How to Pick the Best Brush for Your Hair Type

Shopping online for a brush can feel like trying to do the simplest task but with all your senses blindfolded. What should be easy suddenly takes a turn when you can't feel it, touch the bristles, or experience the fit with your unique hair texture. Not to mention certain brushes require certain techniques and some should never be used in certain ways or with certain textures/densities. So how do we know what to choose?

We typically turn to influencers for guidance. And I don't know about you, but sometimes that can bring you right back to square one where you're a bit in the dark about what to choose after a failed brush experience. No one wants to spend money on a brush where all the bristles fall out in a few weeks or get the wrong type and have it get tangled in the hair. So! Here is a little guide for how to pick the best brush for your hair type without having to run through a million good looking brushes that may let you down.

How to Pick the Best Brush for Your Hair Texture and Density

It's good to start with just feeling your hair and analyzing the density, dryness, and texture pattern. Figuring out these three things will help you find the right brush for you.

But before we jump right to the brush, we need to talk about dryness. Dryness is really important when it comes to the type of brush we choose. If your hair is dry, you may come across the right brush, but find it's not working well. Why is that? Mostly because dry hair will get too stressed out from any brush! We need to remedy dryness and support moisturized hair first, then get the brush.

How to Heal Dry Hair Before Choosing Your Brush

You need a solid foundation to start. The foundation for hair begins with a special shampoo, conditioner, oil and heat protectant. One of the best combination of products I've found to heal dry hair is the Elixir Ultime Oil by Kerastase, paired with the Resistance Cream Heat Protectant, and the Resistance Shampoo and Conditioner. The combination of oil, heat protectant, and a moisture-focused shampoo and conditioner can do wonders for replenishing the moisture needed to achieve healthy hair.

Another option to diminish dryness is an express Keratin by Keratin Complex. It's a professional service that should be done in the salon. I know there are at-home organic kits available, but I haven't tried them out just yet. For now, the Express Keratin by Keratin Complex is the only product I've found that works when nothing else seems to. This is because it heals dryness from the inside out, not the outside in.

One other great option for decreasing hair dryness is doing heatless, overnight curls instead of using a hot tool. Not only are you not using the heat from a curling iron to achieve waves and curls but there's the added bonus of wearing moisturizing products in your hair overnight. Allowing the nutrients to seep in and provide hair-enriching benefits while you sleep creates incredible results.

Ok, now that we've covered dryness, let's get back to brushes ...

Choosing A Hairbrush for Finer Density Hair

For finer density hair, detangling when it's wet is one of the biggest challenges, especially if the hair has been strongly highlighted. There are certain brushes that help the most and certain brushes that will make it worse. Brushes that might hinder the detangling process and could cause breakage are ones with stiff bristles, round ceramic brushes, and hard bristles spaced too far apart.

Brushes that are amazing for finer textures have flexible bristles, some with varied lengths that are spaced closer together.The Original Tangle Teezer and the Denman Tangle Tamer are two if my favorite brushes for detangling finer textures. They're gentle but effective.

For medium to thick densities, the Tangle Teezer is still a good option, but there are more that offer added benefits. The mixed-bristle Belula Premium Boar Bristle Hair Brush contains both boar bristles and longer regular bristles for a flexible run through that leaves the hair shiny. There's also the Fromm Intuition Glosser Boar Bristle Brush. It offers similar benefits to the Belula brush but it has longer pins that feel good gently massaging the scalp.

Choosing a Brush for Curly Textures

Curls need just the right amount of tension from flexible (but not too flexible) bristles plus compact boar bristles for the best results. The Yves Durif Vented Brush is just plain cool and does pass through curly textures without getting tangled. It provides a smooth and glossy finish.

Boar bristle brushes that are high quality also pass the test. The goal is to get the hair smooth without using excess heat that can dry it out. One strategy for smoothing out curls is to not pre-dry it, but keep the hair pretty wet when starting to blow-dry the section. The YS Park brush is incredible for adding in just the right amount of tension while giving hair those packed-in boar bristles for a truly smoothing experience.

Brushes for Thick Hair with Little to No Curl Pattern

Longer pins and highly vented surfaces work great for thicker densities with straighter texture. The brush can pass over the hair while letting air and heat circulate on all sides. This makes for a faster blow-dry time and can add volume, shape and bounce to the blowout. The T3 Dry Vent Hairbrush has longer pins with a good amount of spacing between each pin to decrease blowdry time. And the Olivia Garden Ceramic + Ion Round Thermal Hair Brush is perfect for thick hair needing some volume and bounce.