ReFa's heart-shaped brush with a mirror in the lid has landed in Australia. Here is what the three-stage pins actually do, and who the Ray suits.
Most people meet the ReFa Heart Brush Ray the same way: someone pulls it out of a bag on a train, flips the cover to check their fringe in the mirror on the back, and brushes through in about four seconds. It looks like an object, not a tool. That is the part people ask us about.
Our shoppers have been carrying the Ray around Tokyo for a while now, and it is the model that comes up most often when a customer already owns a ReFa brush and wants to know what the fuss is. So rather than another verdict piece, here is the plain explanation: what is inside it, what the pin structure does, and where it sits against the rest of the range.
The quick answer
The ReFa Heart Brush Ray is a heart-shaped detangling brush from Tokyo built on a three-stage pin structure, with a tempered glass mirror set into the back of its cover. It detangles and polishes the hair surface in one pass, and it is designed for dry hair.
- If you want one brush that lives in your handbag: the Ray, because the mirror lid means it replaces two things.
- If you want the original, simpler version: the ReFa Heart Brush.
- If you want something flatter for a pocket: the ReFa Heart Comb Aira.
ReFa hair tools arrive in limited allocations from each Tokyo run, and the Ray colours move at different speeds. If the colour you want has gone, message our Live Chat and our personal shoppers will put you on the list for the next shipment.
What is the ReFa Heart Brush Ray?
It is a palm-sized brush, roughly 96g with its cover on, shaped like a heart rather than built around a handle. ReFa released it in Japan in early 2023 as the richer version of the Heart Brush, and it took first place in beauty tools and devices, new department store products, at the WWD Beauty 2023 first-half Best Cosme awards.
The shell is ridged so it catches light in bands rather than as a single flat highlight, which is where the name comes from. The cover clips over the pins, and the back of that cover is a real glass mirror. A small heart-shaped stand comes in the box to hold it upright on a dressing table.
That stand is the detail that decides where the brush ends up living. A brush in a drawer gets used on the days you remember it. A brush standing upright on a dresser gets used every morning, and ReFa clearly knows it.
What do the three-stage pins actually do?
Two pin heights doing two different jobs, in one stroke.
The taller pins are the detangling pins. They reach in from every angle and ease knots apart rather than dragging through them, which is the difference between a brush that hurts on day-three hair and one that does not. Behind them sit the shorter polishing pins, and those never touch the tangle at all. Their job is the surface: they skim the outside of the hair and lay the cuticle flat.
That flattening is the whole shine mechanism. Hair looks dull when the cuticle sits raised and scatters light in every direction. Lay it flat and light reflects back in one direction instead, which reads to the eye as gloss. It is the same principle behind a salon blow-dry, done mechanically and cold. It is also most of the reason Japanese hair reads the way it does, something we went into properly in a week of watching it in Tokyo.
This generation also carries more antistatic agent than the 2022 Heart Brush, by ReFa's own comparison, which is the part you notice at the end of a dry day rather than at the moment of brushing.
Why is the brush heart-shaped?
Because a handle concentrates force, and a palm does not.
When you hold a conventional brush, everything you put into the stroke travels down the handle and arrives at a narrow line of bristles. The heart sits inside the whole hand instead, so the same pressure spreads across the full pin bed. Less force reaches any single point of hair. It is an ergonomic decision dressed up as a pretty one.
Every pin tip is rounded as well, which is why the same brush is comfortable worked slowly across the scalp rather than only through the lengths.
Does the Heart Brush Ray have a built-in mirror?
Yes. The cover carries a scratch-resistant tempered glass mirror on its back, so the brush is also the mirror in your bag. This sounds like a novelty until you have used it, at which point it quietly removes an object from your handbag.
If you want a proper mirror rather than a lid, the ReFa Heart Mirror is the standalone piece, built on a thicker glass pane in a reinforced frame. We have covered it, the Aira WITH pocket comb and the new M Collection colours in our guide to the small ReFa heart pieces.
Heart Brush Ray or the original Heart Brush?
Buy the Ray if the brush is going to travel with you or be given to someone. Buy the original Heart Brush if it will live on a dressing table and you would rather put the difference elsewhere. Neither is a replacement for a paddle brush on wet hair.
| Heart Brush Ray | Heart Brush | |
|---|---|---|
| Pin structure | Three-stage: detangling plus polishing pins | Simpler single pin set |
| Antistatic | More antistatic agent than the 2022 model | The 2022 baseline |
| Cover | Glass mirror on the back | Plain protective cover |
| In the box | Cover, heart-shaped stand, manual | Cover |
| Best for | Carrying, gifting, shine | A first ReFa brush at home |
SoJan tip: Aurora White uses a special finish, so tone and shine vary slightly from piece to piece. Ours have run from a warm pearl to an almost cool white. If you want a colour you can picture exactly before it arrives, Matte Black and Silver are the consistent ones.
Which colour should you choose?
Six run in this range, and they split by mood rather than by function.
Rose Gold is the signature ReFa finish and the one most often bought as a gift. Gradient Pink and Gradient Purple both shift tone across the shell as it turns in the light, which is the finish that photographs well and the reason those two move fastest. Aurora White is the special one, no two quite alike.
The other two are quieter. Silver carries without reading as a beauty object at all, which matters if the brush is coming out on a train. Matte Black has no shine on the shell whatsoever, so the ridging reads as texture rather than as light, and it is the only one of the six that looks like an object rather than a compact.
Shop the edit: all six Heart Brush Ray colours, sourced directly in Tokyo →
How do you use the ReFa Heart Brush Ray?
Use it on dry hair. Wet hair stretches and breaks more easily, and the polishing pins are built to smooth a dry cuticle, which is where the shine comes from.
Start at the mid-lengths and work down to the ends first, so the knots come apart from the bottom up rather than being dragged into a bigger knot at the root. Once the tangles have gone, brush in long strokes from the roots through to the ends. That final pass is the one the polishing pins are for.
The pairing our customers keep choosing
The Heart Brush Ray alongside a fragrance, most often SHIRO Freesia Mist. It is the pairing we see most in Tokyo orders, and it is the same logic as the brush itself: something used every morning, in a finish worth leaving out on the dresser. The two together comfortably clear the free shipping threshold to Australia and New Zealand.
Is it actually worth it?
It will not repair heat damage, and it will not add volume that is not already there. If your hair is breaking mid-shaft, a brush is not the answer and no brush will be.
What it does, reliably, is detangle without tugging and leave the surface smoother than it was. Whether that is worth it depends on how often you would actually reach for it. Our honest read is that the Ray earns its place through carrying rather than through performance alone: the mirror lid is why it stays in the bag, and a brush in the bag gets used. We have gone further into whether the range as a whole justifies itself in Are ReFa Hair Brushes Worth It?, and compared the three main brushes head to head in Which ReFa Brush Is Best?.
Where to buy the ReFa Heart Brush Ray in Australia
Our personal shoppers buy ReFa in person from authorised retailers in Tokyo. Every brush arrives factory-sealed in ReFa's white gift box, with the stand and manual as ReFa packed them. Runs are limited to what our shoppers can carry back from each trip. Free delivery is available, and Australian orders arrive without customs to deal with. We ship worldwide.
Shop the full ReFa collection ✨
Frequently asked questions
Is the ReFa Heart Brush Ray new?
It is new to Australia through SoJan, having launched in Japan in early 2023. It is the richer version of the original Heart Brush rather than a replacement for it.
What is the difference between the ReFa Heart Brush and the Heart Brush Ray?
The Ray runs a three-stage pin structure rather than the original's simpler pin set, carries more antistatic agent, and has a glass mirror on the back of its cover. It also ships with a heart-shaped stand. The original Heart Brush is the simpler, dressing-table version.
Can you use it on wet hair?
No. Use it on dry hair. The polishing pins are designed to smooth a dry cuticle, and wet hair stretches and breaks under brushing.
Can you use it on your scalp?
Yes. Every pin tip is rounded, so worked slowly from the hairline back it gives a light, comfortable pressure. For scalp work specifically, the ReFa AURA is the tool built for the job.
Is the mirror real glass?
Yes, tempered and scratch-resistant, set into the back of the protective cover.
How big is it?
Roughly 73mm by 57mm by 91mm with the cover fitted, and about 96g. The stand adds 9g.
Does it come in gift packaging?
Yes. It arrives in ReFa's white gift box with the heart-shaped stand, which is most of the reason this one gets bought for other people.
Not sure which colour, or whether the Ray or the original suits your hair better? Message our personal shoppers on Live Chat and tell us what you are working with. We will tell you honestly which one we would send.
