Aveda Paddle Brush (Wooden Hair Brush) review

I have really grew a lot more caring about hair products over the past year, as once I was past late 20s  I can really feel the hair condition deteriorating (especially when I start dying my hair frequently etc). 

The Aveda Paddle Brush has long topped the Makeupalley.com product review chart ever since I started looking into beauty review websites many years ago (along with the Mason Pearson brushes, which have astronomical price tags (close to 3 digits) so despite really wanting to try them, I never bothered to look into it). 

I'm not sure if I'm imagining things but I never thought to try to Aveda brush because back a few years ago I remember when I checked they were like 35USD? (or equivalent to like 50AUD price tag or something hefty), however it is only 20 USD now on Aveda website.

Here it is, packaged in a really simple recycled paper sort of design. With Aveda logo engraved on the handle.

(there was a sticker on the back on the end of the handle which says Made in China- peeled this off now).

Detailed description of brush in the back of the packaging, says it is designed for scalp treatments and de-tangling. Features extended bristles that stimulates and massages the scalp.

This is a rather BIG brush, I have placed a standard bottle of OPI polish next to it for comparison (the OPI is full size, not miniature)- and sorry I forgot the color of this OPI polish- in any event it'll bound to get reviewed one day =)

Close up- it does have rather long bristles (plastic I think), the "padding" bit is slightly cushioned so there's air inside, and an airhole in the middle as you can see. The bristles have rounded ball tip "end". I'm yet to see any ball tip falling off, which is quite important for me, since once they start falling off it means it will get scratchy on the scalp.

Side view

Nice classy looking wooden back

Here's my hair after just random blowdrying, I didn't blowdry with a brush or anything, just a late night desperately trying to get my hair dried as soon as possible. It is still very slightly damp at the ends.

Here it is after just 5 brush strokes (the brush is so big it literally takes 5 brushes to do your whole head). I have to admit I have easily manageable hair- for many years I actually went by without a brush or comb since my hair simply didn't need one. It was straight and tangle free just brushing through with my fingers- so I'm not in the best position to say whether this brush works for those with easily tangled hair (at least MUA reviews seem to say so).

Overall I'm really satisfied, I know popular brushes is all boar bristled brushes etc lately, and I did purchase a round boar bristle brush from Japan this time for probably 25-35 USD or somewhere which is on the pricy side. That round brush was nice, but honestly this brush seems to be so convenient for after blow drying your hair or in the mornings when you are in a rush. It doesn't seem to cause much "static" hair effect either.  The bristles are long enough to reach all layers of the hair so I didn't need to brush in outter vs inner sections either.

The cushioned base also means it's really comfortable if you apply slightly more pressure in pressing the bristles closer to the scalp, it feels like a nice scalp massage while brushing your hair.

I see the brush will last a solid many years easily. Overall a rating of 5/5 for me. The $20 pricetag is reasonable in my opinion, I've had many $8 or $10 brushes that last about 6 months and start missing a bristle there or the rounded tip bit on the bristle so it starts hurting my scalp etc.