by ZOE FOSTER
If you’re using the same brush for blow-drying and styling your hair to also de-tangle and brush through hair that is freshly-washed, knotty and wet, no offence, but you are a right donut.
Without going into all the brushes you could own for perfect hair, I will encourage you to have at least two, so that you’re not trashing your hair each time you wash and style it.
These days, most women use one of these brushes to style their hair:
1. A hollow, vented radial (round/barrel) brush with nylon bristles. These are quite often of the ceramic or tourmaline nature, to give even distribution of hot air (and incredible speed) as you heat style it, as well as give body and smoothness, and reduce the likeliness of those ridiculous flyaways that insist on existing.
2. A big, round boar bristle brush, with a lovely wooden handle and rubber gripping, which is excellent for creating volume and shine and shape, and smoothing the hair out.
3. A paddle brush or a cushion brush, which might have nylon-tipped pins or be boar bristle (think the famous Mason Pearson, the several-hundred-dollar brush favoured by top hair stylists, cutters and beauty editors the world over) and both glide through dry hair with ease, and is great for styling, refreshing and grooming, and for finishing off a blow dry with a sleek, smooth, glossy finish.
These brushes above, these are all made specifically to do certain things when you are heat-styling, or finishing off your hair, or jazzing it up before you walk into the Peach Pit for a sundae.
They are NOT for heavy, wet, knotty hair, straight from the shower. Especially not the radial brushes with the very coarse nylon bristles, they are TORTURE for wet hair – they break it, snap it, damage the cuticle and cause unnecessary shedding. (Even that comb you use, which, admittedly is better…. But can still snag and tear the shit out of your hair if you’re too yanky.)
The brushes below are great for heavy, wet, knotty hair, straight from the shower or pool or Jacuzzi or Onsen (I don’t know how you live your life), and for the sake of your mop, whether it’s a heat-styled, chemically coloured time bomb, or a healthy, shiny halo, please consider them: