TRIED AND TESTED: The $69 straightening brush that's just as good as the $230 ghd Glide.

Mamamia’s Tried and Tested series drops every Monday and is your weekly review of the latest to hit our desks in beauty, health and wellness. You won’t find any #sponsored content here, just honest, relatable and independent advice. This week, Senior Lifestyle Writer Amy Clark road tested the new VS Sassoon hair straightening brush.

Fact: Hair straightening brushes are either really good or really, really crap.

A decent one is life changing. Out the door with naturally straight, frizz-free hair in under five minutes life changing. But the terrible ones leave your hair looking flatter than my mood on a Sunday night.

Earlier this year when ghd launched its first ever straightening brush, the ghd Glide Hot Brush, it sold out in hours. And for good reason. I’ve been using my ghd straightening brush for months and can confirm it’s a game changer. It’s also a soul destroying $230.

Side note – the Mamamia team also tried the Dafni straightening brush, here are their thoughts below. Post continues after video.

It’s a lot of money, but there’s never really been straightening brushes on the cheaper side worth the money. Until now.

Enter, the VS Sassoon Frizz Defense Hair Straightening Brush, $69.95.

When I first came across this new straightening brush, I wondered if it could possibly match the very expensive version that now lives in my office drawer. So, I gave it a good test run to find out if it’s a solid dupe or too good to be true.

What is the VS Sassoon hair straightening brush and how does it work?

The newly launched straightening brush from VS Sassoon (a brand that’s previously been a touch… daggy) has had a premium upgrade. Think: flashy new packaging, new tech to eliminate static and ions to condition the hair cuticle for a smoother, shinier result.

Here’s what you need to know about the product:

• The VS Sassoon Frizz Defense Hair Straightening Brush is a hot brush that straightens and fights frizz.
• It has a very attractive $69 price tag (you may also find it online/on sale cheaper).
• The product uses negative ions to close hair cuticles, fight frizz and lock in shine.
• Silicone bristles detangle hair as the ceramic bristles straighten.
• It comes with three settings – 180°C, 190°C and 200°C – that heat up in 30 seconds.

The ghd Glide straightening brush vs. VS Sassoon's hair straightening brush.

How does the VS Sassoon Frizz Defense Hair Straightening Brush, $69.95, stack up against the ghd Glide Hot Brush, $230? They're similar, but also a bit different.

Both straightening brushes use ionisers to emit negative ions to close the cuticle layer of your hair, locking in moisture and creating shine. Both have a mix of long, short and silicone bristles to detangle and evenly distribute heat through the hair. Plus, both have two-year warranties and can be used in exactly the same way.

To get the best out of your straightening brush:

1. Section hair into small to medium sections depending on your hair length and thickness.
2. Pull the section of hair you're working on straight while running the brush underneath and down the length of your hair, rather than simply using it on top like you would a regular hair brush. This mimics the tension you get when using a hair straightener and allows your hair to get up close to the inner heated bristles.
3. To get rid of frizz and flyaways, run the brush over the top layers of your hair, or tip your head upside down and run through the lengths.

The main differences are: the ghd Glide has a lot more bristles - a combination of tightly packed shorter and longer ones - than the VS Sassoon brush, so it feels hotter. It only has one temperature setting as ghd believes 185ºC is the optimum styling temperature for all hair.

There's also some additional features like an automatic sleep mode for peace of mind when you can't remember if you left the damn thing on, and an extra long 2.7 metre cable.

One thing to note about the VS Sassoon brush is the ioniser makes a clicking noise that can be a bit off putting, but rest assured it's not about to explode in your face. Oh, and the price. The ghd Glide is $161 more expensive than the VS Sassoon version.

To see if the results are really that different, I straightened one side of my frizzy, kinked 'just woke up' hair with each brush... can you tell the difference?

The finale verdict...

Look, I was bloody impressed with the $69 straightening brush. So much so, I'm calling it: The VS Sassoon hot brush is a budget dupe for the ghd Glide.

That's not to say anyone who spent $230 on the ghd Glide wasted their money or should be looking to return it. There are so many factors your can't predict, like how long it will stay hot for or what happens if it breaks after three uses, and the extra cash does afford you some additional features.

Bottom line, you can achieve similar results with both brushes. Similar enough to sub in the $69 brush if the price of the ghd Glide is out of reach.

Have you tried either of these straightening brushes? Tell us what you thought below!

Mamamia's Tried and Tested series drops every Monday. Want us to trial and review a product or treatment you've seen everywhere? Easy, just send an email to [email protected] 

You can catch up on more from our Tried and Tested series here:

• TRIED AND TESTED: I shaved half my face with this $10 supermarket razor for better makeup.
• TRIED AND TESTED: The viral 'exploding' nail polish remover that looks too good to be true.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had my lymph nodes stroked for 90 minutes in a lymphatic drainage massage.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had my pubes 'sugared' off to see if it really hurts less than waxing.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tried 7 new foundations in 7 days to see if they live up to the hype.

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