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You Want Smooth, Shiny Hair
The Damage: Synthetic brushes can increase breakage and fragility of hair follicles because they're not as porous as natural brushes. This means it'll take more brush strokes to achieve the same shininess and smoothness that happens with a natural bristle brush. "Stay away from plastic or metal brushes that can cause static and breakage," says Atkins. "Boar bristle brushes are best for getting smoother, shinier, especially the Mason Pearson."
The fix: Mason Pearson Boar Bristle Brush
How it helps: Natural bristles stimulate the scalp and increase blood flow, but the key to getting shinier hair is to start brushing from the root. "When you brush your hair, you're moving oil from the scalp down through the shaft of your hair. You're working with the cuticle, encouraging it to stay flat and coat your hair with natural oils from your roots," says Flowers.
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You Want Monster Volume
The damage: Aside from being less efficient, teasing your hair with comb means continuously stroking through your hair from the roots to the very ends. Since combs have fewer bristles than bristles, this technique takes more effort and more time, increasing damage.
The fix: Marilyn Tuxedo Teasing Hair Brush
How it helps: Since you can stroke through your hair less with a brush than a comb to achieve volume, bristle brushes don't cause as much damage when teasing, says Atkins. Flowers says, "Back brushing gives you a light base for your hair and creates volume, movement and separation." You get all over soft, fluffiness with a brush while a comb gives you volume, but more so in a solid, structured and centralized form. Gueldner adds, "Don't start so close to the base of your head -- start a little farther out and softly bring the comb or brush to the scalp to minimize damage." All over, damage-free volume? We're down.
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You Want to Control Static
The Damage: Hairspray can pull moisture out of hair and most of them are alcohol-based, which actually encourages static," says Flowers.
The fix: Cricket Centrix Premium Carbon Brushes (and ... water?)
How it helps: The carbon acts as a conductor, accepting the negatively charged electrons that cause static electricity. Static happens when there's a lack of moisture in your hair, so a little water (yes, water) can help, says Flowers. She recommends spritzing your hairbrush with water and smoothing your hair from the ends to the roots to smooth the cuticle.
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You Want to Fight Frizz
The Damage: Lots of product (particularly hairspray) sucks all of the moisture out of your hair and weighs it down -- a great recipe for frizzy, out-of-control hair.
The fix: Sonia Kashuk Hair Brush
How it helps: Flowers says this brush gently smooths the edges of your hair and frizz. "Nylon and boar bristle combination brushes can really grab onto the hair when you're blow drying and can help get the frizz out. The nylon bristles separate the hair and the boar bristles give you a strong grip."
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You Want to Brush in the Shower
The Damage: Brushing your hair while its wet is a huge no-no. "When your hair is wet, it gets more like elastic, and, like a rubber band, it'll eventually snap when pulled or yanked," says Flowers.
The fix: The Wet Brush
How it helps: The bristles on this brush are thin, strong and very flexible, but rapid recovery memory helps each bristle bounce back into place, which decreases your detangling time. Flowers also recommends adding a generous amount of conditioner to your hair as you detangle, always starting at the ends and working your way up to your roots.
Unless you have an army of stylists like Kate Middleton or Beyoncé, chances are you use the same hairbrush for all of your styling needs. Maybe you have the travel-sized version of your paddle brush or a round brush buried in your bathroom drawer. But do you really consider buying different brushes for styling your hair? No? Well, you should.
Turns out, along with heat tools and those super taut hairstyles, the brush you use for practically everything may being doing just as much damage to your hair. Size, bristle type and the shape of your brush have a huge impact on the health of your hair and how it styles. Every type of brush produces a different result, and, just like makeup brushes, not all hairbrushes should be treated the same.
Film and television hairstylist Linda Flowers (whose looks can be seen on the Hunger Games), celebrity stylist for the Kardashians and Jessica Alba, Jen Atkins, and stylist at Rita Hazan Salon, Kim Gueldner, all weighed in to tell us the hair brushing mistakes we've been making all along. Whether you're smoothing, detangling, curling or frizz-fighting, these are the tips that will change your hair care routine for good.
Turns out, along with heat tools and those super taut hairstyles, the brush you use for practically everything may being doing just as much damage to your hair. Size, bristle type and the shape of your brush have a huge impact on the health of your hair and how it styles. Every type of brush produces a different result, and, just like makeup brushes, not all hairbrushes should be treated the same.
Film and television hairstylist Linda Flowers (whose looks can be seen on the Hunger Games), celebrity stylist for the Kardashians and Jessica Alba, Jen Atkins, and stylist at Rita Hazan Salon, Kim Gueldner, all weighed in to tell us the hair brushing mistakes we've been making all along. Whether you're smoothing, detangling, curling or frizz-fighting, these are the tips that will change your hair care routine for good.