StyleNest’s resident Beauty Bird, Eleanor Tucker rounds up the best tangled hair brushes and combs for unruly tresses.
I am suffering from hair issues at the moment. Tangles, to be more specific. I can’t decide if it’s down to the semi-permanent wearing of a woolly hat, the cold, wet weather, or just Mother Nature having a laugh… But the truth is, I have knots that I am unable to forget.
I have a few tricks up my sleeve of course: a good conditioner, plaiting my hair at night – in spite of it making me look more like Ma Walton than Anne of Green Gables these days – and a darn good comb or brush. Yes, I’ve been testing a whole new generation of knot-busting hair detanglers – and be warned, they are life changing. (OK, they save you time and stop you getting annoyed.) Here are the top five.
“Never brush wet hair” was drummed into me in childhood, but it turns out, with some styles of brushes you can use them wet. The Wet Brush (£6.95) is one such thing, and after a blob of leave-in conditioner it made light work of my bed-head.
BeautyBay’s own brand, The Collection, has a small, palm-size detangling brush (£5) which works on the same principle: flexible bristles that are gentle on wet or dry hair. This one also has bristles of varying lengths, making it even easier on tough knots. Purse-friendly, too.
Sometimes, however, you just need a comb – and an enormous one at that. Paul Mitchell’s Detangler Comb (£3.95) is one of these. The teeth are so far apart you feel you could even fit your head through, but sometimes that’s what is required, especially when you have, like I did the other day, what can only be described as ‘dreads’ on the back of your head.
Tangles are deeply unpopular with small children, so I have softened the brushing blow slightly by giving my (very nearly) three-year-old girl a Tangle Tamer Hairbrush (£10) from Childs Farm. It is known as ‘The Horse Brush’, for obvious reasons, and I am a little envious of it. I’m not allowed to borrow it though.
Finally, one to watch out for: Lee Stafford De-Stress The Mess Detangling Comb (£4.99). This bad boy is ‘infused with ARGANOIL™’, has rounded tips which are kinder to the scalp and also boasts ‘water removal grooves’. It’s out later this month. Excited? You should be.
