Can you brush curly hair? This is a question that many people, curly and non-curly haired alike, have asked at least once in their lives.
After all, curly hair can be really hard and even downright unpleasant to manage. Due to its nature and chemistry, curly hair can make even simple things like untangling knots and tangles a hard challenge to overcome.
Can you brush curly hair?
Short answer: no.
Long answer: yes, but only if you have the right 'brush'.
To help expand on our answer, we'll first give you the story of our good friend, Emilia.
The story of the curls
Now, Emilia has long, thick curly hair, the kind that has the tightest kinks that you can ever imagine. And in order to minimize the hassle of managing her own hair, she keeps her locks in two thick braids every single day.
On a day-to-day basis, Emilia surely does a good job of keeping her hair out of her business. But every time she removes her braids, usually when she's showering or taking a bath, it becomes a huge, huge problem.
The main reason for her problem? Knots. In braids, her hair strands are well-behaved and properly managed. But once they're out of their braids? They're messy, they're all tangled together, and they form... basically one big knot on her head. The stress her curly hair brings makes Emilia want nothing more than to pull it all out.
The right tools for the right job
Emilia soon found out that it's perfectly possible to brush curly hair, even one as bold as hers, as long as she's got the right tools for the job.
Here are a few things that helped Emilia in her quest to tame her wild curls:
1. Don't use a brush
Use a wide-tooth comb instead! (c) Pixabay
Emilia used to use a natural boar-bristle brush – you know, the kind of brush that people rave about all the time. What they didn't tell her, however, is that these kind of brushes are only good for straight hair.
If you've got curly hair like Emilia, your best bet for detangling your hair would be wide-toothed combs. Firstly, they don't get in the way of your tight curls. They also don't 'catch onto' the rough parts of your hair, making them the perfect way to detangle curly tresses.
2. Always deep-condition before you brush curly hair
Emilia discovered that deep conditioning her hair before trying to brush it helps make the detangling process easier.
And it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Deep conditioning your hair makes it softer, smoother, and sleeker, making it easier to comb through the strands. Not to mention, deep conditioning your hair can also lock in moisture in your strands, making it less dry, which curly hair is notorious for.
3. Brush curly hair while in the shower
(c) Jose Soriano, Unsplash
There's another trick Emilia learned that really helped in ,brushing her curly hair. Brushing your hair while in the shower helps make the process go much more smoothly!
Plus, brushing hair while it's wet, in general, can help avoid damages that the friction from the comb can cause. This includes frizzy and flyaway hair, which not only curly-haired people experience.
We hope you learned something from Emilia's experiences with curly hair! If you'd like more tips and tricks regarding hair care (especially curly hair care), feel free to check out our ZALA blog!
