Brush-Up For Hair Care
When it comes to hair brushes, there are different strokes for different folks, depending on their particular hair type.
To help The Early Show, viewers look their best, stylist David Evangelista combed through all of the brushes out there, and has advice on finding the perfect one for your hair.
Vent Brush: This is the kind of brush that is open in the back and lets air flow through the hair. It's good for fine to medium hair. "If you want to get a little lift in your root, want to get a little volume, a vent brush is a perfect thing for you," Evangelista says.
Styler: This is good for medium-length bob hair, or longer hair. It has plastic bristles and is easy to work with. It bends a lot, and adheres to the hair nicely. These cost $8-$10 and are also known as "Denman," a brand name often used to describe this type of brush.
Cushion: These brushes have a soft cushion base with bristles on one side, often slightly curved. Cushion brushes are used to smooth (without lift or volume) short- to medium-length hair that isn't too thick or dense. They are very simple to use and are popular with men.
Mason Pearson brushes, which Evangelista calls "the Bentley of brushes," fit into the cushion category. Though very expensive, Mason Pearson brushes are renowned for their pure boar bristles which don't tear hair or leave static.
Round: This type of brush is pretty self explanatory, but the most important thing to realize about the round brush is that it's not just for creating curl. The more open bristle type is used for achieving maximum height and lift. The densely packed real bristle round brush is great at smoothing and straightening hair that naturally has a wave or curl.
The size of the brush you need depends on the length of your hair and the effect you want. A general guide is the longer the hair, the bigger diameter of the center barrel of the brush should be. To maximize the effect of the round brush, Evangelista advises that you work with only a small piece of hair at a time and angle the flow of air from your dryer, so that it flows from roots to ends.
Straightening: If you have tried a round brush and it failed to straighten your hair effectively, there is this great new brush on the market that is easy to use at home. It looks like a pair of tongs with bristles facing towards each other. You simply clasp a section of hair near the scalp between the bristles and then dry your hair as you slide the brush through the hair towards the ends.
Paddle: These brushes are distinguished by their size and the cushion-type base from which the bristles protrude. It is larger and flatter than the cushion brush, and is used when you have lots of hair, or long hair to deal with. It is great to smooth naturally straight hair, or to finish off a style after using a round brush to straighten wavy or curly hair. Simply sweep the brush down the length of your hair with a stroking motion.
Thermal: These brushes work by using a metal or heat conductive material (like ceramic) as the core center of the brush, so that it gets hot almost immediately after you turn on your hair dryer. Therefore, as you increase the heat that is drying your hair, it will be working not only on the surface of the hair, but internally as well.
"You can get effects that are somewhat like setting your hair in rollers when you get really good with one of these!" says Evangelista, warning that it is easy to scorch your hair if the brush gets too hot! He does not recommend it for fine, chemically treated or damaged hair.
Evangelista says natural boar bristle is an excellent choice for nearly all hair types, except for people with very thick or very curly hair who may find it too soft to penetrate the hair mass. For these people, a blend of natural boar bristle and nylon is a good alternative.
Synthetic bristle materials such as nylon are fairly smooth by comparison, and while they do a good job of massaging the scalp and stimulating the release of oils, they do a relatively poor job of cleaning the hair shaft and distributing the beneficial oil throughout the hair.
If the bristles are too stiff or are poorly shaped, as some nylon bristles are, you can yank out healthy hair at the roots. If you decide to use a nylon bristle brush, choose a high-quality one with rounded tips that are a part of the bristle.
Improper use of even the right tool can also lead to disastrous effects. Despite all the advice against it, many people brush their hair when it is wet, which can stretch it to the point of breaking.
Also, people with very thick or curly hair often brush their hair when it is dry. Doing so could make the hair frizzy, so it is advisable to use a styling pick to shape this hair type instead.
People with thin or thinning hair often make their problem worse by using brushes with a lot of bristles and consequently pull out healthy hair. If you have this problem, it is best to use either a comb or a brush with a minimal amount of softer bristles to avoid unnecessary hair loss.