Brushing Long Hair
One of the roughest things you do to your hair every day is brush it… especially if you deal with a lot of tangles. There is little gentle about the way many people brush their hair.
First of all, do your best to never brush your hair when it’s wet. This is when it is most easily damaged. It stretches easily when wet, but also breaks easily. If you can avoid using a hair dryer, which dries out your hair in more ways than just getting the water out, do so. It takes a little time to let it dry naturally, but if you can do it so much the better for your hair.
Ideally, you should use two tools for brushing your hair. The first is a detangling comb. This is a good quality comb without rough edges. These can be a bit hard to find, as plastic combs are most common, and they often have rough edges on their teeth from the molding process. Find the best one you can, and if necessary sand down any rougness.
You also need a boar bristle brush. This isn’t much good for detangling, but for distributing your hair’s natural oils it can’t be beat. This is best once your hair is generally healthy.
Use your detangling comb from bottom to top. You don’t want to yank on knots too much; doing so encourages breakage. Work on knots from the bottom on up and they should come out more easily and with less damage to your hair.
When you think the knots are gone, start using your boar bristle brush, going from top to bottom. If you encounter a knot, go back to that comb and take care of it. A boar bristle brush cannot get into the depths of your hair, which is why it can’t detangle it for you.
Once it’s brushed, you’re free to oil your hair if you like. You can also style with hair sticks or other hair accessories, depending on the look you’re after today. I like to wear my hair up or braided most of the time as it limits the chances for damage. My mother has noticed the difference in how my hair looks when it’s down already – she asked if I had started buying better shampoos, but most of it I attribute to better care! My husband… what can you say except he’s a guy!
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