A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

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

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…or hairy wimps, we can be passive or active about this… I don’t care whose voice we use.

I was bullied into this purchase by the good folks on Twitter who told me that if I didn’t buy one, my first born would hate me forever.

Always open to a bit of parenting guilt, I went for the black.  If in doubt, always buy something in black I say!

It arrived a few days later, looking all sleek and shiny and I couldn’t wait to put it to the test.

Now, to be fair… I don’t have particularly tangly hair.  Nowadays it’s a lot finer that it used to be and I don’t have to do that whole “clench it at the roots” thing to reduce pulling and pain.

My first impressions of the Tangle Teezer are that it’s a lot lighter than I anticipated and to be blunt, it’s a lot ‘cheaper’ feeling too.

I’m used to paying out for a Mason Pearson and was hoping that this would be the brush that would help extend the last bit of life left in mine.  In other words, I wanted the Tangle Teezer to be my workhorse… and the Mason Pearson to be my finisher!

The Tangle Teezer feels quite rough around the edges… construction is fully plastic and it is literally quite ‘rough around the edges’ with bits of plastic that catch on your skin.

On a more positive note, Mr. L has told me in no uncertain terms that if I can’t find it, it’s because he’s stolen it to scratch his head with which means that my MP is off the hook.  Anyone who owns a Tangle Teezer will understand what I mean when I say that the plastic bristles (I know that’s an oxymoron) really reach through your hair and give your scalp a great ‘brush’.

Another problem I have with the Tangle Teezer is it’s tendency to fly out of my hand mid brush… this thing needs rubber grips on the handle like I need an Apple Martini… i.e. now.

I would imagine that if your hair is thicker, this would be even more of an issue because of the additional pressure one would have to apply to draw the brush through the hair.

It fits nicely in the palm, even in my small hands though it would be far too cumbersome for a child to hold.  I believe they have a flowerpot designed Tangle Teezer especially for small hands!

So… overall… I’m torn.

It does exactly what it’s supposed to, I can’t fault it on it’s detangling abilities on my fine hair.  The teeth work through my hair like a hot knife through butter.

But having said this, I still think it’s over-rated and overpriced.  It feels cheap (but isn’t) and it’s quite poorly designed.  I can’t even carry it around in my bag because the prongs look like they would bend out of shape if I blew on them too hard… but perhaps their flexibility is part of the reason it detangles so painlessly?

Would I purchase it again?  No… but that doesn’t mean I regret my purchase either.

The Tangle Teezer is priced at around £10 and available online and instore at Boots.