Brush & Comb
Hair Type
Yes or No?
Yes. Brushing detangles and helps keep your mane neat and orderly. Even if you don't care about those things it's good for your hair and scalp to brush. It helps distribute the natural oil sebum your scalp produces through to the ends of your hair.
Brushing properly also massages the scalp, promoting blood flow and stimulating hair follicles. And who doesn’t want stimulated hair follicles??
Brush Type
You want to reduce the friction and stress on your hair while brushing or combing.
Thus a brush with ball-tipped plastic bristles and a soft pad is the way to go, or a mixed plastic and boar bristle. A wide-toothed comb is also essential to have in your quiver.
Frequency
You want to brush regularly but not more than necessary. Every time you brush you leave some of your hair in the brush. Some is already dead and it's good to clear out, but some is broken off or ripped out. That’s damage, no good. Once a day is plenty.
Technique
- Always brush your hair when it's dry. It's more fragile when it's wet and more likely to break from brushing. Wet hair should be combed with a wide-toothed comb.
- More tangled = more damage. Use conditioner or detangling spray to reduce tangling. For extreme tangles due to aggressive hair-whipping you can comb in the shower while the conditioner is still in.
- Start at the tips. Brush them out gently and work your way closer to the scalp as you remove tangles.
- Massage your scalp while brushing.
- Curly hair can be combed in the shower using a wide-toothed comb while the conditioner is still in. Technique is the same: start at the ends and work your way towards the scalp.
- Finally, don't overbrush. As tempting as it might be to brush those gorgeous locks for hours on end, each brushstroke is more friction and stress, so once you've got it all brushed out, save the rest for next time.
Now you know.
