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StellaKatherine
February 5th, 2012, 01:59 PM
Would anyone have any tips for the best hair brush ? I've been using normally the largest brush i would find in store, but now i started to wonder if i'm using wrong one and actually making damage to my hair.

I am sorry if this allready was talked about somewhere, but i can't find it.

Renate
February 5th, 2012, 02:14 PM
The best for hair is a brush or comb that doesn't make pop and snap noises when you brush/comb. Usually people sugest using a wide tooth wooden comb, not only because it doesn't cause static but because it doesn't have seams.

I sugest you just try what works is best for your hair. I know very long haired people that use a cushion brush and it works fine - of course it helps brushing your hair gently. I use a platic wide toothed comb, a smaller comb and a boar bristle brush.

Madora
February 5th, 2012, 02:29 PM
Would anyone have any tips for the best hair brush ? I've been using normally the largest brush i would find in store, but now i started to wonder if i'm using wrong one and actually making damage to my hair.

I am sorry if this allready was talked about somewhere, but i can't find it.

A natural boar bristle hairbrush "understands" the structure of your hair better than anything else, and depending on how you use it, you CAN have beautiful, healthy, long hair.

Boar bristle brushes come in various sizes and shapes-- oval, square, narrow. Some have rubberized cushions and some do not.

The boar bristles themselves come in various sizes, colors, and density. Some boar bristles can be long and stiff, others shorter and more flexible.

Your bbb should have at least 5 rows of bristles and lay flat on its back. If the brush is rounded, it will tangle your hair badly when you brush it. Rounded brushes are styling brushes for short hair.

For the sake of your hair, ALWAYS detangle your hair with a wide tooth comb BEFORE brushing. If you just start brushing w/o tangling first, you'll have damaged hair in no time.

How you brush makes a difference! It is not just putting brush to hair and starting to brush.

With proper usage a pure bbb can exercise your hair follices, remove lint/dust from your strands, and over time, leave your hair soft and glossy.

A bbb need not cost a mint..you can find them at Sally's, Walmart, Target and Walgreens. Denman and Mason Pearson are the brushes of choice for many here.

The boar bristle stiffness (or lack thereof), and the way you use the brush, are the ultimate factors in how well the brush interacts with your hair. Some folks prefer a softer bristle, others stiffer bristles. The stiffness in the bristles will gradually vanish with time.

When brushing, always be sure to follow the sweep of the brush with the palm of your other hand. This helps to cut the static made by the brushing.

Gingerbear
February 5th, 2012, 04:22 PM
I used to use my Mason Pearson BBB as my main tool when my hair was dry, but the past month or so I have converted over to a wide tooth comb (plastic with no palpable seams). I only use the BBB now as a final "smoothing" step in the morning or before I go out in the evening. I think I am getting less breakage this way, but it has not been long enough to tell for sure.

sfgirl
February 5th, 2012, 05:43 PM
I use a wide tooth comb and a BBB. I finger comb anything that my wide tooth comb can't get.

starlamelissa
February 5th, 2012, 05:46 PM
I love my denman brush, read the reviews here on the forum. It's got smooth nylon bristles, and the whole thing comes apart for easy cleaning.

Long_hair_bear
February 5th, 2012, 06:23 PM
I love my tangle teezer... It's a Godsend!

Cara Heather
February 5th, 2012, 07:43 PM
Being a newbie I recycled my old brush and got a Tangle Teezer. I love it. I haven't tried the BBB yet.

Aethernaught
February 5th, 2012, 07:52 PM
I tried a boar bristle, but I'm just too curly, I have a couple combs - big thick fat tines on them, and I do a lot of work with my fingers to move oils in the place of using a brush.

Jessykins
February 6th, 2012, 12:53 AM
well i use a big fat brush and my hairs fine, but i also use a tangle teezer for when my hair is damp, i guess im not that much of a comb fan :)

Anisaa
February 6th, 2012, 04:20 PM
All the hairbrushes by BASS are phenomenal, do check them out, you can find them at any "natural" "organic" store such as whole foods.

Keller1128
February 6th, 2012, 07:06 PM
I have a wide-toothed plastic seamless comb for when my hair is very wet, a wooden comb for when it's damp, a Tangle Teezer for when it's damp or to use at home to massage my scalp or before/after oiling (I don't want to carry it with me for fear that the bristles would get damaged. If not for that, that's all I would use!), and I just got the Denman smoothing brush. It has nylon bristles without the damaging balls at the end. You just have to brush slowly because they're not very flexible.

janeytilllie
February 7th, 2012, 09:16 AM
I love my Tangle Teezer. :heartbeat
It helps with my knots and does not snap my hair.

Angel_099
February 7th, 2012, 09:24 AM
I would like to get a tangle teezer...but I do also love my denman!

heidi w.
February 7th, 2012, 09:48 AM
Madora's post regarding BBB usage and choices is spot on. I ONLY use a BBB to "polish" the hair, to create softness by distributing oils around. I keep this brush in a drawer so it will control how much dust collects on the brush.

The majority of time when I have tangles, it is because there is lint or some sort of debris in my hair causing the tangle. Like Madora, I section my hair and detangle with a wide-toothed plastic comb.

It took me a while to make the switch from brushing to combing for detangling. I already knew to detangle from the bottom. The problem with the switch turned out to mostly be an issue of the spacing of the teeth. The teeth were too close together, in an average comb, and even in a wide-toothed comb. I needed even wider teeth spacing. So I found a comb, eventually, from George Michael hair salon. The teeth appear to be spaced the same as wide-toothed. But they aren't. Closer comparison and observation shows that the teeth are set just a tad bit more apart, and this comb I can get through the density of my hair, as well as easy clean-ability of the comb itself.

I have a pet peave against hair tools that have old hair just sitting in them and building up. To me it's kind of gross.

I wish I knew how to make videos and post to youtube. This would be a topic I would make a youtube video about. How to detangle; how to BBB; how to oil the hair....all that kind of stuff. Basic, essential information.

I have even noticed very soft BBB's available in pet stores.

Know that in most cases, a Boar Bristle Brush has bristles from a real boar - which is a type of pig or hog. They're kind of nasty beasts if you ever meet up with one. Blonde BBB's generally are dyed bristles. Some BBB's offer a mix of nylon bristles interspersed with boar bristle.

This type of brush generally does not penetrate the thickness of most people's hair. So one must brush topside and underside of hair separately.

Do not be in a hurry when brushing with this brush. Follow through to the very bottom of the hair. One can use this brush, since one has pre-detangled, from the top down.

This brush tends, for most people, to kind of distribute oil -- whether applied to the hair or brush, or sebum -- and the top of the head hair tends to thereby be weighted down and be somewhat flattened.

Do not press harder to penetrate thickness. Just glide the brush over the hair, multiple times, and brush the other side of the length separately.

I don't know what hair type you have, but curly haired folks generally don't have overly positive experiences with brushing in general because their hair tends to poof MORE in the wake of brushing. Combing or fingercombing is a bit better for these hair types.

Good luck. This isn't all there is to know, but it's a good starter kit.

heidi w.
ETA: Important tip: if you are BBBing, and encounter a tangle, work the tangle out with fingers or with a comb. Do not continue to BBB if you have a tangle. It will generally become worse and you can invoke damage in the hair if you continue to detangle with a BBB.

Also, do not use a BBB on wet hair -- ever. It simply won't work anyway.

Madora
February 7th, 2012, 10:02 AM
@Heidi W..

I'm bad. I do use pressure when I brush. Thoroughly agree with the "taking your time" approach to brushing. Brushing should not be something to hurry or rush through!

Never brush if you're pressed for time...or angry!

turtlelover
February 7th, 2012, 10:18 AM
I use a metal bristled dog brush with a rubber base. I like it much better than plastic brushes with similar design. I really don't have good luck with combs, except when my hair is wet and drenched in leave in conditioner. They ALWAYS pull more in my wavy hair. I know many people like them, but I do much better if I ignore the rule about not using a brush on wet hair! I seem to get LESS damage when I rarely comb.

heidi w.
February 7th, 2012, 10:19 AM
@Heidi W..

I'm bad. I do use pressure when I brush. Thoroughly agree with the "taking your time" approach to brushing. Brushing should not be something to hurry or rush through!

Never brush if you're pressed for time...or angry!

I've been in a hurry, and it never went well. It took even more time. Sometimes, I've just had to put the brush down! LOL

heidi w.

heidi w.
February 7th, 2012, 10:21 AM
I use a metal bristled dog brush with a rubber base. I like it much better than plastic brushes with similar design. I really don't have good luck with combs, except when my hair is wet and drenched in leave in conditioner. They ALWAYS pull more in my wavy hair. I know many people like them, but I do much better if I ignore the rule about not using a brush on wet hair! I seem to get LESS damage when I rarely comb.

Every head of hair is UNIQUE. I would say that using metal bristles in a brush is farily rare that people report positive results. But if it's working for you, that's good.

heidi w.

Kitsu
February 7th, 2012, 10:24 AM
fingers! they are the best de tangler

I'm pretty new myself I have a BBB that I couldn't figure out for the life of me, but thanks to HediW and Madora I should have more luck!

I have a comb, its not wide toothed but it is saw cut it has a wider side that I use and a fin side that I use as the handle.

I also have a hugely large paddle brush with a cushion. I know its probalby not the best for me but I only use after I've de tangled and combed my hair.

heidi w.
February 7th, 2012, 10:38 AM
I use a metal bristled dog brush with a rubber base. I like it much better than plastic brushes with similar design. I really don't have good luck with combs, except when my hair is wet and drenched in leave in conditioner. They ALWAYS pull more in my wavy hair. I know many people like them, but I do much better if I ignore the rule about not using a brush on wet hair! I seem to get LESS damage when I rarely comb.

Curly haired folks DO need to detangle hair and manipulate the hair while still wet. That's just the reality for curly haired people, and the more curls one has, the more the hair has to be conditioned and worked with while wet - damp.

Here's the deal on wet hair. If one attempts to overly detangle wet hair, which I mean sopping wet and hair is swelled with water, then one can incur damage because the hair is already fully swelled and at full length while wet.

As the hair dries, the hair becomes less wet and more damp on the way to completely dry. It's ok to work the hair a bit while in this state because the hair is not fully stretched already.

If one pulls on overly stretched hair, the usual circumstance is that the hair can break. Hair has elasticity and an ability to stretch but if fully stretched all that elasticity space is used up and there's no more stretch left.

This is the usual problem with working with hair while wet. But if one waits til the hair is a bit damp, maybe uses a detangler product, then they'll fare better. Curly haired folks can condition and use a wide tooth comb that is likewise dipped over&over again in a vat of conditioner, coating the comb with conditioner, and apply to the hair length which also has conditioner in it, and work it all out that way. This works very well for a lot of curly haired people.

Curly haired folks tend to need to oil the hair while the hair is damp - wet also.

One idea is to acquire the book, Curly Girl, by Lorraine Massey, regarding the care of curly hair. Lorraine Massey is all about curly hair as she herself has crazy curly hair that is gorgeous. She has a specific way of trimming such hair; a specific way that she recommends people with different degrees of curl to wash their hair (Conditioner Only hair washes to length OR scalp hair too). For example, such hair should not be cut dry as this hair when weight is removed tends to appear as though more is trimmed off than in actuality because less weight means the curls can really coil up. She created no- and low- shampoo products (Devashon salon online) meaning she doesn't use product with sulfates in it which can overly dry curly hair. Curly hair needs a boatload more of conditioner than straight hair types, such as myself.

Just stuff to know.

Curly Girl book link from eBay:

http://compare.ebay.com/like/280805061083?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
generally this book is not on bookstore shelves but it might be available in a library.

Curly Girl Handbook
http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movies-Music-Games/Curly-Girl-The-Handbook-Paperback/5015661/product.html?cid=202290&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&adtype=pla&kw={keyword}

Devashan Hair Salon

http://www.devachansalon.com/about/staff
link to the About Us page. So you can see Lorraine Massey, and then also explore the website otherwise, such as products.

heidi w.

lapushka
February 7th, 2012, 10:43 AM
I have a Tangle Teezer brush. It's awesome. I also sometimes vary with my wooden quill brush, which is second best to the TT, but still very good to use!

heidi w.
February 7th, 2012, 10:48 AM
fingers! they are the best de tangler

I'm pretty new myself I have a BBB that I couldn't figure out for the life of me, but thanks to HediW and Madora I should have more luck!

I have a comb, its not wide toothed but it is saw cut it has a wider side that I use and a fin side that I use as the handle.

I also have a hugely large paddle brush with a cushion. I know its probalby not the best for me but I only use after I've de tangled and combed my hair.

For me, I've had people attempt to fingercomb my hair to detangle, and it ends up in worse shape and also breaks off a lot of hair in the process. I can feel my hair being pulled and tugged and pulled out. It just hurts. So I don't do this, but apparently a lot of people like how it works for them.

heidi w.