Viral Curly-Hair Brushes: Curl Bounce Vs. Denman

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I'm lazy with my curls and sought maximum results with minimal effort.

HuffPost Staff

If I had it my way, I’d run a brush through my hair and call it a day. I enjoy a long skincare 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.

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.

Promising review: "I wanted to try this Bounce Curl brush to see if it made a difference. The answer is yes. It's a high-quality hairbrush. The construction is solid. The plastic bristles are long and flexible with capped ends. There are shorter boar bristles around the plastic ones. They collect all the lint and loose hair very well. The cushion that holds the bristles is resilient. It keeps its shape and pushes back when I bare down on it. My hair glides through the brush's pie-crust edges. I like that the end of the brush can be used to section hair. I love this light teal color. I think it is so pretty! A logo is featured on the back of the brush. My wavy hair seems healthier overall. It's fantastic." —Caffeinated ENTP

Get it from Amazon for $29.99 (available in three colors).

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?”

Promising review: "I love this brush, I started my curly hair journey end of 2019 after finally realizing that my frizzy mass of hair, that was occasionally wavy if I was really lucky, was that way because I was treating it like straight hair. It was a huge light bulb moment for me and I have been so amazed with the results on this journey. I finally gave in and bought this brush after hearing many curly ladies talk about it, couldn't be more pleased with this brush. My hair tangles far too easily not to brush at all, which is what I had been doing at the start of journey. This brush alone made such a big difference in the frizziness of my hair and it stays manageable on wash day. I use it to brush through my conditioner and again for my curl cream, it glides through my hair like a knife through warm butter.

Combined with the right products and other techniques I am happily enjoying my curly hair!" —Amber Rogers

Get it from Amazon for $21.12+ (available in eight colors).

Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity.