Unbrush? (Also HELP; everything in the entire world gives me breakage apparently)

[lapushka]

I switched out my wide tooth comb, which I (mistakenly) thought gave the least amount of issues. Nope. I got a Wet Brush (well I use the "dupes" but they are one and the same) and the rest is history. It beats my Tangle Teezer by a mile, many miles in fact. They are often called "shower brushes", but when getting dupes you have to be super careful you are not picking up a regular paddle brush! Be very careful, and don't just rely on the name "shower brush", really get it in person, not online. So you can tell.

They are super gentle on the scalp. And for me that is key. I stored away my wide tooth comb for good. I really did!

[H.e.L]

I switched out my wide tooth comb, which I (mistakenly) thought gave the least amount of issues. Nope. I got a Wet Brush (well I use the "dupes" but they are one and the same) and the rest is history. It beats my Tangle Teezer by a mile, many miles in fact. They are often called "shower brushes", but when getting dupes you have to be super careful you are not picking up a regular paddle brush! Be very careful, and don't just rely on the name "shower brush", really get it in person, not online. So you can tell.

They are super gentle on the scalp. And for me that is key. I stored away my wide tooth comb for good. I really did!

Thank you for responding! Yeah I'm thinking that Tangle Teezers just don't work on my hair either, regardless of technique.

I brushed my hair like you're supposed to with my TT again this morning, but I REALLY paid attention to the hairs left on my brush afterwards. When I was cleaning out the brush THIS time, I literally went hair-by-hair, evaluating the length/"structural integrity" of each hair I'd removed.

I found 24 unbroken long fine hairs with bulbs, and 22 baby fine no-bulb broken ones.

So about half of my breakage potentially comes from my Tangle Teezer.

Well that solves that; Wet Brush, Unbrush, or bust I suppose.

[mochichichi]

Idk if this will help, but I get a much gentler detangle and less hairs in the brush when I detangle with VERY lightly oiled (a couple drops rubbed between my palms) fingers before going in with my brush. Same stuff, from the bottom and all that.

[H.e.L]

Idk if this will help, but I get a much gentler detangle and less hairs in the brush when I detangle with VERY lightly oiled (a couple drops rubbed between my palms) fingers before going in with my brush. Same stuff, from the bottom and all that.

Thanks for responding!

I lightly oil my ends/detangle a bit from the ends up to ears whenever they start to look dry (usually daily or every other day), so I already kinda do this. I don't brush or manipulate hair that doesn't look/feel "lubricated" enough.
Unfortunately for me, like 50% of my hair is just so baby fine it can't even handle BBBs (tried to make THOSE work for me for WAAAAY too long, haha. If it's "supposed to" work, I have a really hard time giving it up. Silly, stubborn me lol.)

I appreciate you taking the time to make a suggestion though!



ETA: OOH you reminded me; ktani & Madora always used to suggest using a few drops of baby/mineral oil rubbed between your fingers to help lubricate/detangle/protect the ends/seal in your moisturizing oils.

I'm totally going to start doing that! Couldn't hurt.

Thanks again!

[H.e.L]

Okay you guys.

I'm still waiting for payday so I can get the Unbrush to try. You might be thinking; 'why not just stop brushing your hair if it obviously causes you so much breakage?'

The simple answer is that like most people, I just love that gentle relaxation I get from brushing so I'm not willing to give that up if I can help it.
(If my baby hair SIMPLY CANNOT with the brushing no matter how gentle the brush supposedly is--I'm looking at you, TT--of course I'll just have to deal with not being 'allowed' to brush my hair if I want to finally be able to grow my hair out.)

Anyway, here's my old detangling/brushing routine vs the new one I'm trying;

Old routine: I detangled my (lightly oiled) ends morning and night, with fingers (or comb, depending on how tangled it was. Usually virtually no tangles, so usually just use the comb.) Then I would finish/smooth it out with my Tangle Teezer. (As I said, from the ends up on every step.)

New routine: Continue doing oiled detangling only, but I'm going to try also adding a couple drops of mineral/baby oil to my fingers first for the extra 'slip' that provides. I will be using EXCLUSIVELY my fingers to detangle for several weeks, then my Hairsense wide-tooth comb for smoothing only if needed (ie for an updo, preparing to braid, etc.)

I'll track how much hair I lose for the week or so it takes for the Unbrush to get to me while finger detangling/finger combing only, so I can get a baseline of hairs lost vs broken on average.
And when I actually have the Unbrush, I'll try adding that after the finger detangling for that nice relaxing moment and continue tracking broken hairs for a week or two for comparison's sake.
(ie is the Unbrush REALLY gentler than a Tangle Teezer, or would it be better in my case to just "bite the bullet" & finger detangle/comb EXCLUSIVELY forever?)

If I can eliminate or diminish the breakage I get just from brushing gently with a Tangle Teezer (smh) just by switching to the Unbrush, that alone could DRAMATICALLY reduce my perpetual overly-tapered/scraggly-lookin' ends issue.

*ETA: and if it doesn't work out that way, meh; c'est la vie.*

I'll update everyone on Tangle Teezer vs finger detangling only vs Unbrush on ultra-fine hair in a few weeks.

[Rainbouu]

I also stubbornly held onto using my BBB for a few months despite its lack of benefits for my own fine hair. I totally get that H.e.L! I think your approach of gradually eliminating possible problems sounds good, I hope it works for you. Your new routine sounds like a very gentle one. If the Unbrush is also not to your liking, you could also try a soft Goats Hair brush. I believe as a kid I had an antique one, and they aren't the best for detangling lots of tight knots, but they are definitely the gentlest brush of all, and give hair more shine than anything. My hair as a kid was so fine it definitely worked as a regular brush for me.

And as a footnote, the science of TTs is that they kind of protect us from ourselves and use their staggered, bendable bristles to tug gently on knots, but give up and slide over them if they aren't quickly worried free. I can imagine how for some people this could still cause too much mechanical damage...

[mochichichi]

Okay you guys.

I'm still waiting for payday so I can get the Unbrush to try. You might be thinking; 'why not just stop brushing your hair if it obviously causes you so much breakage?'

The simple answer is that like most people, I just love that gentle relaxation I get from brushing so I'm not willing to give that up if I can at all help it.
(If my baby hair SIMPLY CANNOT with the brushing no matter how gentle the brush supposedly is--I'm looking at you, TT--of course I'll just have to deal with not being 'allowed' to brush my hair if I want to finally be able to grow my hair out.)

What about scalp massages without brushing? I guess here it's important to differentiate between breakage on the length from brushing or "excess" shedding. But if the relaxation is the goal, I personally find massaging my scalp way more relaxing than the brushing on my lengths.

Anyway, here's my old detangling/brushing routine vs the new one I'm trying;

Old routine: I detangled my (lightly oiled) ends morning and night, with fingers (or comb, depending on how tangled it was. Usually virtually no tangles, so usually just use the comb.) Then I would finish/smooth it out with my Tangle Teezer. (As I said, from the ends up on every step.)

New routine: Continue doing oiled detangling only, but I'm going to try also adding a couple drops of mineral/baby oil to my fingers first for the extra 'slip' that provides. I will be using EXCLUSIVELY my fingers to detangle, then my Hairsense wide-tooth comb for smoothing only if needed (ie for an updo, preparing to braid, etc.)
I'll track how much hair I lose for the week or so it takes for the Unbrush to get to me while finger detangling/finger combing only, so I can get a baseline of hairs lost vs broken on average.
And when I actually have the Unbrush, I'll try adding that after the finger detangling for that nice relaxing moment and continue tracking broken hairs for a week or two for comparison's sake.
(ie is the Unbrush REALLY gentler than a Tangle Teezer, or would it be better in my case to just "bite the bullet" & finger detangle/comb EXCLUSIVELY?)

If I can eliminate or diminish the breakage I get just from brushing gently with a Tangle Teezer (smh,) that alone could DRAMATICALLY reduce my perpetual overly-tapered/scraggly-lookin' ends issue.

I'll update everyone on Tangle Teezer vs finger detangling only vs Unbrush on ultra-fine hair in a few weeks.

Another thought--sounds like the detangling problems are in the morning--do you wear a silk/satin bonnet to sleep? My hair is straight, coarse, and generally not prone to tangles, but I can definitely tell the difference when I brush in the morning if I forget my bonnet.

[H.e.L]

I also stubbornly held onto using my BBB for a few months despite its lack of benefits for my own fine hair. I totally get that H.e.L! I think your approach of gradually eliminating possible problems sounds good, I hope it works for you. Your new routine sounds like a very gentle one. If the Unbrush is also not to your liking, you could also try a soft Goats Hair brush. I believe as a kid I had an antique one, and they aren't the best for detangling lots of tight knots, but they are definitely the gentlest brush of all, and give hair more shine than anything. My hair as a kid was so fine it definitely worked as a regular brush for me.

And as a footnote, the science of TTs is that they kind of protect us from ourselves and use their staggered, bendable bristles to tug gently on knots, but give up and slide over them if they aren't quickly worried free. I can imagine how for some people this could still cause too much mechanical damage...

Haha, I TRY to be scientific as I can about these things, because I know I tend to totally miss the obvious without holding onto data/running constant experiments. (Like, not realizing I have ultra fine hair because I thought my F hairs had to be "normal/Medium" since I could feel those, and the baby-fine ones had to be just plain "fine" because those were so much finer than the improperly labeled "medium" hairs. lol)

And yyyeah, again, Tangle Teezers were "supposed to be" like the gentlest possible brushes, so it was just "IMPOSSIBLE" that they weren't working for me.

I could just kick myself (to the MOON.) hahaha

[H.e.L]

@mochichichi

I do both; I massage my scalp too, lol. AM & PM for about 10 minutes. (I only move the skin, not the hair...what's that called; "scalp over skull"? Anyway I'm so careful when I do it I don't even have to detangle afterwards.)
I use shampoo brushes *for the scalp massage* because that breaks fewer hairs *over using my fingers* (as in zero breakage most of the time.)
Feels SOOOO nice.
I just love the feeling of brushing by itself. Maybe it's an anxiety/self-soothing thing.



And I don't 'detangle' per say in the morning, in that my morning 'detangling' is more like just 'taking out my loose sleeping braid and running my fingers/comb (previously Tangle Teezer) through the braid-wavy hair from the ears down just to smooth it out' before bunning it for the day (usually a LWB or disc bun.)

The one proper detangling I do per day is before bed, and even that is not very 'properly' tangly (depending on how much time I spent outside with my kids/how much wind there was that day, whether or not I wore a headscarf.)

I do wear a satin, fully lined bonnet to bed. (No matter which way you wear it, it's got the silky smooth side of the material against your head.) Totally noticed a difference from that one, have been using one (or a satin pillowcase) for several years.

I do appreciate your time in making the suggestions though!

ETA: if I find that I can't use the Unbrush without experiencing "extra" breakage, then I'll just give it to my sister-in-law down the street, haha.

(Her hair's way thicker than mine so it should serve her well. She does have the most awful "rip from the roots to the ends" brushing technique though (it makes my skin crawl) so even if I really like mine I might buy another to gift her anyway, just to save her hair from herself lol)

[Rainbouu]

What about scalp massages without brushing? I guess here it's important to differentiate between breakage on the length from brushing or "excess" shedding. But if the relaxation is the goal, I personally find massaging my scalp way more relaxing than the brushing on my lengths. Another thought--sounds like the detangling problems are in the morning--do you wear a silk/satin bonnet to sleep? My hair is straight, coarse, and generally not prone to tangles, but I can definitely tell the difference when I brush in the morning if I forget my bonnet.

My hair is straight, fine, and ultra slippery but has gotten a little more coarse and prone to tangles over the years, where before it never tangled. I understand H.e.L's struggle completely because I wear my hair in braids to bed as much as I can, because it's so comfortable! However, I don't like the braid waves, so I brush it after I get up. Then if I'm going out after work, I brush it again to give it a little more volume. I do find hair brushing to be really relaxing too heehee It's hard to quit