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I think brushing your hair too much can hurt more than help it.
I've noticed that it then becomes looking all too dry and lifeless.
It's like, you need to brush your hair only a few times and let it dry naturally for the remainder (seeing how I brush my hair after washing it, etc)
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Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts.
- Jim Morrison, In Beauty
NO TRUER WORDS HAVE BEEN SAID...
It's a good idea to use a wide tooth comb(jumbo comb) to brush hair when wet, then let it dry.
Hi ATP,
I was told a long time ago, even back in the days when my hair was much shorter, NEVER to use a brush on wet or even damp hair. Use a wide-toothed comb when wet. The ritual of brushing is only meant for when the hair is completely dry (and usually has been for at least a day or more).
I brush my hair between shampooings as a way to cut down on the frequency of those shampooings, --- it stimulates and invigorates the scalp, helps disperse the natural oils down the hair shaft towards the ends (which needs those oils the most), and takes care of any itching you may feel (as well as causes blood to rush up to nourish your scalp). My grandmother's generation used to shampoo only a couple times a year, and ritualistically brush every day ("100 strokes" was the old advise).
Try it out, and see if it makes a big difference, --- just don't brush when your hair is wet. Hair is at its weakest when wet, and you'll get more breakage that way!
- Ken
I do almost all of my brushing wet, after conditioning. That's when my hair is smoothest, and the brush glides right through. It also helps wring out the water and accelerate drying. I only air-dry naturally.
I sometimes dry-brush when it tangles.
Really though, I try to avoid brushing at all. I prefer to just wring it out and finger comb after it dries.
I also only air-dry naturally. The main difference between your method of smoothing hair after conditioning and mine is that I use a comb instead of a brush when wet. I learned from a longhaired woman friend of mine years ago that a brush is more damaging to hair when wet than a comb. This seems to have been varified by other longhaired female friends of mine throughout the years, --- my only reliable source of long hair care info, prior to finding internet sites like this!
Me too!
That works, too. EdG apparently recommends that in his writing (see the Links section). Where I differ is that i DO regularly dry-brush as part of my routine. I had a conversation with Elizabeth Regina and a few others about this topic a while back, and I am not alone in following a thorough dry-brushing ritual. The main point I was trying to make in my original reply to this thread was to NOT use a brush in the same way one would thoroughly dry-brush, if the hair is still wet. Supposedly a quick combing out when the hair is still wet will result in less damage. But I'd bet your wringing your hair out and finger-combing when dry will result in even less damage still!!
Hope that clarifies what I originally meant to say...
Take Care,
Ken
Sure. I hope my tone didn't come across as belligerant. I might try the wet comb sometime, except that I got rid of my comb ages ago. It was one of those little short-hair combs that basicly just sticks in long hair. I suppose that if I were going to try a comb, I should get a bigger one, with wide tines. It does make sense that'd be better, since you don't have tines lined up behind eachother.
I also only air-dry naturally. The main difference between your method of smoothing hair after conditioning and mine is that I use a comb instead of a brush when wet. I learned from a longhaired woman friend of mine years ago that a brush is more damaging to hair when wet than a comb. This seems to have been varified by other longhaired female friends of mine throughout the years, --- my only reliable source of long hair care info, prior to finding internet sites like this!
Me too!
That works, too. EdG apparently recommends that in his writing (see the Links section). Where I differ is that i DO regularly dry-brush as part of my routine. I had a conversation with Elizabeth Regina and a few others about this topic a while back, and I am not alone in following a thorough dry-brushing ritual. The main point I was trying to make in my original reply to this thread was to NOT use a brush in the same way one would thoroughly dry-brush, if the hair is still wet. Supposedly a quick combing out when the hair is still wet will result in less damage. But I'd bet your wringing your hair out and finger-combing when dry will result in even less damage still!!
Hope that clarifies what I originally meant to say...
Take Care,
Ken