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If your hair is pretty easy to maintain, go forth with whichever brush lets you achieve all your hair goals. Catharine Malzahn, the Beauty Assistant at Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day and Prevention, works closely with the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab to help deliver fact-based, science-backed beauty coverage. Over the years, she has interviewed experts, written product reviews and tested hundreds of hair products, including professional hair treatments, tools, shampoos, conditioners, styling products and more. For this article, she worked with Chiara Butler, a Health and Beauty Reviews Analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute. She formerly worked as a formulation chemist at a haircare brand, where she learned about the structure and properties of hair.
Meet the Experts
But the rest of your brush kit will depend on your styling needs. A boar-bristle brush can help detangle and smooth a fresh blowout or silk press, while a detangling brush can help you work through knots before stepping in the shower. Basically, you can never have too many brushes if you've got type-3 or type-4 hair. The Denman brush is another essential for many professional hairstylists, and this one contains seven rows of round-ended pins that are helpful for separating wet hair or defining curls. "My personal go-to is usually a Denman seven-row brush," Corney says. "Denman brushes are among the best detangling brushes for a majority of hair types and textures. They have many styles and sizes to choose from to suit just about anyone's needs."
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Shop These Viral Favorites From The TikTok Shop.
Posted: Tue, 05 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Urtheone Boar Bristle Paddle Brush
"The thin pin bristles easily slip through matted knots and make quick work of untangling curls. I won't even travel without it." If you’re worried about thinning spots, you'll want a brush that helps add volume to your hair. Great to use when blow-drying, this brush's vented design means you can easily direct the airflow to get extra height and body, while also speeding up drying time.
The bottom line: Is the FHI Heat UNbrush worth buying?
For curly-haired ladies who don't brush their hair outside of the shower, wide-tooth combs (with larger spaces between each tooth) are great options, because they detangle without breaking up the natural curl pattern. If you have fine hair, combs with less space between each tooth works well. Combs with a spike on one end and very little space between each tooth are great for running alongside a flat-iron for super-sleek hair, or for sectioning hair before a blowout. Our editors recommend love the cult-fave Tangle Teaser to detangle curls in the shower. Not only is it designed to be gentle on knots for less breakage, it’s perfect for evenly-distributing conditioner too! "This is the only brush that can detangle my thick hair and dense curls," says GH Institute Deputy Editor Jessica Teich.
After shampooing, I apply a deep conditioner (see the best deep conditioners for natural hair here) to my hair and detangle it in sections with the UNbrush. It literally smoothes out all of my tangles in one brush stroke and has cut down detangling into a fraction of the time. My curls are more separated and defined after using the brush, and I have less hair fall-out while detangling.
What are some of the most popular kinds of hair brushes, and how are they used when styling?
It's gentle, doesn't cause breakage, and gets rid of tangles like magic. This has become my go-to tool, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a solution to tangles. My TikTok "For You Page" knows how much I love beauty, especially hair care. So it's no surprise I get served videos about the latest viral hair products and tools all the time. Over the last few months, videos about the FHI UNbrush Detangling Hair Brush have graced my feed more times than I can count.
The Edit: Beauty
There are 58 long bristles made for detangling and 47 mini bristles made to smooth the hair, making it optimal for wet and dry hair use. Additionally, unlike many of the most popular brushes on the market, this one has a lightweight handle that makes the hair tool comfortable to hold during the lengthy detangling process. A favorite of stylists, editors, and hair obsessives everywhere, Wet Brush's detangler is gentle on wet and dry hair, no matter the texture (including wigs and extensions). And as an added bonus, you'll also receive a handy scrunchie to keep hair out of your face. Boar bristle brushes for a long time have been considered to be the most effective and healthy type of bristle for hair maintenance. They're gentler than most other bristles, so for ladies who suffer from breakage or shedding, it might be worth investing in a brush that is either entirely boar-bristle, or a mixture of boar-bristle and another material.
Mason Pearson Handy Boar-Bristle Brush
When using a brush or a comb, start from the ends and work your way up to the roots — not from the roots down, which can lead to breakage, according to our experts. A flat brush, meanwhile, can help with smoothing, since they force hair into a single direction. They’re also better for detangling, since you can repeatedly brush through a section to work out knots. This comb “has wide teeth allowing for easy detangling, as well as having a smooth, bamboo finish,” says Ford, noting that the finish allows hair to glide through the teeth without getting snared in them. It comes in a variety of colors and the paddle is backless, which is meant to reduce styling time by allowing more airflow. The brush also feels super lightweight in your hands, and its design makes cleaning the brush so easy.
While Mason Pearson is best known for its brushes, Komori also points to its comb, which you can use on wet or dry hair, as a great option for coarser hair types. “The comb is extra-wide toothed, and designed to easily comb through thick or curly hair,” she says. The teeth have rounded tips, and the cellulose plastic offers durability, according to the brand. The brush’s lightweight design and non-slip handle also make it easy to grasp while blow-drying, even if your hands are covered in slippery product residue.
You probably already choose your favorite hair products based on the hair you have (and the hair you want), whether it's products designed to add volume to thin hair or anti-frizz products. That's because the right products help take the stress out of styling — and hair brushes are no different. By picking the best hair brush for your hair type and hair goals, you're one step closer to a great hair routine. The right hair brush "should maximize results with minimal effort on any hair," says Jeremy Taylor, L’Oréal Professionnel National Educator and stylist at TReSs Apothecary and Salon in Newport Beach, California.
For instance, round brushes with a ceramic barrel “can help reduce frizz and static, leaving it shiny and smooth without any flyaways,” says Ford; that’s because ceramic can distribute heat evenly. Meanwhile, plastic or wooden brushes can be more lightweight, which is helpful if you’re brushing hair while blow-drying. “Wooden combs can be gentler, metal combs can be more durable and plastic is more common,” says Ford. For an in-shower brush, Taylor loves this massage-focused option.
