No more tangles, no more tears? The Wet Brush…

Posted by Lipglossiping On July - 7 - 2014

Between my daughter and I, we own almost 3ft of hair.  Not including the stuff on my top lip, which would take us into double figures… just the hair on our heads.  Mine is grey dark and fine in texture with a tendency toward dryness and some breakage at the ends.  Hers is blonde with an average texture that is neither especially fine, nor magnificently thick.  Her hair sheds like a mo’fo though and she seems to replace it twice as quickly.

Every morning when I brush her hair for school, we have a little chat about the “Tangle Fairy“.  A mischievous sprite who visits her nightly to play havoc and dance a jig in her locks.  To be fair to Leila, she’s a tough cookie and not a total squinny when it’s time to get the brush out… but just like every kid, she has her moments during a detangling session.

The worst of these is after a hair wash, I don’t condition her hair in the bath because regular conditioners weigh her hair down too much, instead we use the Boots Coconut & Almond Leave In Conditioner because we both love the smell and it saves the palava of an extra rinse at bath-time.  As much as it leaves her hair soft and deliciously-scented, it doesn’t do much in the way of detangling.  Usually, I can get away with it if I’ve remembered to brush her hair before the hair wash… but when I forget to detangle, I have a fight on my hands!

Enter, The Wet Brush.

The Wet Brush

Taking the world by storm, this is a hairbrush that has been designed with detangling in mind.

I’m no stranger to detangling brushes… infact, I’ve done a vs. comparison of the Tangle Teezer and the Michel Mercier on my blog before, where neither proved to be total solutions to the detangling problem.

So how does The Wet Brush fare?

The Wet Brush 2

Really well actually.

The rubber-coated body and well-designed handle ensures that, unlike the other leading detangler on the market, this one won’t fly out of your hands mid-brush.  It’s built like a “proper” brush, feeling more substantial and to be honest, as though it’s been finished to a higher standard.

The flexible plastic bristles reach through the hair to the root while the ball-tips on the end are a little gentler on the scalp.  It’s lightweight but feels substantial in the hand, a good combination that ensures that a). I don’t break a toe if I do drop it in the shower and b). Leila can use it on herself with confidence, without getting arm-ache.

Basically, if you’ve read my comparison review that I linked to earlier, you’ll see that The Wet Brush combines all the things I liked about both the Tangle Teezer and the Michel Mercier.  Into one brush.

The Wet Brush 3

I’m struggling to fault it… and although it doesn’t completely eliminate all tugging during a detangling session, it makes the experience far less traumatic.  You’ll also be pleased to discover that it’s less costly than the other detanglers on the market.

Don’t just take my word for it though, here’s a quick Instagram video of me trying out the brush on Leila for the first time.

So is it perfect?  Well… it’s definitely more than halfway there… the only thing I would say is that you have to be mindful of storage.  I chucked this into Leila’s “hair box” along with all her other bits and bobs and the next day, some of the bristles were bent because a can of dry shampoo had been pressed into the side of the brush.  To be fair though, they went back into shape with a little coaxing and I’ve just been more careful since.

Perhaps this isn’t one for throwing into your handbag… but then again, it wasn’t meant to be!

The Wet Brush is available in two different styles and a variety of colours, priced from £11.99 and available to buy online at www.cultbeauty.co.uk

* press sample

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Michel Mercier Detangling Hairbrush vs. Tangle Teezer

Posted by Lipglossiping On November - 28 - 2011

My hair is prone to breakage, and thanks to my PCOS – there isn’t as much of it as I would like which means that I have to be very careful when detangling my hair not to end up with more on the brush than on my head.  I currently use my Tangle Teezer on wet hair and my Mason Pearson on dry hair.

I attended the launch of a new product from internationally acclaimed hairdresser Michel Mercier, a new detangling hair brush available in three varieties, each suited to a different hair type.  To choose the right brush for your hair, you simply need to check which colour you’re picking up:  Pink = Fine Hair, Green = Normal Hair, Blue = Thick or Afro Hair.  The difference between the three varieties lies in the flexibility of the bristles used.  The coarser the hair type, the more rigid the bristles need to be in order to combat the tangles.

The brush is made up of a patented system which involves placing 428 bristles (who wants to count ’em?) positioned at different heights across the surface with a unique geometric distribution which helps to disperse the pressure placed on hair during brushing.

But does it work, and is it better than the Tangle Teezer?

Michel Mercier Detangling Brush*

I found that it works very well for detangling my hair, especially when my hair was dry but the efficiency came at a cost.  The Mercier Brush gave me more discomfort during use than the Tangle Teezer.  However, it really couldn’t be faulted for it’s rapid detangling properties… I often find that the Tangle Teezer misses tangles on the underside of my hair thanks to its very flexible bristles – the Mercier’s bristles are stronger, I think this will prove very popular for those with thick hair.

Sadly, I experienced more breakage with this one than my Tangle Teezer, probably just because it was more effective and gave me more discomfort but I’d rather have to section my hair to detangle than lose it on the brush.

Tangle Teezer

I was also hoping for better things from the Michel Mercier design.  The Tangle Teezer is notorious for flying out of unsuspecting hands thanks to the rubbish grip it offers.  At first glance, you’d think that the Michel Mercier solves this with the inclusion of a chunky handle but sadly, the handle has quite a strong taper which means that it doesn’t feel as secure as I would have liked.

Overall it’s a real mixed bag.  If my hair were stronger and thicker, I’d probably prefer it to my Tangle Teezer but as things stand, it’s back to my Tangle Teezer/Mason Pearson combination for the time being.

The Michel Mercier Detangling Brush is priced at £14.95, and available from www.michelmercier.co.uk and selected salons

* press sample

.

When you just can’t let it go…

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 20 - 2010

…even though you know you should.

Do you have any personal items (no, not THAT personal!) that you just can’t let go no matter how old, battered and bruised?

Here’s mine…

I am as ashamed as I am proud of it.

My beloved 27 year old Mason Pearson Nylon & Bristle hairbrush that my mother bought me when I was just 2 years old.

It’s seen better days.

I’ve dropped it hundreds upon hundreds of times over the years… it’s been submerged in water, raked through various shades of hair dye, cleaned with all kinds of horrifically damaging cleaning fluids and yet still, it soldiers on.

The nylon bristles have split in places and you can clearly see the marks from a temper tantrum I had around age 13 when I threw it against the wall and then sobbed my heart out when I realised I’d chipped the head.

It’s been sung into, used as a back-scratcher and even circum-navigated the globe with me.

Am I ready to part with it? Am I hell.

This is still the brush I reach for in the mornings to weaken the tenacity of the knots that have appeared overnight before reaching for a paddle brush to finish the job.

Leila has just started to use the one that I bought her in May for her 1st Birthday and already she loves it. It’s a little smaller than mine, easier for her tiny hands to grasp. She bashes herself over the head with it more than she manages to pull it through her locks but she loves to find both brushes and pair them together as in the above photo.

I wonder if she’ll still be brushing her hair with it in nearly 30 years time. I hope for my sake that hers won’t show the signs of quite so many teenage tantrums though.

Mason Pearson hairbrushes are available to purchase instore at Liberty or online at HQHair – price varies depending on brush size.

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