Does anyone else's hair hate combs?

[amantha]

So I know this sounds really stupid and counter-intuitive, and brushing your hair is considered naughty around here....but I really think after 6 months of trying to use wide-toothed combs to detangle my damp hair, my damp hair really prefers those crappy cushioned brushes with the balls on the ends.

I have always kept my hair wrapped up in a towel while I did the other parts of my post-shower routine (roughly 45 mins). So when I unwrap to detangle my hair, it's already like 70-80% dry. I bought seamless combs after reading that brushing your hair when it's the teeniest bit wet is bad...even though I didn't have any complaints with my hair.

Within a month, I had like 10x the amount of split ends and breakage..even days after getting my hair trimmed. My ends felt like garbage and my hair tangled within minutes after detangling it. I kept going with it though, thinking that maybe it was just the change in seasons affecting my hair or a build up of something. I clarified and deep conditioned, but there was no improvement. It eventually got to the point where I had a whole new crop of split ends 2 days after my trim in October and I was seriously considering a major trim for my next hair appointment in December.

At the beginning of this month I realized my hair didn't have these problems with my old routine and brush. So I went back to using that to detangle my damp hair...and oh my!...my hair felt sooo much better within a week.

It's been weeks since I S&Ded my split ends and barely any new ones have appeared. My ends aren't dry anymore (no change in shampoo/conditioner). And I can go at least one full day again without my hair getting tangles (unless if it's windy outside or something). Oh and my hair is shiny again! :cheese:

I should also mention that I've always brushed/combed my hair the "correct" way (grabbing sections, starting from the ends and slowly working up to the roots) so I don't think my technique was ruining my hair when I was combing it. :confused:

So does anyone else's hair around here hate combs? I know I'm probably doing damage to my hair with a brush even though it makes my hair feel awesome, so I did buy a seamless bristled brush from Braun to help prevent that. Also if someone could please give me tips as to why combs didn't work for me, or how I could make them work for me, I would really appreciate it! I know they SHOULD work for me, I just don't know why they're not.

[ericthegreat]

Well, my hair doesn't hate combs, but it also really loves being brushed out like your hair does. I use a wide tooth in the shower after my hair is washed and I apply the conditioner in and comb it thro with the wide tooth. By doing this I take out any tangles and knots that may have formed in my hair over my day to day activities. However, I only use the wide tooth while in the shower, never anywhere else.

When I'm managing my hair when its dry, I always use my trusty paddle brush to brush thro all of my hair starting from my very ends and working my way up to the roots.

[darklyndsea]

My hair hates combs. It doesn't matter how slowly and carefully I go, they just won't go through my hair. I never noticed any difference in frizziness when I tried combing, and that was really the only reason I did it, so I don't worry about it. Plus, my hair always feels really rough if I comb--ick!

[amantha]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one darklyndsea! Your hair texture is similar to mine and I was wondering if you also use a brush to detangle your damp hair? The only complaint I have so far about going back to my brush is that it sometimes gets rid of a lot of my wave pattern. The only thing I liked about using a comb was that it left my waves intact.

Eric- I had the same routine as you for a while except that I found using a comb to detangle in the shower (with plenty of conditioner of course) was really time consuming. So I just went back to finger combing out the knots. Plus finger combing them out doesn't hurt as much. How do you detangle your hair when you get out of the shower? Or was the shower detangling enough to keep you tangle free for a while? And I love my paddle brush too. :) A good one is hard to find though.

[Freckled.Thing]

I had this problem when I was a kid. It was just impossible to comb my hair. It would tangle constantly around the comb and takes hours to get all the way through. The main reason that I used brushes instead was that it was so much faster and easier.
I only recently started using a comb again and I was very suspicious at first. I have to say though, for me my hair is much less damaged and less firzzy when I use a comb than a brush. I've even stopped using my tangle teezer for the most part because I love my comb so much.

[Hotrox]

I have always kept my hair wrapped up in a towel while I did the other parts of my post-shower routine (roughly 45 mins). So when I unwrap to detangle my hair, it's already like 70-80% dry. I bought seamless combs after reading that brushing your hair when it's the teeniest bit wet is bad...even though I didn't have any complaints with my hair.


I could never do this to my hair without destroying it for sure, once my hair is that dry I could never brush it or comb without major damage, any tangles would be sealed in by then for sure!

Could you comb it out in the shower, gently while it has some conditioner on it before wrapping it, that might take out some of the worst tangles and make combing easier once you let it down?

[PaganPriestess]

I hate most combs, but I have found a wide-toothed one I like for detangling after the shower. But otherwise it's a handy dandy cheap old cushion brush for dry hair.

[amantha]

I could never do this to my hair without destroying it for sure, once my hair is that dry I could never brush it or comb without major damage, any tangles would be sealed in by then for sure!

Could you comb it out in the shower, gently while it has some conditioner on it before wrapping it, that might take out some of the worst tangles and make combing easier once you let it down?

Hi Hotrox! Yeah I tried that for about two months this summer. The comb took forever to detangle my hair in the shower and it felt like it was just ripping my hair no matter how gentle I tried to be. And it would just be tangled again after my shower anyway so I didn't really see the point and just went back to finger combing in the shower. If I'm careful, I can get my hair detangled in under 5 mins with my brush and 10 mins with my comb after unwrapping my hair. But the comb made my hair feel like junk (really dry and coarse) afterward. :confused:

[almond]

I tried different wide toothed combs and my hair still prefers brushes, even if it is something like you mentioned, with balls on the ends. My hair is not hard to detangle, but with a brush it's easier. I'm not even wavy though :rolleyes:

[seaj]

So does anyone else's hair around here hate combs? I know I'm probably doing damage to my hair with a brush even though it makes my hair feel awesome, so I did buy a seamless bristled brush from Braun to help prevent that.

My hair hates combs too, but really loves piks. I still use my brush to detangle, but I have a Tangle Teezer on the way so I'm hoping it's as great at they say it is.

Which Braun brush did you buy? I was thinking of getting one of those for a while.

[amantha]

My hair hates combs too, but really loves piks. I still use my brush to detangle, but I have a Tangle Teezer on the way so I'm hoping it's as great at they say it is.

Which Braun brush did you buy? I was thinking of getting one of those for a while.

I got the Braun Satin hair brush. It supposedly has a "jet stream of ions" that "smooth" your hair or something. Personally, I think that part is a load of bull because ions don't work that way. And I think the ion stream thingie actually singed a hair while I tried it! But the fact that it has seamless bristles, and that the whole pad can detach for cleaning, makes it worth the hefty price for me.

I also thought about getting a tangle teezer. But I saw a ton of reviews saying that it's impossible to get through your hair when it's wet/damp because the bristles are so flimsy they don't penetrate enough. Although I hear it's a dream to use on dry hair.

[|Xei]

I detangle wet hair with a wide tooth comb, and that works great. But on dry hair, it doesn't detangle well in that there are always a couple of tangles left in there, and when I do a final combing from top to bottom, the comb would catch onto those tangles. My dry hair likes the wooden brush a lot more.

[Upside Down]

My hair doesn't like combs either, I use the brush on wet hair after applying conditioner, or I use it on dry hair after oiling ;)

[ktani]

I do not hate combs. I just do not use them, lol. I also bought seamless combs. I have a few of them.

I use no brushes either. I "flutter" my fingers through mostly damp hair after washing, stopping at any resistance to gently separate hairs, and when dry, separate my hair if needed the way you would if braiding sections.

I have way less mechanical damage that way, and 0 problems.

My hair does not tangle using catnip the way I do.

ETA: I no longer s&d. I have no need to do so and the last time it was not worth the time spent, to cut the ends off 3 hairs at the end of it. If I see a broken end, I trim it. An s&d session done section by section, the way I used to do one takes me a while.

[Amber_Maiden]

I had a wide tooth resin comb I was using for awhile. I now have a Tangle Teezer and I LOVE it. I don't think I'll go back to combs. It took me forever to comb out my hair with them.

[Saeth]

My hair hates combs too. I've tried everything, wide toothed, thin toothed, seamless plastic, wooden. It all has the same result, the teeth just snag in my hair and lead to more damage/breaks/pain. I even had this issue with my fingers, though less so. It reached a point where I had to totally discard this Golden Rule of no brushing hair.

In the end I took my BBB and from bottom to top, 1cm at a time very gently brushed it with the corner bristles. Bingo. Hardly ever any snags, it didn't get caught, it didn't hurt, and I've had a deduction in dots.

I thought about why this seems to work for me when it just shouldn't. I came to the conclusion that where my hair is so fine and not much of it to boot, that other tools simply just tried to cut through my ratty knots (To describe them, it's like some has gone along my hemline and grabbed sections and rolled the hair between their fingers), instead of just helping to separate the hairs gently. Also I think it helps that the bristles have give while a comb just doesn't.

Just my thoughts :)

[freckles]

My hair doesn't like combs. The combs either let the whole tangle through the gaps, or they stop dead on the tangle. Yes, I know, stopping dead on the tangle means I can take the comb away and detangle with my fingers, but I can also do this with just fingercombing, which is less painful. And brushing makes my hair smooth, but combing doesn't.

I use a tangle teezer now and love it.

Oh, I don't know if combing caused me any extra damage. I've always had a ton of split ends regardless of how I detangle.

[kaiakai]

I used a wooden wide tooth comb for a few years, and then my BFF gave me a brush. I fell in love with the brush. I'm still trying to figure out all the whole comb vs. brush thing, but it seems like it is easier to detangle with my brush, and it leaves my hair a little smoother.
I haven't noticed increased damage either way; I just try to be gentle no matter which one I use.

[darklyndsea]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one darklyndsea! Your hair texture is similar to mine and I was wondering if you also use a brush to detangle your damp hair? The only complaint I have so far about going back to my brush is that it sometimes gets rid of a lot of my wave pattern. The only thing I liked about using a comb was that it left my waves intact.
I literally cannot do anything at all with my hair if it's the slightest bit wet. There are all these people who say it's easier to detangle while wet or damp, and I just don't get it. The retangling is at least twice as bad if I try detangling while my hair's the slightest bit damp. I use a tangele teezer on my dry hair.

[Hiriel]

My hair doesn't like combs at all either. I don't use those "ball-point" brushes any more, just straight tines for me now, but I still only use brushes. But my hair doesn't like being brushed while damp. I detangle it while wet and full of conditioner, or dry. I leave it alone while it's drying.

[Aerin]

Huh, I always detangle before getting in the shower, since doing that while my hair is wet always turns it into a hot mess. And then if I'm leaving my hair curly, I don't touch it (other than maybe fluffing it with my fingers at the roots). I don't really worry about tangles until the next time I braid/shower.

[Madora]

@amantha...

Over the years I've found that successful detangling with a wide tooth comb is based on doing it slowly, and applying as little pressure on the comb itself as you detangle.

You're using the gentlest method..i.e. starting from the ends and combing up them bit by bit until you reach the scalp.

I've found that if you take small sections of hair, instead of large ones, the detangling is easier. By "small" I mean about an inch or so.

Also, the tension you place on the comb should be gentle, as if you were holding a living thing between your fingers and didn't want to hurt it. Go slowly and the moment you feel any resistance, stop, and use your fingers to undo the tangle.

The detangling process can also be helped if you part your hair from nape to forehead, and band off one side with a scrunchie.

If you're concerned about tangles occuring again after you've just finished detangling a section, you could use a small covered fabric elastic to confine what you just detangled.

I love my Sally's Beauty Supply shower comb, which I bought to replace my much loved 20 year old "Maria" comb.

[amantha]

Also I think it helps that the bristles have give while a comb just doesn't.

Just my thoughts :)

Holy moly! Well I'm a bit relieved to see that other longhairs have similar problems with combs! Thanks everyone for your input! :blossom:

Saeth, yes I think you're right. A lot of my hairs are fine too, but I have a ton of them. The give in the cushion of the brush was the exact reason why I decided to go back to a brush when I did a comparison one morning. It just seemed like any knot I had was getting snagged on a comb, whereas it parted like butter with my brush and didn't hurt because the bristles in the brush have a lot more give to them. If it's an especially bad tangle, I have to fingercomb it out regardless of what I use though.

[Gothchiq]

Yup. I have a huge shower comb for using with conditioner in the shower, but other than that, combing does not leave my hair nice looking nor does it detangle better. I never find broken hairs in my brushes (yes, ball tipped), only normal sheds with the root on them. My hair is wavy. I can smooth it with my hands after brushing, but trying to fingercomb *only* leaves it looking terrible.

I brush, I spritz with water then apply a leave in product, I smooth with hands.

[amantha]

@amantha...

Over the years I've found that successful detangling with a wide tooth comb is based on doing it slowly, and applying as little pressure on the comb itself as you detangle.

You're using the gentlest method..i.e. starting from the ends and combing up them bit by bit until you reach the scalp.

I've found that if you take small sections of hair, instead of large ones, the detangling is easier. By "small" I mean about an inch or so.

Also, the tension you place on the comb should be gentle, as if you were holding a living thing between your fingers and didn't want to hurt it. Go slowly and the moment you feel any resistance, stop, and use your fingers to undo the tangle.

The detangling process can also be helped if you part your hair from nape to forehead, and band off one side with a scrunchie.

If you're concerned about tangles occuring again after you've just finished detangling a section, you could use a small covered fabric elastic to confine what you just detangled.

I love my Sally's Beauty Supply shower comb, which I bought to replace my much loved 20 year old "Maria" comb.


Hi Madora! Thanks for your advice. :) I did try to use the least amount of tension possible, but it felt like once my hair hit the comb it would immediately snag around it. So I would immediately try to work at the snag with the comb (gently) or just end up working it apart with my fingers (I had to do this a lot). In the end I felt like my tangles weren't sufficiently out and my ends mysteriously felt coarse and dry and kind of shredded. I also had a lot of single strand knots. I don't know why my cheapo brush makes my hair shiny and the ends soft. It's really a bit of a mystery to me. Maybe it's pulling sebum down the whole length of my hair? I have no idea. Also my hair isn't snagging as much when I use a brush so I can get through my hair much much faster. If it does snag though, I always pick apart the tangle with my fingers.

I really think I'm of the mind that I'm probably inept at using a comb and if the brush worked so well for me in the past, I shouldn't have fixed something that wasn't broken. Now I have damage that will probably take the better part of a year to grow out.

[Chamy]

My hair dont do well with combs. I have realized this after years of trying to comb my hair, with just getting damage from it. Now i use a tangle teezer, it has become my most beloved hair-item.

[ktani]

Advice from Paula Begoun on preventing hair damage
http://www.cosmeticscop.com/hair-care-story-ideas.aspx#damage
"Brush or comb your hair as infrequently and as gently as possible.
Never use a brush on wet hair, and don’t over-brush dry hair. "

What is missing?

There are many types of brushes and many types of combs.

There is a huge difference between wet hair and hair 80% dry, in terms of fragility.

I find it easier to determine a snag with my fingers than with a comb or brush and it is the force of a tool used on hair that stresses hair strands and can cause damage. That is about technique. ETA: barring rough or sharp edges and seams or certain types of tipped brushes

[Ramille]

I use my wide toothed comb daily. About once a week I use a Mason Pearson BB/nylon combo. I have tried to use plain BB but they will never go through my hair. The brush feel is wonderful, but it does take out the wave. I always detangle gently while wet after putting in conditioner. Am not satisfied I am using the best routine yet.

[seaj]

I got the Braun Satin hair brush. It supposedly has a "jet stream of ions" that "smooth" your hair or something. Personally, I think that part is a load of bull because ions don't work that way. And I think the ion stream thingie actually singed a hair while I tried it! But the fact that it has seamless bristles, and that the whole pad can detach for cleaning, makes it worth the hefty price for me.

I also thought about getting a tangle teezer. But I saw a ton of reviews saying that it's impossible to get through your hair when it's wet/damp because the bristles are so flimsy they don't penetrate enough. Although I hear it's a dream to use on dry hair.

That Braun brush was the only brush I could find when I was searching "seamless brush" on google haha. That price scared me away though. I think that I'll try a wood pin brush next.

[Diamond.Eyes]

I don't really use combs all that often and I would never dream of using a comb while my hair was dry :bigeyes:. That would be bad for my hair as well as the comb :D. I use my Tangle Teezer for any detangling/brushing needs that I have. :)

[kaiakai]

Anyone know of any other threads on combing/brushing?

[spidermom]

So the hair decides? :confused:

I think it's partly what you get used to doing and your technique for doing it. I have long used a comb because brushing makes my hair bushy. I'm used to it; I have the technique perfected. I would never have tried to use a brush, except that I lost both of my combs a year or more back. So I started using the brush (on dry hair only), and lo and behold: there's a technique for that, too. So now I have the technique perfected for both brushing AND combing, and the brush is faster.

I only ever use the comb in wet hair with conditioner in my hair. Hair is too vulnerable to damage, like stretching, when it's wet.

The brain decides.

[Deborah]

I no longer use a brush or a comb on wet hair. It just let it dry, as I have found that it detangles much more easily once it's dry.

As to brush v. comb, I generally like brushing better. With combs I often hear hairs snapping. With a brush this just does not happen. I still use a comb sometimes, but usually after I have detangled with my hands and a brush first. When I'm out and about, I usually just carry a comb, so I will use it, very carefully, then.

[celebriangel]

My hair is not a fan of combs either, but brushes rip through knots so I use my tangle teezer. Much better!

[Quixii]

I'm glad I'm not alone! I was feeling a bit like an evil person because my hair just doesn't seem to tolerate combing and much prefers brushing. I dry-brush my hair immediately before I get in the shower, and then don't touch it again until the next time I'm about to shower. When I tried combing in the shower like is recommended, I would end up wasting water for 10-20 minutes trying to untangle, with my wet hair clinging to everything and then ending up still being tangled. With a brush, my hair stays detangled a lot longer, and gets detangled a lot quicker.

[ericthegreat]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one darklyndsea! Your hair texture is similar to mine and I was wondering if you also use a brush to detangle your damp hair? The only complaint I have so far about going back to my brush is that it sometimes gets rid of a lot of my wave pattern. The only thing I liked about using a comb was that it left my waves intact.

Eric- I had the same routine as you for a while except that I found using a comb to detangle in the shower (with plenty of conditioner of course) was really time consuming. So I just went back to finger combing out the knots. Plus finger combing them out doesn't hurt as much. How do you detangle your hair when you get out of the shower? Or was the shower detangling enough to keep you tangle free for a while? And I love my paddle brush too. :) A good one is hard to find though.

I could never get away with just finger-combing my hair amantha. I just have wayyyy too much hair, its so thick! I get all kinds of knots, but the worse are the tiny knots which are only made up of a few bundles of hair. For me, it would actually take too much time to untangle each and every one of these tiny knots with just my hands. My wide tooth takes care of all these knots once and for all (when my hair is wet and full of conditioner of course), plus, I like the reassurance that I am evenly combing out my hair instead of just randomly detangling with my imprecise fingers.

I usually do not touch my hair at all after I wash the conditioner out of my hair, so after my shower I just let my hair air-dry. I won't begin using my paddle brush until my hair is fully dry or at the very least only slightly damp. And I find that once I brush out my hair fully, that actually takes out any leftover moisture in my hair, so I have that nice, polished look.

[owlathena]

My hair hates combs! Also hates finger-combing. Gentle brushing works or me!

[aahavaa]

My hair hates combs too and I gave up trying to use them on dry hair ages ago.The only comb I use is one of those wide toothed ones and that one I use after I release my freshly washed hair from the turbie towel...In between washes I might use my brush on the ends if they get too stringy or on the top to smooth any frizz.Otherwise I don't use it until just before washing when I brush it all out.I then shampoo and then use the brush once more after rinsing under running water to make sure it's staying tangle free.Then I put it up in a turbie and use the wide tooth comb to pick at any clumps.

[amantha]

My hair hates combs! Also hates finger-combing. Gentle brushing works or me!

You and I have the exact same hair type! Almost the same color even. It's not surprising then that your hair feels weird with combs too since we're basically hair twins. :p

[spidermom]

Finger-combing is not a good option for me, either. My combs glide through much better.

[Maraz]

My hair loves combs. It eats them.

[starlamelissa]

My hair loves combs. It eats them.
Almost fell out of my chair on that one. I could say the same thing about my hair and FINGERS!

[piffyanne]

I thought mine did, because combing my hair keeps inventing new tangles, but I recently divided my hair in a middle-part, and did a comb/brush test: the pile of hair from my TangleTeezing was the same size as the combed hair shed pile when I rolled them together.

I guess that means combing isn't as evil as I thought. :shrug:

On the other hand, the fact that I get a mini-mat whenever I run a comb down the length, even when I already carefully worked my way up from the tips, doesn't make me WANT to comb, no matter how wonderful everyone else says it is. :shrug:

(I didn't have time to read the whole thread, I'll get back to you all, I promise!)

[Tisiloves]

I hate combs with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. No matter how careful or thorough I am they always give me a ton of breakage and/or don't detangle properly. Brushes work much better for my hair and I.

ETA: Tangle teezer :cloud9:

[piffyanne]

I hate combs with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. No matter how careful or thorough I am they always give me a ton of breakage and/or don't detangle properly. Brushes work much better for my hair and I.

ETA: Tangle teezer :cloud9:
Tell us how you REALLY feel. :popcorn:

;)

Now, there is ONE kind of comb I like: Vintage combs like this (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=62879).

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[DreadfulWoman]

I'm so glad it's not just me. I tried so hard to love the wide-toothed comb, but no matter my technique they just break my hair, and don't really seem to detangle for me at all. I usually just finger comb, followed up by a good tangle teezing if I'm feeling particularly thorough.

ETA: I'm with you, Piffyanne. My hair and I are quite fond of those types of combs.

[Tisiloves]

Tell us how you REALLY feel. :popcorn:

;)

Now, there is ONE kind of comb I like: Vintage combs like this (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=62879).

>Enable enable enable<

I love those combs, too, also French combs, its just the detangling ones that make my hair cry.

[Shruthi]

I could never do this to my hair without destroying it for sure, once my hair is that dry I could never brush it or comb without major damage, any tangles would be sealed in by then for sure!

Could you comb it out in the shower, gently while it has some conditioner on it before wrapping it, that might take out some of the worst tangles and make combing easier once you let it down?

I could totally relate to you.I am kind of having the same situation here as well.But i have heard that one mustn't comb their hair while its wet, So i avoid combing in the shower

[AutumnLocks]

The only time I use a comb on my hair is after I've washed it. I leave it wrapped up in a towel for maybe a couple hours. Then when I take the towel off I remove the tangles with a wide toothed comb. The rest of the time I use a brush with balls on the tip of the bristles. I can't even get a BBB through my hair.

[AineMuirne]

I can't comb my hair dry unless it's oiled. It misses the tangles and when I do try to use a comb to take out tangles, it just breaks hair. Maybe I just suck at using combs.

I'll stick to my Tangle Teezer! I do use a wide comb after the shower, but my hair has no tangles then and it's purely for smoothing. I feel like I lose less hair doing that than if I just used the Tangle Teezer, but who knows. I probably lose the same amount, in reality.

[PrincessIdril]

My hair only likes being combed when it's very damp. Combing dry hair is a big no no. Oddly enough my hair is the opposite to most curlies as it looks/feels its best when I have brushed it.

I usually brush it before I wash, then comb it after washing. I'll let it dry and get all curly, this then gets braided/bunned and only my scalp gets brushed (just to neaten everything up). But on the 2nd day after washing I find that my length needs to be brushed. Yes this does ruin my curls, but it settles it into waves and since my hair is always braided/bunned disrupting the curl pattern isn't a big deal really! And by then a lot of the curls have fallen out anyway!