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How To Brush Your Hair – For Men
It’s Not Quite The Verticoli
Yes, brushing is part of your basic hair maintenance routine, and proper technique is critical. Good thing there’s this convenient guide on how to brush your hair for men.
Here we’re covering the basics, and it’s a common misconception the purpose of brushing is to de-tangle. While that is a function of brushing, the primary benefits are:
- Distributing the natural oils evenly through your hair.
- Massaging your scalp, exfoliating and stimulating blood flow.
- Keeping it tidy and well-groomed.
In the video above I discuss these further and demonstrate proper brushing technique, with a written description here below.
IMPORTANT: Hair Type
First off, realize that I have straight hair. If your hair is wavy or slightly curly, this should still work fine. Anything super curly to kinked is going to require different techniques (and different tools), and in some cases you might not even brush your hair at all.
In this situation I haven’t washed my hair for a couple of days and my hair is pretty tangled. In any case you don’t want to brush with wet hair—unless you have a wet brush.
Don’t Pick Up The Brush Yet
To get started, you’re not actually going to use a brush. You want to start with a wide-tooth comb (I’ve shown a couple in the video). The purpose here IS to remove tangles and clear the path for brushing. If you’re not tangled, you can skip the combing.
When combing, start with the outermost tips and work your way toward the roots as you remove tangles. Gently, guys, don’t rip your hair out. I comb from the inside, starting in the front and moving toward the back, where my hair gets the most tangled. After I’ve gone from tips to roots on the inside, I’ll finish with a few strokes on the outside.
Now Grab Your Brush
Once you’ve combed out the tangles, you’re ready to switch to missiles. We’ll go more into brush types another time, but to start with I recommend a basic paddle brush with plastic bristles and rounded balls at the end. There are some awesome brushes out there and you can try different things, but a simple plastic-bristle will get your started.
Since you’ve already removed tangles, brushing is simple. The technique is long, smooth strokes with light to moderate pressure. If your brush gives way beneath the bristles you can use a little more pressure, less if the bristles come straight out of a harder material like wood or plastic.
Proper brushing isn’t focused on the tips, or even the hair so much as the scalp. In fact you don’t even have to brush all the way out through the tips, though I usually do. What you want is to make sure you are massaging your scalp all the way around with nice, even pressure. Especially make sure you brush all the way around the back of your head, which can be an easy place to miss.
Now That’s A Nice Routine
As you get into your brushing routine, and after some time having long hair, you can actually feel the epidermal layers of your scalp being exfoliated, the oil breaking up and being distributed throughout your hair. If I haven’t had a chance to comb first, I’ve even found that tangles come out easier when the oil starts getting distributed.
When you’re done, your hair and scalp will look and feel great. It’ll be smooth and shiny with a healthy sheen and a little extra bounce. You’ll have also removed some of the hair that’s reached the end of it’s growth cycle and ready to come out.
When It’s Time
Brushing also gives you a good indicator if it’s time to shampoo & condition. If you’ve given it a nice thorough brush, run your fingers through it. If it feels greasy to the touch, it’s time for a wash.
But NOW it’s time to watch this timeless classic on how to brush your hair for men.
Quick Recap: How to Brush Your Hair for Men
Do's:
Don’ts:
Anything to add?
Tips, techniques or observations you want to share? Do so in the comments.
Got curly hair?
You’re different…just like everyone else. We’ve got your curly hair dialed.
Comments
I’m sorry your mom never taught you how to brush your hair. That’s like child abuse. “No more tangles” spray, feeling abused as your mom runs a brush through your hair. Also the historical fact that cutting off the hair probably gained popularity by how much it abused the Native way of life– cutting hair only done when someone dies– an attempt at forced assimilation. Before then, long hair styles were popular. Hippies grew their hair long I think maybe to mimic the Native and show which side they were on– a different side. My hair is now very long (below my ample breasts) and I wear it in two braids usually. I encourage you to try the braid. It’s easy, and it may help you avoid knotting– the cause of your insanity now. remember “no more tangles” or other detangler spray. Ignore that it says it’s for kids. Doesn’t matter.
Copy all! Gotta love the braid.
Wait, I *think* I taught him how to brush his hair!?
Great site! El Rubio you should blog about your personal journey on long hair. I would love to see how you looked with short hair vs. long hair. Also how you have dealt with biases against Guys with long hair. El Rubio your hair is so damn awesome! It is a true inspiration for me to continue my long hair journey. You are one hell of an awesome inspirational guy!! Also please give some tips on how to strengthen my hair and not have so much hair shedding. I must be doing something wrong. Little hairs always get down my back a in my shirts and it is so damn aggravating! I am not quite a year into my hair journey and it comes to just above my shoulders. I am 35 years old and take a bath 2-3 times a week only and no more. Any advice would be greatful and helpful. Thanks and keep on inspiring!!
MICHAEL BOWERS! Welcome to the community, we’re glad to have you here mate! You can find a whole bunch of writing about the world trip on my personal blog at https://followchris.me/ As for your other questions, please read a little deeper into the blog here, you’ll find lots of topics and answers to your questions. In the meantime…keep lettin it ride amigo!
Dude. Get that gotee lined up right. Haha sweet video
Do you have anything for people with curlier hair? I have curly hair and I’m not to sure how I should brush my hair and if it should be different than this.
Yo Michael! This is most everything we have on curly hair, there are some great tips and advice in here: https://blog.thelonghairs.us/tag/curly-hair/
Thanks for the helpful tutorial! I’ve been using a pick for my hair, and it seems that no matter how much I run it through, there are always more tangles (my hair is mid-back length now). How can I get to the point where the tangles are dealt with so I can use a brush?
Yo Jeremiah!
Great question. There could be a lot of answers, but I deal with this too. For one thing, using some kind of oil or detangler will help. Not to sound like a commercial but our hair serum does a great job of this.
If your hair is damaged, you might need to go for a small trim. Could be less than an inch, but it will clean up split ends that make it tangle. Check out this post: Dealing With Tangled and Damaged Hair
Hope these help man. Let us know how it’s going!
Hey guys! When I try to grow my hair, a time comes when it’s neither short nor long and it bugs me when the hair comes above my ears. I end up having them cut from the sides… What should I do?
P.S Thanks for the guide. Keep it up!
Is it bad to brush your hair with a brush but u dont have like black hair nd is short
How do I clean a wide tooth comb https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AXXHCLY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=34J334QLW9ARZ&coliid=I3NFO764H6YGU2&th=1 and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006A9WQ1Q/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=34J334QLW9ARZ&coliid=I1L3KW2HMA3F27? If I use the comb on wet hair won’t it damage the comb?
You say in your video not to brush long hair when it’s wet why is that? Also it is stated that you should wash your hair every 3 days I’ve always washed daily and brushed and combed right after showering. Just curious as to why these thing are done and the benefits to only washing your hair every 3 days or so?
Artemus Rex, the reason you don’t want to brush wet is your hair is much more likely to break. Read more about that here. If you must brush wet, use a wet brush or a wide-tooth comb.
Washing your hair every day is not good for it. Every time you wash it causes a little damage, but more importantly it strips the natural oils out of your hair. You want to wash 2-3 days a week at most. Personally I pretty much only shampoo once a week. You can however condition more often. Here’s a little more on both these topics.
Thanks for your questions man, hope this helps!
Need advice on if I should grow shoulder length hair. Would it make or break one’s appearance? I have very wavy hair and more of an oval shape face. Do I grow it long or cut? Sick hair by the way bro!
You should grow it.
This was super helpful. I didn’t know half those things. Thanks for this!
Glad to hear it hombre!
Hey El Rubio,
Why shouldn’t I brush my hair when it is wet and straight out of the shower?
Decided to grow it out for a lot of different reasons and I’m one year and a couple of weeks in the process already and determined to get it to a proper mid-back length.
I have straight hair aswell and feel like its way easier to brush bair while its wet. Another benefit would be that it stays in form the whole day after brushing it while its wet. When my hair is dry and brush it, it looses its form pretty quickly.
Yo Ilja!
Great questions man. And truth be told I always thought the same—it was easier to brush wet right out of the shower.
The reason is damage to your hair. When it’s wet your hair loses it’s strength and elasticity—you probably even notice it’s a little longer. That’s because essentially wet hair is already stretched out to it’s maximum length. When you brush dry, your hair stretches and bounces back. When you brush wet, it breaks much more easily.
The name of the long hair game is keeping your hair healthy and avoiding breakage, ESPECIALLY when you’re trying to grow it longer. If your hair is one year’s length, you’re losing months of growth with each hair that breaks. So if it seems like it’s taking FOREVER to grow longer, breakage is likely part of the problem.
Case in point: it’s taken me four years to get mid-back length. It seemed like it wasn’t getting any longer for quite some time, which is when I started paying more attention to caring for it and avoiding breakage. Since then it has gotten noticeably longer.
As to your hair keeping it’s form after brushing. There are good spray-in products that you can use that will give you the desired effect. I like to use “One N’ Only” brand argan oil, which detangles, smooths and all kinds of good shit. There are other good ones out there.
Glad to hear about your determined approach, hope this helps hombre.
I have long curly blonde locks and play college lacrosse, so I live the struggle of frizz control. If your still looking for a contributing writer would love to help out, -J
Hell yea John. We’ll email you directly and go from there.
Yo, El Rubio, for how long you have being growing your hair out?
Ps.: I really like the job you guys are doing with TheLonghairs.
Nicolas, been growing it out four years as of today. And thanks for the positive feedback, amigo.
Site is just killer. Thank you dudes for all the info. Maybe a silly question, but how did you recommend drying your hair? been letting it air dry but then it ends up super flat
Thanks Pat! Happy to see you here. You can always blow dry, check this out on how to https://blog.thelonghairs.us/how-to-blow-dry-your-hair-for-men/ and then there is the classic towel wrap. You can use a regular towel or a soft t-shirt and just bend your head over letting your hair hang down, wrap it around your head and twist it up. It’s works good if your not in a rush.
{Disclaimer: not a dude} However, I have super-duper curls. Lotta years of trial & error to get ’em right. I’d be more than happy to share some wisdom surrounding the often misunderstood life of maintaining long, luscious curly locks.
Hey Emily! Super DUPER curls?? We’d love to hear some of what you got. What have you found with brushing? Want to write something?
this is really cool man…thanks for some additional detail about hair brushing,this really helps..thumbs up!
You’re welcome man! Thanks for watching and commenting, we appreciate the feedback always.