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Best Hair Brushes UK
A hair brush is chosen for what it needs to do to wet or dry hair, and the differences between bristle types are not cosmetic. Wet hair is at its most fragile and stretches before it snaps, so a wide-tooth comb or a flexible-pin detangling brush that slides through without gripping is safer than a standard bristle brush, which can tear wet strands. Boar bristle brushes work by distributing scalp oil down the length of the hair, which suits straight to wavy hair aiming for shine, but they do very little for curly or coily hair, where the bristles cannot reach the scalp through the curl pattern. The picks below are brushes available on Amazon UK, ranked on customer rating weighted by review volume.
23 productsFrom £7.56 to £66.16
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- Rated 4.5 out of 5 from 745 reviews
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Best Hair Brushes UK
15 products
- Rated 4.4 out of 5 from 139 reviews
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- Rated 4.3 out of 5 from 2,066 reviews
- Rated 4.1 out of 5 from 1,354 reviews
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- Rated 4.1 out of 5 from 1,953 reviews
- Rated 4.1 out of 5 from 712 reviews
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- Rated 4 out of 5 from 271 reviews
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- Rated 4 out of 5 from 2,461 reviews
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- Rated 4.1 out of 5 from 59 reviews
- Rated 3.8 out of 5 from 563 reviews
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- Rated 4.5 out of 5 from 16 reviews
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£20.50View on Amazon UKWas £43.48Price checked 6 September 2026
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£15.00View on Amazon UKWas £69.05Price checked 6 September 2026
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How we picked these
We compare every product in this category on customer rating, review volume, price and listed ingredients. We do not accept payment for placement, and we do not test products ourselves — the ranking reflects what Amazon UK shoppers actually rated.
Prices and availability are accurate as of the date shown and are subject to change on Amazon.
What to look for
Never brush wet hair with a standard bristle brush
Hair is weakest when wet. A wide-tooth comb or a flexible detangling brush with widely spaced, rounded pins works through knots with far less breakage than boar or nylon bristles designed for dry hair.
Boar bristle suits straight and wavy hair, not curly
It works by carrying oil from the scalp along the shaft, which needs the bristle to reach the scalp in the first place. On tight curls or coils the bristle mostly sits on top of the curl pattern rather than reaching through it.
Vented brushes are for speed, not smoothness
Gaps in the brush body let air pass through during blow-drying, cutting drying time. They tend to leave more texture in the finish than a solid paddle brush, which is the trade for the faster dry.
Round brushes are sized to the curl or volume you want
A small-diameter round brush creates a tighter curl at the ends and works well on shorter hair; a large-diameter round brush is for smoothing and adding volume at the root on longer hair. Using one sized for the wrong length makes styling harder than it needs to be.
Cushioned pads reduce scalp pulling
A rigid brush base transfers more force directly to the scalp with each stroke. A cushioned or flexible base absorbs some of that, which matters on a sensitive scalp or with fine hair prone to breakage.
Clean the brush, not just the hair
Product, oil and shed hair build up in the bristles and get redistributed on every use. A brush that is never cleaned is effectively applying old residue to freshly washed hair.
Frequently asked questions
- What brush should I use on wet hair?
- A wide-tooth comb or a flexible detangling brush with rounded, widely spaced pins. Standard bristle and paddle brushes grip too much and are the most common cause of breakage on wet hair.
- Do boar bristle brushes work on curly hair?
- Not particularly well. They rely on reaching the scalp to distribute oil, and on tightly curled or coily hair the bristles mostly stay on the surface of the curl rather than reaching through it to the scalp.
- How often should I clean my hair brush?
- Weekly is a reasonable default, removing shed hair by hand and washing the brush itself in diluted shampoo. Product build-up in the bristles gets transferred back into hair on every subsequent use.
- What size round brush should I buy?
- Smaller diameters (20-30mm) suit shorter hair and tighter curling at the ends; larger diameters (40mm and up) suit longer hair and root volume. Matching the barrel to your length makes the technique considerably easier.
- Do vented brushes actually dry hair faster?
- Yes — the gaps in the brush body let air from the dryer pass through the hair rather than only around it, which cuts drying time. The trade-off is texture: a vented brush tends to leave more natural movement in the finish than a solid paddle brush, which smooths more but dries more slowly.
- Why does my scalp hurt after brushing?
- A rigid brush base transfers more force directly to the scalp with every stroke, which can feel uncomfortable on a sensitive scalp or with fine, breakage-prone hair. A brush with a cushioned or flexible base absorbs some of that pressure, which is worth looking for if brushing regularly feels painful.
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Last updated 6 September 2026