One of the fastest brushes to heat up, the Asavea gets up to 450 degrees and is easy to manipulate. It glides smoothly through your hair, with no snagging or pulling. I found I needed to slow down my brush stroke and pull my hair tight and straight by the tips to make sure the brush glides over every strand. You'll get the best results from brushing underneath your hair, from root to ends.
Once I got I got my technique down, I was able to get some decent straightening and shine. My only gripe was with the position of the power button and heat settings on the handle. They're right where you naturally grip with your thumb, so I occasionally accidentally switched of the Asavea in mid-stroke. For one of the more expensive models, I'd expect the design to accommodate wandering digits. Despite this, the Asavea gave good results for a softer-than-curly style.
The TS2 Super Smoother has a comfortable, ergonomic design and is just the right weight -- heavy enough to be substantial, but light enough to wield it easily through your hair. With the smallest and narrowest brush head and shortest handle of the straightening brushes I tried, this hair styling tool is compact, easy to run through thick, coarse hair, and grabs hair fairly close to the scalp for root-to-tip smoothing. Keeping hair sections small will yield the best results. Despite having to run the brush through multiple small sections, the straight, stiff, slim plastic bristles made for fast brushing and quick results.
Heat-up time was far from speedy, however. It took several minutes to reach temperature on any of the four settings, which range from 320 to 400 degrees. With the same pesky placement of the power button and temperature controls on the grip part of the handle, I constantly switched the brush off mid-styling, which made an otherwise great experience a tad annoying.
The Dafni was designed by an engineer dad and his curly-headed daughter, and the thought that went into the design is noticeable. The brush head bristles distribute heat evenly, which makes for faster styling on larger sections of hair. Most brushes can handle one-inch sections of hair, but I found this brush worked well with two-inch sections -- good news for those with thick piles of hair.
There's minimal chance of burning yourself with this brush, thanks to cooling technology that keeps the back of the brush from heating up. Even the power button location is thoughtful: It's close to the bristles on the brush-head neck, well away from your grip.
The Luma is very similar to the Dafni -- the designs are almost identical. Like the Dafni, the Luma's chunky solid inner bristles with small nibs on a broader shaft are surrounded by a ring of narrower bristles with no nibs. This bristle combination achieves satisfying results, gripping hair tightly to the heated base for a smooth glide from root to tip for sleek, no-bump locks.
Because it's so similar in outcome and design, but slightly more affordable, the Luna gives the Dafni a run for its money.
Jose Eber's high-end styling products are known for delivering amazing results. My expectations were high for this brush, and I wasn't disappointed. My fine, coarse volume of hair always requires the hottest setting on any styling tool, and this brush heats up almost instantly to 450 degrees. The rounded, bulbous bristles grab wide sections of hair, which reduced styling time significantly.
The matte plastic material feels firm in your hand for no-grip-slip styling. And, a huge bonus? The power and temperature controls are underneath the handle -- no accidental power-off moments. If you can palette the higher price tag, this brush is totally worth the investment.
