No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (2024)

Like a snowflake or fingerprint, every set of curls is unique. Different textures, patterns, and shapes come into play, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all routine. Washing and styling might be an obvious approach, but the type of brush you use for curly hair is a major factor in keeping your curls looking fab. Celebrity stylist and curl expert Nai'vasha says those with curly hair should look for tools that "detangle and define in one punch," such as "paddle brushes, gloves, and Denman-style brushes."

To cover all the bases, we tested dozens of the highest-rated and most popular brushes for curly hair at home over several weeks. We considered each tool's material, bristle density, and whether or not it works in the shower on wet hair (since that's a huge part of a curly haircare routine). After trying the models, we named these nine the highest-ranked curly hair brushes.

Our Top Picks

What We Like

  • Effective for all curl types and patterns

  • Comes with 18 bristle rows

  • Customizable

What to Consider

  • Instructions could be clearer

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Black, blue

If you have multiple curl patterns on your head (for example, looser curls in the front and tighter coils in the back), this is the brush for you. It has 18 rows of bristles, with nine thinner rows for finer hair and nine thick bristle rows for coarser hair—so you can easily customize how you brush based on your hair type. We love how lightweight it is (despite having a wide body and thick handle) and that the bristles are soft but firm, which prevents scalp discomfort while brushing. During testing, we were pleased to discover that this brush glides through the hair seamlessly and removes tangles without ripping or damaging curls and coils in any way. This brush even helped maintain and enhance the natural curl patterns of our hair, giving them some added volume, definition, and bounce.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (2)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (3)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (4)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (5)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (6)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (7)

Cydnie, tester with 3C hair: "This brush glided through my hair so well, I have genuinely never seen my hair react to a brush this positively. As I was brushing through my hair, I could see the brush working and removing tangles without it feeling like it's ripping or damaging my hair in any way."

What We Like

What to Consider

  • Bristles can be too widely spaced for some curl patterns

Bristle Material: Nylon| Colors: Black

Featuring wide, gentle bristles, this budget pick from tgin defines curls and loosens knots with ease. Because the bristles are decently spaced out, the brush doesn’t snag, pull, or tug at hair—even in the most tangle-prone of curls. And we didn’t notice much shedding during testing—any shedding was negligible; we only found one hair on the brush when cleaning it. The handle, despite being shiny plastic, has a nice grip and is light enough that it’s easy to hold for a long period of time. Keep in mind, however, that since the teeth are so widely spaced, this brush tends to separate curls (rather than style them). That said, this might be best for use in the shower for detangling and distributing conditioner.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (9)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (10)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (11)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (12)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (13)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (14)

Talya, tester with thick, color-treated 2B/2 hair: "My hair is not tangly to begin with, but the brush effectively smoothed it down and separated the curls."

What We Like

  • Handmade with premium boar bristles

  • Stimulates circulation in hair follicles

  • Comes with a cleaning tool

What to Consider

  • Not ideal for getting knots out


Bristle Material:
Premium boar, Nylon | Colors: Black and red

Developed (and patented) over 100 years ago, the Mason Pearson Hair Brush is as luxe as brushes get. It features some of the finest premium-grade boar bristles—which are gentle on the hair and scalp—plus hearty nylon tufts that detangle hair for a smooth, silky finish. With seven rings of precisely placed bristles, the brush is designed to maintain, enhance, and detangle curls with ease, while the boar bristles distribute the scalp’s natural oils and stimulate circulation in the hair follicles. We love that Mason Pearson hair brush is handmade in England and comes with a nylon cleaning tool to remove hair, dead skin, and product from the brush (aka keeping your brush in tip-top shape).

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (16)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (17)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (18)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (19)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (20)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (21)

Mariah, tester with 3B hair: "I absolutely loved this brush. It is perfect for my hair type and glides so smoothly through the hair. You can really feel it moving through softly, and it didn't pull or damage my hair at all."

What We Like

  • Detangles coiled hair

  • Works for all curl types

  • Comfortable grip

What to Consider

  • Handle can break easily

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Black

A great shower option, this brush from Tracee Ellis Ross’ Pattern Beauty detangles coiled hair without causing breakage. During testing, we noticed the brush does an excellent job of distributing conditioner throughout wet hair, taking note of how effortlessly it glides through curls. It was also helpful when trying to style and define hair without creating frizz—something that’s easier said than done. The only thing we didn’t love was that, if it’s handled too aggressively, it can break.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (23)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (24)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (25)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (26)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (27)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (28)

Destine, tester with 4C hair: "The brush glided through my hair really well. I typically need a whole lot of water for a brush to get through my hair well, and even though I didn't have my hair as wet as usual, it worked well."

What We Like

  • Flexible bristles glide through thick hair

  • Wide handle for comfortable grip

  • Prevents hair loss and shredding

What to Consider

  • Small size

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Red, black, blue, yellow, purple

Known for being one of the best detangling brushes, natural hair expert and celeb hairstylist Felicia Leatherwood’s Detangling Brush is a must-have for those with tightly curled or thick hair. It features widely spaced flexi-bristles that we found work as well on tight curls as they do to detangle knots and take down braids. We also love how it's lightweight, easy to clean, and takes up minimal space—a huge win for low-maintenance folks. It felt so nice on the scalp and quickly eradicated tangles and tension.

No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (30)

Jenna, tester with thick, curly hair: "The brush detangled my hair great. I didn't have to keep going back to brush it—it got the knot out after one pass."

What We Like

  • Reduces frizz on loose curls

  • Flexible bristles that tackle tangles

  • Leaves a soft-touch finish

What to Consider

  • Plastic bristle tips can fall off

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Yellow

Whether your go-to hairstyle features soft, loose curls or you’re blessed with natural ones, this brush from Drybar is a good one. It features flexible bristles that easily untangle wet or dry hair without painful pulling or tugging. We also love its soft-touch handle that’s lightweight and slip-free. We loved to see the brush glide easily through hair, help form curls, and reduce frizz—a win, win, win. After testing for several weeks, however, we noticed that some of the plastic bristle tips fell off. While it isn’t the biggest deal, the uncapped bristles can be slightly uncomfortable on the scalp if you brush too hard. We wish the brand would rectify that issue for pain-free styling.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (32)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (33)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (34)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (35)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (36)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (37)

Tayla, tester with thick, color-treated 2B/2C hair: "I was pleasantly surprised by this brush. I usually only brush my hair before I wash it, but this brush tempts me to reconsider. It easily gripped my hair and allowed me to form curls, and I felt that it helped reduce frizz even when I used a blow-dryer (which typically doesn't agree with my hair type)."

What We Like

  • Extra long, no-slip grip even when wet

  • Can add or remove bristles

  • Helps distribute product

What to Consider

  • Stiff and hard bristles

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Pink

As the name suggests, Ouidad’s Made for Curls Detangler is designed specifically to remove tangles, knots, and tension in curly hair. Though we found the most success using this tool in the shower, you can use it on wet or dry hair. Either way, it’ll detangle curls with ease. We especially love that you can add or remove bristle rows to create the perfect tension for your unique curl pattern. The bristles are stiff and hard, unlike other brushes intended for curly hair, but we were pleasantly surprised to discover that they do a fantastic job of distributing product throughout the hair in the shower and eliminating pulling and breakage.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (39)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (40)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (41)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (42)

Maria, tester with thin, curly hair: "It worked pretty well for my hairtype, with not as many bristles, so it didn't brush out my curls. I also think the design is very cute."

What We Like

  • Painlessly removes tangles

  • Well-spaced bristles

  • Ergonomic handle and flexible design

What to Consider

  • Wide width makes it difficult to brush out small sections

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Black

If you regularly struggle with tangles, check out this Grace Eleyae Detangling Brush. It’s ergonomic, meaning it’s designed for comfort and efficiency. It won’t grab a hold of tangles and cause pain or excess hair breakage. Instead, it relies on flexible bristles that evenly distribute tension through your hair as you comb through it, reducing pulling (and, therefore, shedding). During testing, we noticed that combing this brush through our hair was significantly easier when hair was wet (rather than dry), and it tackled tangles quickly and painlessly. We would like to point out, however, that this brush might not work as well on someone with a tighter curl pattern or thicker strands of hair.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (44)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (45)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (46)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (47)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (48)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (49)

Samantha, tester with thick, curly hair: "I really liked the handle on this brush. It was very ergonomic, and I liked that the bristles themselves were flexible to prevent it from pulling out a ton of hair."

What We Like

  • Smooths out frizz while blow-drying

  • Bristles provide a strong hold on individual pieces of hair

  • Gentle on knots and tangles

What to Consider

  • Bristles can fall out over time

Bristle Material: Nylon | Colors: Black and tan

Round brushes are really helpful when blow-drying and styling hair, and this model from Sisley Paris is no exception. Not only does this brush help form curls and cut out frizz, but the bristles also offer a nice massage on the scalp. The flexible yet sturdy bristles come in a mix of short and tightly packed and longer, free-standing ones, which work together to grab a hold of hair while styling. Even those of us who have super thick hair found that the brush was gentle while working it through knots and tangles. The bristles made their way through the hair with ease and never tugged on ends or caused breakage. The only con is that the bristles can become loose and fall out over time, but that’s not unheard of for brushes like these.

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (51)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (52)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (53)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (54)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (55)

  • No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (56)

Alessandra, tester with thick, curly hair: "I LOVED this brush! My entire family all has different degrees of thickness and curly hair, but I think they all would love how easy it was to form your curls using this brush."

What to Look for When Buying Brushes for Curly Hair

Finding a good brush for curly hair can be a challenge, but the results are oh-so rewarding. To determine which brush is right for your curly hair, we suggest keeping the following points in mind.

  • Bristle Density: The density of a brush's bristles or teeth is important and should be tailored to your hair type. For styling or blow-drying curly hair, you typically want quite a bit of density so your brush is strong enough to get through your hair without bending or breaking. This also ensures that you get good tension for smoothing out your hair, especially when blow-drying.
  • Weight: The heavier the brush, the more energy it requires to use. Lightweight brushes make it easier to detangle and style quickly—no need for a workout here. However, be careful not to choose a brush that feels flimsy or cheap. These tend to break faster and sometimes break while you’re using them.
  • Size: A smaller-sized brush works best for those with thick, tight curls. It also helps to brush through the hair in sections, which may take some time, but it’s worth the work. A larger brush or longer comb is ideal for fine to medium hair with looser curls. But, as always, test out a few brushes and see which one suits your hair best.

How We Tested Brushes for Curly Hair

No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (57)

To find the best brushes for curly hair, we tested 25 promising models in our New York-based in lab. Our team of curly-haired testers—from loose curls to coily—sprayed their hair with water and then detangled with one of the brushes. Then they blow-dried their hair with a diffuser to see how the curls looked when dry. Below are the features our editors and contributors evaluated to determine our top picks.

  • Ease of Use: Brushing curly hair can be a pain on its own, so finding a brush that’s easy to use is essential. We noted which options passed through our curls gently, awarding points to flexible brushes whose bristles bent and contoured to our hair. We also observed how easy each brush head was to clean.
  • Comfort: Brushes for curly hair need to be sturdy, but they should also be comfortable. As such, we considered which options had teeth or bristles that felt good on our scalp and the heaviness and handle of each brush.
  • Performance: A good brush for curly hair will tame your natural curls and enhance them. We tracked which options were especially effective for detangling our hair and docked points for brushes that created extra breakage or hair loss. We also considered whether each brush helped our hair maintain its curl pattern or if it separated our curls.

FAQ

  • Can you brush curly hair when dry?

    Just to clarify, it's generally best to avoid brushing curly hair when it's dry, and we recommend using the brushes on this list in the shower or when detangling wet hair. "You never want to brush the hair once the natural texture has dried a certain way because you can cause breakage," says Sophie Rose Gutterman, LA-based celebrity hairstylist and texture specialist. "When the hair is wet it allows you to detangle the hair and you’re able to add a deep conditioner to treat it at the same time. When the hair is dry and you’re feeling like it’s getting tangled try adding an oil to hydrate the hair."

  • How do I use a brush to detangle curly hair?

    Nai’vasha recommends detangling curly hair by starting from the ends and moving towards the roots, working in smaller sections. “I only like to brush curls during the detangling, shampooing, and conditioning process as well to not disrupt the curl pattern. Otherwise, I simply shake or fluff the hair," says Nai’vasha.

  • How do you clean brushes for curly hair?

    “I like to shampoo brushes using the teeth of a comb to remove residue before allowing them to air-dry,” says Nai’vasha.

Why Trust Byrdie

Byrdie Associate Commerce Editor Caitlyn Martyn has several years of experience in the beauty industry and has covered all things skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care. An avid product tester, Caitlyn likes to try the latest and greatest products to let readers know what’s worth it and what’s not.Ally Hirschlag is a senior beauty editor who has type 2C hair and is quite familiar with brushes for curly hair. She's tried several brushes on this list so she can confidently recommend them.

Emily Algar is an experienced freelance writer who covers all things beauty. Her work has also appeared in Popsugar, Vogue Australia, Grazia, Cosmopolitan, and more.

Together, they interviewed the following experts:

  • Nai’vasha is a celebrity hairstylist and curl expert. She is also the founder of Curl Queen, a collection of products specifically suited to curly, coiled, and textured hair.
  • Sophie Rose Gutterman is a LA-based celebrity hair stylist specializing in textured hair.
No More Tears or Tangles—We Found the Best Hair Brushes for Curly Hair (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Mrs. Angelic Larkin

Last Updated:

Views: 6570

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (47 voted)

Reviews: 86% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Mrs. Angelic Larkin

Birthday: 1992-06-28

Address: Apt. 413 8275 Mueller Overpass, South Magnolia, IA 99527-6023

Phone: +6824704719725

Job: District Real-Estate Facilitator

Hobby: Letterboxing, Vacation, Poi, Homebrewing, Mountain biking, Slacklining, Cabaret

Introduction: My name is Mrs. Angelic Larkin, I am a cute, charming, funny, determined, inexpensive, joyous, cheerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.