Brushing/combing methods?

[FallynLeaf]

I'm starting this thread because I just found out a couple months ago that I had been brushing/combing my hair wrong my entire life! I had the right products (a BBB, a seamless resin wide-toothed comb, and a seamless wooden fine-toothed comb), but my actual brushing/combing method was wrong! I had previously always just brushed and combed my hair while sitting or standing upright, but what I really should have been doing was bending over and brushing/combing my hair with it dangling towards the floor.

I started brushing my hair like that as soon as I replaced my BBB (since it was many years old and was no longer properly doing its job), because I'd stumbled across that method of brushing in the process of trying to research good BBB brands, and immediately, I noticed an immense difference! My hair felt and looked much, much better! And not only that, but it's helping me get rid of the center part that I've been fighting for years (since I used to always part my hair that way)! My hair has even been easier to wash in the shower!

Have you experienced any similar breakthroughs merely by changing your method of brushing/combing, and not the products?

[Frankenstein]

A long time ago I started to brush my hair starting first with the ends and that's seemed to help some with tangles.

[Aurum]

I tried the bent-over brushing, but it just gave me terrible tangles. :shrug:
There really is no ~right~ way to detangle or ~right~ products to use. A BBB might work on a 1b, but it can rip the heck out of a higher curl level.

[FallynLeaf]

Me too, Frankenstein! I used to have a really sensitive head, and I would only let my dad brush my hair because he was patient and gentle with it, but then I discovered that if I brushed from the ends, it saved me a lot of pain!

And Aurum, I had terrible tangles the first time I tried it, but the more I did it, the easier it was to untangle my hair that way. And I usually brush my hair a second time while standing upright, but if I do the bent-over method first, then it's much, much easier for me to change my part, and my hair just ends up looking a lot nicer in general! I know that there are no "right" methods or products for everyone, but sometimes you can get one of them right (for you, personally) and not the other, and it can prevent you from getting the results that you want.

And from my experience, it's sometimes easier to focus on the products and not the method, which means that some things, like alternative brushing methods, often get overlooked, even when it's your method that's the problem!

[lapushka]

Yep, I used to even use a fine toothed comb when I was a teen to detangle my hair - the horror. It only changed to a wide-tooth in my thirties, late twenties. Eye-opener! As for the Tangle Teezer! Amazing brush. I have wavy hair, so I don't use a BBB, except to maybe preen with once in a while.

[yogagirl]

I'm curious what you mean by your hair looks better in general and that washing is easier. Do you have more volume due to brushing upside down and not flattening your hair against your head as you would right side up?

Personally I don't brush daily, but when I do I brush right side up in multiple sections, so the brush can reach all of my scalp.

[Johannah]

It gave me tangles as well. I don't brush my hair often, and when I do it's with the TT to get my hair in a proper bun when it's a bit greasy.

[lapushka]

My hair is detangled pre-wash right side up, with comb/brush. But it's washed at the sink, so flipped over, and it's detangled with a comb after washing this way too. I don't find it gives me extra tangles. YMMV.

[Shorty89]

I part my hair in the center and pull half over each shoulder, then start with the ends and comb it out, slowing moving higher on my hair. If I flip my hair upside down I get horrible tangles. I wish I could do it upside down. I'd probably get more volume, but it's not worth the tangles for me.

[Madora]

Nice to read you're noticing good results from your combing/brushing, FallynLeaf.

Your hair benefits from the head down position because your follicles are receiving more stimulation via increased blood flow.

The thing to remember is to always detangle your hair slowly and gently with a wide tooth comb before you begin brushing with a brush. That way you make it easier for your brush to move through your strands.

While I've always been careful on how I detangled, I've found that holding the comb lightly and going slowly - in small sections - works much more efficiently and gently than detangling in large sections. By detangling small sections you are better able to isolate any problem areas and work them out with your fingers.

[Madora]

Nice to read you're noticing good results from your combing/brushing, FallynLeaf.

Your hair benefits from the head down position because your follicles are receiving more stimulation via increased blood flow.

The thing to remember is to always detangle your hair slowly and gently with a wide tooth comb before you begin brushing with a brush. That way you make it easier for your brush to move through your strands.

While I've always been careful on how I detangled, I've found that holding the comb lightly and going slowly - in small sections - works much more efficiently and gently than detangling in large sections. By detangling small sections you are better able to isolate any problem areas and work them out with your fingers.

[lilin]

I'm starting this thread because I just found out a couple months ago that I had been brushing/combing my hair wrong my entire life! I had the right products (a BBB, a seamless resin wide-toothed comb, and a seamless wooden fine-toothed comb), but my actual brushing/combing method was wrong! I had previously always just brushed and combed my hair while sitting or standing upright, but what I really should have been doing was bending over and brushing/combing my hair with it dangling towards the floor.

I started brushing my hair like that as soon as I replaced my BBB (since it was many years old and was no longer properly doing its job), because I'd stumbled across that method of brushing in the process of trying to research good BBB brands, and immediately, I noticed an immense difference! My hair felt and looked much, much better! And not only that, but it's helping me get rid of the center part that I've been fighting for years (since I used to always part my hair that way)! My hair has even been easier to wash in the shower!

Have you experienced any similar breakthroughs merely by changing your method of brushing/combing, and not the products?

Yes! Although mine is very opposite of yours, due to my texture.

I had been brushing my hair with paddle brushes and BBB's most of my life (more of the former than the latter, but I always had a BBB and used it semi-regularly).

For the longest time, what I thought I had was very frizz-prone, tangly 2a/b hair. Still pretty when it decided to behave, but that was a rare day.

As soon as I ditched all my brushes and went to a wide-tooth comb ONLY when I washed, all of a sudden I had sleek 2c hair with bits of 3a that rarely ever tangles. Mermaid hair!

I have LHC to thank for that one. ;)

I have no idea why I was never taught this. My mother is probably 2b and my father was probably somewhere in the 3's. Both had fine hair prone to frizz, like me. For whatever reason, they never learned it either. From what I've read here, it's almost a rule for wurly-curlies to shun the paddle brush, and especially the BBB. Just doesn't work well for many of us with that kind of texture, especially if our hair is fine. I would think two people coming from Mediterranean families would have learned wurly/curly hair care, not straight hair care. But apparently not?

I feel like I didn't discover what kind of hair I had until I was 25. I went all those years thinking I had completely different hair than I actually do, if I just treat it how it would like to be treated.

[FallynLeaf]

I'm curious what you mean by your hair looks better in general and that washing is easier. Do you have more volume due to brushing upside down and not flattening your hair against your head as you would right side up?

Personally I don't brush daily, but when I do I brush right side up in multiple sections, so the brush can reach all of my scalp.

I've seen a little bit more volume, yes, but I think my hair looks a lot better mainly because my hair had gotten too used to how it laid against my head, which meant that my center part was impossible to get rid of (and any updos that required I didn't part my hair were difficult), and it also meant that sections of my hair were getting brushed/combed the same way all the time, if that makes any sense? As soon as I switched to brushing upside down, my hair laid a little differently on my head, and I started to see highlights that I had not seen before, and it was much, much easier for me to do updos of all sorts, because my hair was just much more willing to be moved into different shapes. I think brushing upside down actually lets me do a more thorough detangling and cleaning with my wide-toothed comb and BBB, too (which might be why detangling is so much harder when you first switch).

And as far as washing goes, I have been using shampoo bars to wash my hair for several years now, with pretty good results, but as soon as I started brushing upside down, I noticed that my hair felt different when I ran my fingers through it in the shower. It feels much easier to build a lather, and I think the soap is getting into my hair better now, too. It also looks a lot better now for more days between washes!

[yogagirl]

Wow, sounds like it works like a charm for you!

Two things I can relate to:
- after I started wearing black a top bun for bed each night my hair seems to tolerate styling in different directions better.
- when I BBB twice daily (I go through phases where I do this) my hair definitely seems less oily at the scalp which makes shampooing easier. But then I go through phases where I want to encourage my waves and I have to stop BBBing again.

[FallynLeaf]

Yeah, it really did work like a charm! It feels like it legitimately changed my life! Which is why I was curious if anyone else had experienced anything similar just by merely changing their method of brushing/combing.