I Pitted These 2 Viral Curly-Hair Brushes Against Each Other. Here's What I Found

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I love my curls, but, man, they’re a lot of work. Never mind that they seem to have a life force of their own, effortlessly falling into place one day yet the next, recalcitrant. My main grievance is the amount of time they require.

If I had it my way, I’d run a brush through my hair and call it a day. I enjoy a long skin care and makeup routine, but styling my hair feels like a chore. Yet this ultra-low-effort approach doesn’t always pay off when it comes to curls, notoriously finicky.

Plus, curls signify much more than a mere hair type: They’re personal and political, especially for Black folks, whose hair has long been subject to discriminatory legislation and control.

Curls also engender their own language: To help guide care for curls, different categories have emerged to help chart the course. One handy guide is a numerical range, from 1a to 4c , with pin-straight hair on one end and tightly coiled curls on the other, denoting the type of curl one possesses.

This is all to say that curl care and styling vary widely, even wildly, from person to person, depending on their specific curl profile and much more.

As for me, I have dehydrated, frizzy curls that range from 2b to 3b, comprised of ringlets, loose curls and a spattering of waves.

TikTok , Reddit and the rest of the internet tell me I should be devoting ample time to styling my curls, incorporating multiple steps to encourage formation and definition. These methods do pay off for many adherents, yet I wholly lack the will.

Hence, my interest in curly-hair brushes. I’ve been seeking a tool that would do this work for me, taking the steps off my hands so I could glean results in less time and with less energy.

Two brushes kept coming up in my research. One was the famed Denman brush , a decades-strong stalwart that combines its carefully spaced rows of bristles with the tension of brushing to define curls while detangling wet hair.

The other was Bounce Curl ’s Define EdgeLift brush , which went viral almost immediately upon release for its ability to define and volumize curls all in one tool. Designed to work as a heatless curling tool, it’s something of an all-in-one, with its side edges working to separate curls, its front end adding definition without breakage and its top edge clumping short hair and bangs.

I put the two hairbrushes to the test for months. They both did the job but with different results: For my curls, the Denman brush produced sleeker, smoother ringlets, while the Bounce Curl amped up my curls’ volume and lifted my hair at the root, executing full, fluffy curls.

The Bounce Curl model offered more styling options.

Its trio of built-in features worked to enhance volume, define curls and clump short segments. Someone looking to level up their routine would have a lot of fun with this brush and get impressive results. I also feel it detangled my hair more gently than the Denman due to its flexible bristles.

It’s a tough brush to beat, and it’s innovative to the point of being disruptive to the industry. That’s typical of the brand , which utilizes ingredients that, frankly, are being slept on by its peers, like its turmeric purifying mask and creams rich in rose oil and black cumin seed oil .

Beginners might be more comfortable with the Denman brush .

The Bounce Curl version required more of a learning curve on my end, and the Denman was more straightforward: Just run the thing through your hair while holding tension and, behold, curls.

Users of both brushes are ready to go to bat for them, even comparing the two to each other.

“This one is the absolute best,” wrote one Bounce curl stalwart who got the brush from the brand site. “Denman brush made my hair stringy.”

“This brush made a tedious task take minutes,” wrote another Bounce Curl reviewer, with others saying that the brush “is giving my curls life again,” is “worth every penny” and “worth the hype.”

Denman users are equally fervent, calling the brush a “ secret weapon ” and a “ magic wand ,” and posing the (seemingly rhetorical) question : “Can a hairbrush change your life?”

Check them out for yourself: You can’t go wrong.