GHD products have been some of the hottest tools (no pun intended) on the haircare market since they first launched 18 years ago. It's no secret that the straighteners in particular are to the beauty world what Nokia is to the phone world in terms of durability. That is – you could throw the thing in a volcano and it would probably still work just fine and carry on happily working for the next 10 years.
Which is why the launch of the new GHD Glide Professional Hot Brush had everyone buzzing. We've all seen the stalls set up in the middle of shopping centres selling products that claim to straighten your hair as you brush it. We've also given these products the healthy amount of skepticism they probably deserve. But coming from such a prolific and reliable brand such as GHD, this time we were hopeful that this magical contraption would actually work.
Promising to cut your morning hair styling routine in half, the GHD Hot Brush definitely sounds like the haircare tool of our dreams. But does it really work?
Does it do what it says? Yes.
Is it easy to use? Extremely, yes.
Do we like it? As a quick fix and a morning time-saver, absolutely.
Is it worth your money? This is dependent on your hair wants and needs. At $210, it is a little pricey, but it's a great investment for those who want a quick, simple styling tool.
Where to buy it? You can shop it from GHD, Adore Beauty, ry.com.au, Active Skin and The Shaver Shop.
The device is essentially a straightener-brush hybrid. Designed for quick styling touch-ups on second-day hair, the Hot Brush is a no-nonsense tool that presents a quick and easy way to smooth and tame hair. Rather than giving the poker-straight look of a straightener, the result of the Hot Brush is more akin to that of a blow dry. It won't completely straighten your hair, but it will give you straighter hair with volume and a natural looking finish.
The Hot Brush retails for $210, making it a good deal cheaper than most GHD straighteners (they range in price up to $340). Is it worth it, though? Or should you pay the extra $130 and invest in a straightener instead? It really depends on what you're hoping to achieve. If you aren't about the dead-straight hair look, but want to keep your hair tame and frizz-free, the Hot Brush could very well become your go-to hair tool.
According to GHD, the Hot Brush is the perfect second-day hair tool to get a "woke up like this" aesthetic. The brush is made up of a combination of high density short and long bristles which allow you to straighten large sections of hair at once, effectively cutting styling time in half. The long detangling outer bristles are cool to the touch, meaning you can get them right down to your roots without burning yourself (hallelujah). Meanwhile, the short inner bristles create the right amount of tension for the anti-static ionic tech to work its magic and reduce your frizz, leaving your strands smooth and glossy.
Rather than having optional temperature settings like a straightener, the Hot Brush has dual ceramic technology which automatically heats the pad of the brush to 185 degrees Celsius. According to the brand, this is the optimum temperature to style hair. A lower temperature will not achieve desired results, whilst anything higher can crack the hair cuticle and put you at risk of damaged, tangled and dull hair.
Even though the brush is marketed for use on second-day hair, I decided to put it through its paces. In the images below, you can see my hair before and after using the Hot Brush. For context, I washed my hair the night before and left it to air dry. As you can see, my hair texture is quite wavy and prone to frizz. But within five minutes of using the Hot Brush, it had not only straightened the majority of my hair but it had also calmed down most of my fly-aways.
The downside to this product for me was that the brush had trouble holding some sections of my hair as it's quite thin. This made straightening certain sections a difficult process as the strands simply slipped through the bristles (you'll notice that some sections of my hair are still quite wavy). I also had the same problem when it came to smoothing out the very ends of my locks.
Using the Hot Brush is a relatively straightforward process. To turn it on, simply plug it in and press the power button and leave it to heat up. Reaching its temperature goal takes about a minute, which is the same as most straighteners. I would have liked it to emit a beep when it's ready to go like some GHD straighteners do, but it's not a huge deal.
When it comes to the styling process, you basically use it in the same way as you would use an ordinary brush, though there is a knack to it. Rather than doing a quick run through as you would with a normal brush, do as the name suggests and glide it through the length of your hair, slowly and smoothly. It's best if you start from underneath your hair and lift the brush up from the root in order to keep it from being flat.
I personally found it helpful to clip sections of my hair, running the Hot Brush through my bottom layers before tackling the top ones. Be aware when you're gliding through your strands that the bristles of the brush are a little rigid, so being heavy-handed with the product could potentially hurt your scalp.
The Hot Brush is designed to be a quick, simple tool. This means it doesn't come with any attachments or accessories; it really is just as straightforward as plugging it in and using it. The only items you'll find in the box are the Hot Brush itself alongside an instruction booklet and a two-year warranty.
Similar to a straightener, the GHD Hot Brush is a plug-in product that begins to heat up as soon as you press the power button. In true GHD style, it comes with a professional length swivel cord of 2.7m, giving you plenty of room to manoeuvre.
The tool is fitted with high density bristles in varying lengths to allow large sections of hair to be styled with a natural-look finish.
The Hot Brush also enters automatic sleep mode after 60 minutes of non-use and comes with a two-year warranty for ultimate peace of mind.
This is the big question – straightener or Hot Brush? To see for myself, I battled out the brush with my Cloud Nine straightener, which is one of the most hair-friendly straighteners on the market.
| Temperature | Time | Price point | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Brush | The Hot Brush automatically heats to and maintains an optimal temperature of 185 degrees Celsius, making it effective without causing damage to the hair cuticles. | The Hot Brush lets you run it over a few select sections just to smooth it out, without having to commit a full 20 minutes to getting your hair done. | The GHD Hot Brush retails for $210 from GHD . |
| Straightener | The Cloud Nine straightener ranges in temperature from 100 degrees to 200 degrees Celsius, allowing you to choose your own temperature. This means that you can still opt to keep it at 185 degrees. | The straightener will take you a lot longer to style your hair as the results aren't as natural looking. This means that if you straighten one section of your hair, you have to do the same to the rest of your strands to avoid a really funky hairdo. | The original Cloud Nine iron will set you back $330 from Adore Beauty. |
A few other points of difference are that the Cloud Nine straightener heats up within 20 seconds, where the Hot Brush takes one minute. Whilst a minute might not seem like a huge amount of time, if you only have 20 minutes to get ready in the morning, every second counts. The straightener will also guarantee that every section of your hair is straightened to perfection, where the Hot Brush can make it difficult to completely eliminate waves and kinks.
Below are the before and after images from using my Cloud Nine straightener. To keep the battle of the beauty tools even, I did the same as the Hot Brush and started with hair I had washed the night before and left to air dry.
Evidently, the straightener almost completely fixed all my wavy-hair woes whilst simultaneously reducing most of my frizz. It did take me around 15 minutes to achieve this though, where the Hot Brush only took me 5.
Ultimately, whether or not this product is worth your hard-earned cash is entirely dependent on your hair type and preferred style. If your hair is on the thinner side and you struggle with waves, frizz or curls, note that the Hot Brush is more of a quick-fix than a styling product.
That being said, it's a great investment product for those without a lot of time on their hands. Rather than having to get up and commit to fully straightening your hair, you can grab a bit of extra shut-eye knowing that all you have to do is plug in your Hot Brush and you can be out the door in five minutes flat.
It's also the perfect tool if you need to quickly smooth your hair to pop it into a ponytail or casual up-style. The natural-look finish gives volume and movement to the hair, making it easier to create quick, everyday styles.
Overall, the $210 price tag can seem a little steep if you consider that for an extra $100, a straightener could do most of these things and more. However, if you think about all the time the Hot Brush is going to save you in the long run, we definitely think it's a product worth investing in.
The GHD Glide Professional Hot Brush is available now for $210. You can shop it from the GHD site as well as from official stockists like Adore Beauty, Active Skin, ry.com.au and The Shaver Shop.
Images: Finder photography
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