BRUSHING UP ON YOUR BRUSHES

They are some things we all use every day, without them it is hard for us to achieve the results we do.

 
We use brushes and combs to condition, detangle, add volume, flatten, straighten, curl, and backcomb. Without these basic tools our job would be nigh on impossible, and I am going to take a look at some of the products available.

When I started my career it was in a barbershop and we only used two types of brushes; one was a classic Denman half round brush, and the other a flat traditional bristle brush. Mens’ hair was often worn slightly longer then and we would use the Denman for blow-drying this hair style. The Denman was a versatile brush, it has a hard plastic handle and body with a rubber cushion that the softer plastic pins would sit in, one of my earliest memories is of taking the rubber cushion out of the handle and removing the pins for cleaning. This is one of the many features that make it such a good brush, which coupled with its versatility means it is good for most lengths and textures of hair. The bristle brush was mainly used for men who had short back and sides, and liked a product in their hair as the brush was used to dress and smooth the hair, but more about bristle brushes later.

There were two main combs used in the barber shop I worked in; a classic cutting comb and a tapering comb. Both were made of a similar hard plastic, the tapering comb smaller at one end with fine teeth which allowed the hair to be cut closer to the skin - very useful around the ears and in the nape of the neck, when doing scissor over comb work.

The market these days is flooded with brushes and combs with a tool for every conceivable job.

One of the latest products on the market is the tangle teezer. Even though it was turned down by The Dragons' Den TV programme, it has gone on to be a success. As the name suggests, it can be used to detangle hair. It's clever because it’s taken an old idea and updated it. The material it is made from makes it effective when taking the tangles out of longer hair, especially highlighted and chemically treated hair. It works on all lengths but I feel is most useful on mid to long hair.

The type of brush you use on hair depends on hair type, texture and length. Generally for smooth textured curls I would use a round barrel type brush, I would also use this type of brush for straightening hair, same brush different technique and diameter of brush. These types of brushes come in lots of different sizes, the smaller the size the tighter the curl. The handle can be made from many different materials including plastic, wood, rubber coated, even carbon fibre. The important things in any brush and comb are the effect it has on the hair, its durability, and its ability to be cleaned and sterilized. Most quality round brushes are made of some form of bristle or a nylon and bristle mix. Schwarzkopf, for instance, have a range of brushes. One of the their best is wooden handled with bristles made up of a mix of plastic and porcupine. This gives good grip on the hair and also helps to smooth the cuticle of the hair so giving the hair more shine. They also have a range of ceramic barrelled brushes with a mix of nylon and boar bristles with plastic handles. The advantage of ceramic in the barrel of a brush is that it retains heat from the dryer and this speeds up the process. The boar and nylon is a good mix, the bristles are short which means the brush doesn’t tangle in long hair, it does mean taking finer sections so the heat can penetrate effectively. My one criticism of Schwarzkopf’s thermo brush range is the handle it’s too smooth and becomes slippery and a little hard to handle if you have any product residue on your hands. So with round brushes you have a choice of barrel size - the smaller the barrel the tighter the curl. Large barrels for straightening, or soft curls, a handle choice from wood to plastic and bristles of  natural bristle (such as boar or porcupine) or nylon, a mixture of the two is common.

The next type of brushes to look at are dressing brushes, which can be used when dressing long or short hair. They can also be used for back brushing or just brushing through pre set, tongued, or otherwise curled hair. The classic dressing brush is made by Mason Pearson and they produce a range that includes pure boar bristle, a nylon and boar mix and a nylon only. The nylon only is for thick hair, the mix is for medium and the pure bristle for finer hair. Schwarzkopf and Kent brushes also make good dressing brushes, Kents airhedz range has a handy size dressing brush. I particularly like the handle - a mixture of plastic and rubber - it’s a comfortable shape that fits in the hand nicely.

Another dressing brush is the paddle type brush. These come in two different types, one for dressing and brushing and one for blow drying and brushing. The type used for brushing and dressing tend to be pure bristle. I use these a lot before shampooing hair, not only do they detangle the hair, they massage the scalp stimulating the blood circulation, which is a really effective way of creating a ritual around the shampoo process.  One of the most elegant and effective of these of brushes comes from she uemura, as you would expect from a high end range. The neat thing about this nylon bristle mix is that the nylon bristles are quite a bit longer enabling them to get through the thickest hair to massage the scalp and the brush is quite heavy which gives it a feeling of quality. The other type of paddle brush generally used for drying is usually made with nylon or hard rubber bristles. I like to use these brushes for the start of a long hair blow dry - I know some people do use them for the whole dry but I feel it doesn’t give as good a finish and these days clients expect time and a perfect finish. They are really useful brushes for detangling hair when it’s wet. Kent have a wide range of sizes and different pin types and as with all these brushes they have a cushioned pad this protects the scalp from being scraped. Fudge also produce a range of brushes and their paddle brush has an interesting handle, made of rubber with a very textured surface. It has an amazing grip but it gets a little painful on the hands after a while.

The variety of combs available is remarkable. The main manufactures star flite, hairtools, pro tip, matador. The combs I use are from Japan, made by Fejic and are made from carbon. What I love about them is they don’t scratch, or produce any static. Combs, like brushes, come in lots of different shapes and sizes. For cutting I like a longer comb as I find it easier to handle hair with it. I would say carbon is the most up-to-date material; it’s a far cry from the ivory, buffalo, horn or tortoiseshell. Plastic of some form is the most popular choice of material and Matador’s range is a good example of this, I particularly like their wide toothed rake comb It is useful at the back wash area, although at one time I used to do all my haircuts with this type of comb. It’s worth mentioning that when using tail combs for highlighting hair, check with your manufacturer if it’s safe to use a metal pin on the comb. I know some don’t recommend this but don’t worry, plastic variations are available.

In conclusion, the market is vast - do your research on combs and brushes, try different sizes and materials and most importantly check with your client. Nothing is worse than you thinking I love this comb or brush, only to see your client wincing in the mirror.