BBB Question

[atlantaz3]

Or Boar Bristle Brush question. I love my Paul Mitchell paddle brush which is probably bad for my hair - it has the little plastic teeth with the balls on the end - but does have the spongy base. I have had several bbb brushes mostly round, but did buy one paddle bbb brush. I don't feel like it gets through to my scalp and after brushing with it I go back over my hair with the other paddle brush. If I try to run my fingers through my hair after the bbb they just get stuck - I don't know how to describe it.
Any way my question is do I look for a firmer bbb brush or what are the ins and outs of bbb brushing?

[JamieLeigh]

Unless your hair is super-super-super-fine, you won't be able to detangle with a BBB. At least, I don't think so. LOL.

I use a wide-tooth wooden comb to detangle before using my BBB. :)

[Carolyn]

A BBB is for polishing the hair, not detangling. I comb with a wide tooth detangling comb and then use my BBB. Mason Pearson make a brush that's a combination of boar bristles and stiff nylon bristles. No little ball tip ends. I love mine.

[speakyword]

I brush mine in sections. I put the top two thirds of my hair in a pony tail, brush the bottom third, then I take the pony out and let down another third and tie the top third back up... brush it, etc. Works just fine for me

[LadyLongLocks]

I ditched my BBB 30 years ago. I use a paddle brush like you described, if I brush at all which is rare. I found that the BBB made my hair so greasy...plus I don't use animal products anymore.
Seems gross to use an animals hair to brush mine...yikes. (I am a vegetarian)

I love my Scunci paddle brush and use it when I blow dry as it holds the hair so well. I use large combs the rest of the time.

Someone gave me a nice BBB 3 years ago as a gift. I tried it again since they insisted it should be used and was better....well, it's sitting there and I never use it.

[redeyedtreefr0g]

I'm confused.
When I was trying to find out what on earth a boar bristle brush was after seeing those letters so often in the forums here, I googled it and got results for brushes with those really close together plastic bristles like my husbands grandparents have. They are wonderful for making the top layer of hair look nice, and I guess for thin almost-not-there hair they work great, but they don't brush. They don't detangle.

And now I'm hearing that there are types actually made from the hair of a pig?

One site I saw that said Paul Whoever brush was the best because it had both BB and regular bristles. It still looked all synthetic to me.



If you don't want yours, could I have it? I was thinking of asking my mom for a hair trim and a brush shopping trip for my birthday.

[Carolyn]

A *boar* is a pig. So yes a BBB is made from a piggie's bristly hairs.

[WritingPrincess]

My mom has a BBB that we call her "porcupine" brush, because each cluster of boar bristles has a nylon one in the middle, so it works pretty well for detangling. But when it's pure boar bristles, it's for smoothing, something I've never seemed to be able to get the hang of.

[heidi w.]

BBB is not for detangling!

It's for polishing -- after detangling is complete. Many folks will not experience full penetration to the scalp skin, albeit some do. It's normal if it doesn't though.

I will write more info later.

heidi w.

[Anje]

BBBs seem to "weave" my hair together, too, so that it's a little difficult to run fingers through afterward. My solution is, following brushing, to run my wide tooth comb through the hair again to break it up. Seems to work nicely.

[darkwaves]

I don't feel like it gets through to my scalp and after brushing with it I go back over my hair with the other paddle brush. If I try to run my fingers through my hair after the bbb they just get stuck - I don't know how to describe it. My fingers get stuck, too. Not sure it's the same thing, but with my hair -- fine and thick -- the BBB somehow bonds the hairs. Maybe it's because of moving the oils down? I don't know. However, that same effect is great when I want my frizzy flyaways to behave in an updo! I use a really soft, cheap Goody BBB for that.


Unless your hair is super-super-super-fine, you won't be able to detangle with a BBB. Perhaps you mean thin, not fine? Some of us have fine hair that's very thick. (My hair might detangle with a brush like this, but not in its current volume)


I found that the BBB made my hair so greasy... Yes, that's it! Or sticky, as well?


My mom has a BBB that we call her "porcupine" brush, because each cluster of boar bristles has a nylon one in the middle, so it works pretty well for detangling. But when it's pure boar bristles, it's for smoothing, something I've never seemed to be able to get the hang of. My other BBB sounds like your mom's brush -- and it will not detangle my hair. It won't even brush through. (And doesn't come close to touching my scalp.) I use it to brush out loose hairs when I'm stretching out time between washings, but I have to section my hair into about seven parts for this to work. (It's an MP, "Popular" I think the name was.)

So, to the OP: It's highly possible that a BBB is not what you want for your hair, at least, not if you want to detangle. If you are looking for a gloss while wearing an updo, it might work fine. (Or, maybe this works for some people if their hair is loose... Not me... Once I use a BBB, it looks greasy. Hey! That's what LadyLongLocks said!)

[heidi w.]

HOW TO USE A BOAR BRISTLE BRUSH

This is not a detangling tool. It is a polishing tool.

Hair is a fine organic fiber. The analogy is a beautiful wood table. Wood is analogous to one’s hair—a natural fiber. One dust’s then polishes wood. There’s an agent usually for polishing wood such as spray which is analogous to applied oil or one’s natural sebum. And there’s a cloth for polishing, analogous to the Boar Bristle Brush. One polishes by going over & over the wood to bring out the shine. Much like BBBing.

So, one must begin with already detangled hair. However, as you polish with the BBB, if you encounter a tangle, work it out with your usual detangling tool or hands – DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DETANGLE WITH THE BBB. It will cause damage if you detangle with a BBB. I personally switch back&forth—a lot—between a detangling tool and BBB. Therefore, POLISHING WITH A BBB IS NOT A FAST PROCESS.

One BBB’s opposite the direction of detangling. Instead of bottom to top, one actually goes the opposite: top to bottom (or higher up then down the length). Because of the type of bristles, when one reaches the end, it’s easy to perchance bring up a slip of hair as one comes back up for the next downstroke. For this reason, I recommend, much like a batter’s swing, follow through – that is brush beyond the ends to ensure no hair is picked up. IF this does occur, this can be a source of tangling. Work that out with fingers or a detangling tool. Again, another reason BBBing is a slow process.

Then you can distribute sebum, or distribute applied oil to the length (I do not recommend applying oils, generally, to the scalp hair and scalp skin for a variety of reasons.)

One has to polish topside of hair and then underside of hair -- separately, usually since the dense bristles of a BBB do not tend to penetrate the thickness of most people’s hair. The feeling of improved softness should arise fairly readily, nevertheless. One can apply a teensy amount of oil (see my Oiling Tutorial under LHC Articles—a very good read with lots of additions over the years from LHC folks), and distribute this with the BBB. Generally, the thicker the hair, the more likely topside and underside of length will have to be BBBd separately. Another reason for BBBing being a slower process.

I recommend kind of GLIDING the brush along the length. Do NOT press harder and harder to penetrate the thickness. This is unnecessary and improper usage, and can potentially cause damage. This is likely where the 100 strokes of the brush arises from—in days of yore, for many there was only a BBB and a comb. And in that era, it was more popular to dye the bristles white and also make them less stiff: by repetitively downstroking, the shine and softness factor, tended to increase because one applied oils or more often distributed sebum since in that era hair washing was a significantly less frequent event than in our times.

If one BBBs the hair closest to the scalp, this hair typically has sebum in it (especially day 2 or more after a hair wash of some kind). This hair, with that sebum, when BBB’d, becomes flattened, not lifted. Generally, remarkably so – and most don’t like it. This is normal, and generally unavoidable – except if you simply don’t BBB this portion of hair.

Many many people will not experience full penetration of the bristles to the surface of the scalp skin. This is a normal experience. Plenty enough report this outcome: that the bristles do penetrate to the scalp skin; but if it doesn’t penetrate for you, this does not mean there is no success! It’s working just fine. Understand that a typical BBB has very densely packed bristles as compared to a regular detangling brush (and if you’re using a detangling brush, if it works for you, that’s fine – but I do recommend trying a wide tooth comb for less hair loss, less hair breakage, and possibly an easier time detangling. Some detangle well with fingers, but as a fine hair type – I’m not one of them. Fingers are far to thick for my hair and causes breakage.) For example, African-American hair types will definitely not experience full penetration to the scalp skin.

A BBB tends to make hair a bit more flyaway—yet only momentarily! If you curl your fist around the volume of hair and downstroke, the flyaway will immediately go away. If it persists, you could need a teensy bit more oil. IF still persists, then the air is likely dry (as in winter where it snows, especially), or you may have another issue, separate from BBBing, with dry hair.

Do NOT BBB WET HAIR. Ever. Period.

Some hair types, such as those with coiled curls, will likely have issues with using a BBB. A BBB is not everyone’s cup of tea. For this hair type, the BBB will likely cause major POOF, the bain of curly hair existence. (Curly hair types also tend to respond better to oiling/shea butter/cholesterol while the hair is damp, versus dry.) Two suggestions, then: 1) Only BBB when you have nowhere to go (such as end of day) so the hair has time to calm 2) Only BBB in sections or patches, not the traditional top down method.

Not everyone will be able to go top down stroking. That’s OK.

Because the BBB bristles pick up the sebum and/or applied oils, these tend to cling to the bristles themselves and thus lay down a sheer, sheer tidbit of oil on the length. When doing so, if you brush, say, leaning to one side and the front kind of forward, then when you go to draw the hair length, perhaps, for example, behind the shoulders, the hair closest to the scalp may kind of not really go in that direction. You have to brush the hair in the direction you want it to lie in. Once you have some experience with BBBing (especially hair that isn’t recently washed) this point will be better understood.

I prefer to BBB after a fresh hair wash, once hair is air dried, and upon oiling the length. Others do like to use this more frequently. For example, a decent statistical example report that a BBB does indeed penetrate to the scalp skin and thereby are able to remove dry scalp flakes.

TIP: let’s say one is on Day 3 of no hair washing and the sebum is beginning to build a bit, causing that kind of separating or sectioning of hair near the scalp skin. Let’s say you also don’t have time to wash (although do consider an amended scalp wash). What to do? Bun the hair, drawing the hair back if you like into the bun. Then taking the BBB, tip it on the side, and super, super gently, and tenderly, glide the edge of one side of the brush – the bristles that is – just the tips – along the hair in the direction you placed your hair, and the streaking/sectioning will go away because the oils are congealed. You will instead be left with that mock Hollywood look of uber shine (when the sebum is built up). This is not a look everyone likes, especially since sebum + BBB = really flat hair, close to the head, but it’ll get you through the day, or event.

BRUSHES: there are many brushes. I personally like a rubber backed, densely packed bristle brush, with wooden handle. I like the shape of the paddle to be a large oval, overall. I find that I like a brush where the center of the bristle area is slightly higher than the outer edges of the bristle area since this nicely complements the action of downstroking by the arm, wrist, and hand. There’s a tendency to rotate slightly as we move down the length. Those with waist and beyond length hair, especially classic and beyond, will notice this. However, if you want a softer bristle, you can search one out at the pet store! There now are brushes that have more space between the inset bristles, and even blending of nylon bristles and real boar bristles (from the actual boar). You might have to try a few to find out a suitable fit. Generally, one should not have to spend a lot of money for a decent BBB. I have seen them for as little as under $10 even in the beauty section of a grocery store aisle.

STORAGE: I do recommend storing the BBB in a soft cloth sheath and in a drawer. Because this brush tends to be a magnate for lint and dust bits (the oil on the bristles), it’s best to prevent this as best as one can.

CLEANING A BBB: I use Baking Soda and sprinkle it on the bristles and then immerse in water, bristles facing down. Then use a brush to get into the base of the brush. This is kind of hard work. Then rinse, and then press dry with a towel. Allow to sit on a windowsill to completely air dry in the sun. Then, if you like, you can place a teensy amount of oil on the palm, rubbing the hands together, (not a pool of oil by any means!) and press the heel of one’s hand into the bristles deeply to apply the tracest amount of oil to the bristles. I do recommend that after every single use, to use a pick out, or use your hands, and pull out the hairs from the bristles. One should not have to wash a BBB bristles overly often. The idea is to allow oils to be on the bristles themselves to distribute in one’s hair. Generally, I buy a new BBB about once every one to two years. I have had it occur that a BBB is just too full of gunk at the base of the tips that I simply can no longer clean off.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I'm confused.
When I was trying to find out what on earth a boar bristle brush was after seeing those letters so often in the forums here, I googled it and got results for brushes with those really close together plastic bristles like my husbands grandparents have. They are wonderful for making the top layer of hair look nice, and I guess for thin almost-not-there hair they work great, but they don't brush. They don't detangle.

And now I'm hearing that there are types actually made from the hair of a pig?

One site I saw that said Paul Whoever brush was the best because it had both BB and regular bristles. It still looked all synthetic to me.



If you don't want yours, could I have it? I was thinking of asking my mom for a hair trim and a brush shopping trip for my birthday.

OK, you're in Florida...this means there's a drug store near you somewhere...proceed to the beauty aisle section, and very likely there's a BBB there for you to examine. You will immediately see that the bristles are not synthetic albeit they have been cleaned for use in a brush. Yes, the bristles are from a type of pig known as a boar.

You can also look at Sally's Beauty -- I believe this is a nationwide chain for anyone to enter (some beauty supply stores are ONLY for stylists).

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Or Boar Bristle Brush question. I love my Paul Mitchell paddle brush which is probably bad for my hair - it has the little plastic teeth with the balls on the end - but does have the spongy base. I have had several bbb brushes mostly round, but did buy one paddle bbb brush. I don't feel like it gets through to my scalp and after brushing with it I go back over my hair with the other paddle brush. If I try to run my fingers through my hair after the bbb they just get stuck - I don't know how to describe it.
Any way my question is do I look for a firmer bbb brush or what are the ins and outs of bbb brushing?

Ok, it looks to me that you're describing 2 DIFFERENT brushes, but I can't be certain since I'm not there.

There is a detangling brush that is manufactured just about everywhere that has separated individual plastic bristles with a ball on the tip. This is a brush for detangling. I do not recommend detangling with a brush ever. Certainly not a ball-tipped brush. Why? Tends to pull more on hair. Hair loss can be greater with a brush, as well.

Then you move on to discussing the BBB.....

Do I have this correct? I've never seen a BBB with ball tips on it, although I have certainly seen the ones with nylon bristles intermingled with boar's bristles.

Most people, in their way, are supporting many of the points I bring out in my above post regarding how to use a BBB. The above post will answer, likely, most of your BBB questions, if not all.

heidi w.

[redeyedtreefr0g]

Wow, thanks. The post about what its for and how to use it and clean it was very helpful and answered all my questions. Thanks Heidi

[redeyedtreefr0g]

Since February is Black History Month, Wal-Mart seems to actually have a really nice selection of boar bristle brushes. I found a nice large oval head one for $7. There were also several smaller brushes on an endcap, which would be nice purse size (they called them military size), but these were bristled on both sides in my store and I didn't like that.
I plan to take out the ugly black rubber accents on the handle of mine and bead them :D

[sibylla]

First, thank you Heidi W, you took the words out of my mouth. There is nothing better for hair than its own sebum. Nothing. Dispursing the sebum, is easiest done with a bbb. I have so many brushes (I don´t dare to put the amount here-you wouldn´t believe me..). My favourite brush for keeping the hair (or mane in my case)detangled is Body shops paddle brush with wood bristles. My hair loves coco nut oil for example but the ends need my own sebum to stay really soft.