most of the brushes we tested.
This Curls brush claimed our best overall spot for its smooth glide, extremely gentle detangling capabilities, and unique customization options. Honestly, we had never used a brush that made such an immediate difference in our curls. From the first pass, the firm, yet soft, bristles glided through our wet hair, working to remove tangles without any tension, ripping, or breakage. Typically, we need at least two passes to completely rid our hair of knots, which in the past has resulted in excessive shedding. With this brush, one was enough to totally detangle, resulting in less hair loss, too. Once our hair dried, we noticed our curl pattern was tighter, bouncier, and more defined than usual. Plus, our coils looked more voluminous.
We appreciated that the brush also came with interchangeable bristle patterns to accommodate curly hair of all types—from wavy and coarse to thin and ultra thick. Changing out the bristles was as simple as sliding the cushion out, inserting a new pad, and snapping it into place. We’ve broken a few brushes over the years (due to the thick nature of our hair), so we like that the extra bristle pads make this a more sustainable option. And although the brush was a bit heavier than other options we tested, it was still perfectly comfortable to handle.
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Plastic
PHOTO: Nordstrom
What We Love: These flexible bristles feature a patented two-tier design for targeted detangling.
What We Don’t Love: The grip was a bit slippery.
We’ve been searching for a detangling brush that doesn’t snag or rip our hair for years. It took a lot of trial and error, but we finally found one that makes the painstaking task actually enjoyable. With its two tier bristle system, The Ultimate Detangler from Tangle Teezer passed through our thick hair with efficiency and comfort, resulting in a smooth, frizz-free finish.
With its flexible design, this brush was created for optimum use on wet strands. It distributed conditioner evenly and detangled even the thickest of curls in one to two passes. Though the plastic handle was a little slippery, it was significantly quicker to work through our entire head with the Tangle Teezer, and it created much less shedding than the existing brush we’d been using at home.
Offered in three sizes (mini, regular, and large), we consider the large to be most effective, while still portable enough for daily use. The design felt lightweight and ergonomic in our hand and smoothly contoured to the shape of our curls as we brushed along. Our curl pattern remained intact without any added frizz, too—a serious win.
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Plastic
PHOTO: Saks Fifth Avenune
What We Love: Though we’re prone to tangles, this brush got rid of knots without any snagging or ripping.
What We Don’t Love: Given the splurge-worthy price, it’s surprising that the handle is made of plastic.
At first glance, $200 seemed like an excessive amount to spend on a hair brush, but one pass of the luxurious boar bristle tool through our 3B hair was enough to convince us that this was worth the steep price tag. Before we even ran it through our hair, we enjoyed how the lightweight, ergonomic handle fit into our hands—it set us up for one of the most pleasant detangling experiences of our life.
The combination of boar hair and nylon felt invigorating on our scalp, and as we worked our way down, it effortlessly glided through our hair. Our strands are constantly tangled, resulting in shedding and painful brushing, but we didn’t notice any snagging during that first run through. The brush quickly and gently smoothed out our hair without disrupting our curl pattern, leaving it soft and damage-free.
When it came to the brush’s overall performance, we had no complaints. We were a bit disappointed to discover the handle was made of plastic, but considering the bristles are extremely high quality, we can overlook the less-than-luxe base.
Curl Pattern: 2A to 3B | Bristle Material: Boar, nylon
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: Goop
What We Love: The wooden bristles felt incredible on our scalp, providing a soothing massage and an effective detangling experience in one.
What We Don’t Love: Our brush arrived with a missing bristle, which isn’t ideal at this price point.
In our Lab test, this brush’s wide-spaced wooden bristles worked best on wavy hair and looser curls. It efficiently glided through our wavy hair’s knots and styled our dry strands without much effort.
The handle felt smooth and comfortable to hold without being slippery, and the light pressure created a soothing massage effect. The brush moved through our tangles faster, more seamlessly, and with far less tension than others we’ve tried in the past. Plus, we were impressed by how the tool also functioned as a static reducer, leaving our strands frizz-free and perfectly smooth, especially when we applied the Crown Affair leave-in conditioner through our curls first.
Curl Pattern: 2A to 3B | Bristle Material: Beechwood pins
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
What We Love: The sparse, wide set bristles help maintain fine hair’s curl pattern.
What We Don’t Love: The bristles can snag on knottier curls.
With fewer and more sparse bristles that won’t tease out natural curl patterns, we found that this Ouidad detangler was ideal for fine hair. Our fine, thin strands tend to get extremely tangled, and we were pleasantly surprised by how smooth our hair felt post-brushing. We attribute this to the brush’s customization options, which allowed us to add and remove bristles to flexibly accommodate our detangling needs and styling preferences.
While using the brush, our curl pattern stayed beautifully intact, which is something we’ve struggled with in other brushes. The smooth grip was easy to hold, and though the tool was lightweight, we were still able to apply firm pressure to our scalp. If your hair is prone to severe knots (like ours), you might feel some minor tugging and snagging during the detangling process. The brush didn’t glide through our roughest tangles with the same ease as some other options we tried, but considering how soft and silky our hair felt afterward, we’re okay with a bit of dragging.
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Plastic
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: Sephora
What We Love: These nylon bristles offer a sustainable alternative to boar hair by mimicking the material’s gentle detangling effects.
What We Don’t Love: It’s heavy, but not uncomfortably so.
This Briogeo brush glided right through our long curly strands more efficiently than any other brush we tried. To our surprise, it took less than five minutes to completely detangle our hair, and we didn’t experience any pulling or snagging in the process.
The nylon material mimics the feel and effects of boar bristles while being vegan, cruelty-free, and exceptionally gentle. They felt very soft, yet firm enough to move through large knots with ease. Our tangles came undone with just a single pass, minimizing the length of our wash day routine and leaving our curls smooth and defined. With each additional pass, we noticed our coils clumping in groups, creating a nice volumized look that even enhanced our natural curl pattern. Plus, we noticed less overall shedding with this brush than with others we’ve used in the past.
The silicone handle never slipped from our hand, making this a great option for shower use. And though the brush is definitely heavier than others we tested, it still felt plenty comfortable to handle (no arm workout here).
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Nylon
PHOTO: Grace Eleyae
What We Love: The flexible bristles contoured our hair as we brushed, making for a pain-free detangling session.
What We Don’t Love: The brush widens into an angled shape towards the top, making it harder to target specific sections of hair.
The plastic bristles on this Grace Eleyae brush were long enough to glide through thick, textured hair with surprisingly little pressure. While the bristles were noticeably firm, we didn’t feel any pulling or tugging as we detangled our thick strands, and we appreciated how little shedding occurred compared to our normal routine. The flexible pad design also contoured to our hair as it moved along our head, a feature that helped distribute product evenly.
Beyond the bristles themselves, we were quick to notice the brush’s ergonomic handle: It felt distinctly comfortable and stable in our hands. The shape of the brush head was also unique compared to other options we tried. It widens towards the top into an angle, which made it ideal for working through large sections of hair. Targeting sections along the hairline was another story. We found it hard to grab specific strands without accidentally picking up more hair than we’d intended. It wasn’t a big nuisance but important to note if you’re creating more stylized looks with detailed parts and edges.
Curl Pattern: 3A to 4C | Bristle Material: Plastic
PHOTO: Amazon
What We Love: These bristles are designed to promote clumping and enhance natural curl patterns.
What We Don’t Love: The design won’t perform as well on wavy or fine hair.
This Pattern brush is both strong and flexible, with bristles that penetrate through very coarse curls to reach the scalp with minimal effort. During testing, we found ourselves actually using less conditioner than usual because the brush helped distribute product more evenly and efficiently. It contoured to our hair as it glided through each strand, detangling every knot without much work. As a bonus, the wide grip was comfortable and easy to handle, and we didn’t experience excessive shedding.
After styling, our curls felt smooth, bouncy, and refreshed. The design of the brush kept our ringlets clumped together for a full and defined look, which is something we struggle to achieve with our thick, coily curl pattern. While we wouldn’t suggest it for our wavy-haired friends, we were thrilled to find this rare magic tool that made our natural curls pop.
Curl Pattern: 3A to 4C | Bristle Material: Plastic
PHOTO: Sephora
What We Love: It expertly targeted knots and tangles without breaking up our naturally coily curl pattern.
What We Don’t Love: The handle is a bit too narrow to get a sturdy grip.
We were slightly hesitant to try this brush on type 4 hair due to the ball tipped bristles (after testing out similar brushes we were expecting a battle), but we couldn’t have been more surprised by how seamlessly it slid through wet hair and detangled our tight knots—all in a single pass.
The brush is incredibly lightweight; it felt nearly weightless in our hands and only required slight pressure to reach through to the scalp. The narrow handle felt a little unnatural to hold, but the matte finish made it grippy enough to maneuver comfortably. As for those ball tipped bristles, they created a soothing massage that didn’t get stuck in our strands or cause extra tangling. Post test, we decided that we actually preferred this tool over the popular Tangle Teezer and Denman versions, as it enhanced our natural curl pattern by shaping our coils into soft corkscrews, something those popular brushes have never been able to do.
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Nylon
InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: Sephora
What We Love: The yellow color brought happy vibes to our bathroom counter.
What We Don’t Love: Because of the density of bristles, it’s not the easiest brush to clean.
The Drybar Lemon Drop Brush glided through our wet hair like silk, forming well-defined curls along the way. Plus, the velvety matte handle provided a textural no slip grip ideal for in-shower use. The soft and malleable bristles easily worked through our curls without creating tension, and similar to the Verb Brush, the ball tips massaged the scalp while detangling. When used on wet hair, we were able to shape our curls into our desired coiliness, starting with a nourishing shampoo for curly hair, for a speedy wash and go air-dry routine. When we tried blow drying with the brush, we were surprised that our hair remained frizz-free and silky, which is not usually the case when we use a hot tool to style our curls.
We also found the signature Drybar yellow hue irresistible—it’s a fun addition to any bathroom counter. It may not be the most convenient tool to clean because the bristles are tightly packed, but it’s not any more difficult than brushes of similar design.
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Nylon
PHOTO: Nordstrom
What We Love: The medium size precisely smoothes stubborn curls around the face.
What We Don’t Love: The brush is a bit too small for those with very long hair.
A round brush that won’t completely rip apart curly hair is a rarity, but this one from Sisley Paris made blow-drying our curly hair a breeze and gave us the softest defined curls. Plus, we found that the size and shape is perfectly suited to create a bouncy, voluminous blowout, no matter your natural curl pattern.
The mixed length bristles felt amazing on our scalp, providing a gentle massage and working double duty to detangle as we blow dried. While the brush is technically designed for those with fine hair, we put it to the real test by trying it out on our thick hair. To our surprise, it worked shockingly well, especially when we started from the bottom and worked our way up to the roots. When we finished, we noticed only a few rogue hairs in the bristles—far less than what we find in our regular brush.
Curl Pattern: All types | Bristle Material: Wild boar, plastic
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: Amazon
What We Love: The wide set bristles are designed to work through tightly textured tresses without causing tension or damage.
What We Don’t Love: The brush is small, which can make it difficult to grasp but great for travel.
The widely spaced flexi-bristles on this Felicia Leatherwood brush made straightening coarse curls a pain-free process. It quickly worked through our thick hair without strain, making our biggest knots disappear in one to two passes.
The bristles felt nice and firm on our scalp without being too rough. That happy medium pressure created fluid, soft strands so we were able to quickly glide a flat iron through to produce a straight style in far less time than we’re used to. Overall, we loved the way this brush made straightening hair simpler, but we also liked that it was uniquely effective at taking down braids and styling natural textures.
That said, because the brush is so small, it isn’t the most comfortable to grasp and maneuver. It manages to get the job done, though, and its size renders it ideal for travel and life on the go.
Curl Pattern: 3A to 4C | Bristle Material: Plastic
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
PHOTO: InStyle / Jessica Juliao
What to Keep in Mind
Brush Size: The length and thickness of your hair can help you determine what size brush will work best for you, explains Taylor. If your curls are thick or long, she recommends a larger brush with wider surface area for a faster detangling process. Those with shorter or finer hair can opt for slimmer brushes.
Paul Labrecque, celebrity hair stylist and artistic director of Paul Labrecque Salon and Skincare Spa, builds on this saying that the brush size can make styling your hair easier, depending on how you want it to look. “Brushes larger in diameter work well for straightening, and those with smaller diameters are ideal to assist in creating waves or bigger, looser curls,” he says.
Though many people like handling a lightweight brush or having a more compact option on hand for travel, most brushes specifically designed for curly hair will be heavier than simple combs and basic drugstore tools. Ultimately, brush size matters less than bristle type and really comes down to personal needs.
Bristle Type: Different bristle types will drastically alter the outcome of your hair styling, which is why it’s important to pick one that’s right for your needs. According to curly hair stylist and Curlventure founder Robert Nieves, there’s a brush for every curl type. “If you want to blow-dry curly hair, boar bristles are the best fit; they help distribute the hair’s natural oils, which gives you a healthy shine,” he says. “Wide tooth combs are great for styling. I personally use plastic ones that have some bend and movement to them. But a paddle brush with ball tipped nylon bristles is my go-to for detangling. It runs product through the hair most evenly and causes the least amount of breakage.”
Your Curl Pattern: “Those with 2A to 2C curls should use a wide tooth comb or a brush with widely spaced bristles to ensure product is distributed evenly and the hair is easily detangled without disrupting the natural curl pattern,” explains Taylor. “For those with 3A to 3C curl type, a brush with a mix of wide and narrow bristles will help define curls and detangle without causing too much frizz, while 4A to 4C curls should look for natural bristles, as these types of brushes help to detangle and smooth coily hair. Type 4 hair can also be detangled with fingers, which some people prefer for more control.”
Your Questions, Answered
Are boar bristle brushes good for curly hair?
“Because of the boar brush’s natural bristles, they’re gentle on both the scalp and hair,” explains Taylor. “However, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend a boar brush for someone with type 4 hair, as they’re not super effective at detangling coils.” Nieves agrees, and saves brushes with boar bristles for those with wavy hair or looser curl patterns.
How do you brush curly hair without it getting frizzy?
“The conditioner allows the brush to glide through the hair smoothly with little to no breakage,” explains Nieves, adding that it’s best to start the detangling process from the bottom and work your way up to the roots for the most protective method. “After rinsing the conditioner from your hair, use a paddle brush to apply your styling product for a fast and consistent approach,” he says. After gently towel drying your hair, Taylor recommends brushing through hair in sections, spritzing a leave-in conditioner as you go.
Why Shop With Us
Linne Halpern is a freelance beauty writer. As a lifelong experimenter with her own curly hair routine, she’s intimately come to know the ins and outs of detangling and styling naturally textured hair over the years. In addition to compiling the results from InStyle’s Lab test, she also sought commentary from expert curly hair stylist and educator Kee Taylor, celebrity hairstylist and artistic director of Paul Labrecque Salon and Skincare Spas, Paul Labrecque, and curly hair stylist and founder of Curlventure, Robert Nieves.
