Top Ten Salon Brushes
You need another salon brush. Maybe you lost your favorite one. Or maybe your set keeps mysteriously disappearing and reappearing into the hands of innocent looking stylists around the salon. Either way, you're searching the internet for a professional hair brush, and, my God, there are enough choices out there to keep you busy for weeks. Even if you know specifically you need a cushion brush with boar bristles, it could take you hours to find the one you like best. And never mind the color. Salon brushes are like candy when it comes to color. You can find one that looks like whatever you want it to be. And that's a problem for those of us who are indecisive. Well, we can't make the choice for you, but we can show you what other stylists like, and even tell you why. So here are the top 10 salon brushes from detanglers, to cushions, to round.
Detangling Brushes
Hair Tamer takes the cake on detangling. They specialize in gentle smoothness by relying on the basic strength of acrylic. They also create brushes in a vast variety of shapes and colors so you can find a perfect fit for your hand and aesthetic. So tangles beware; here are some of the best hair wranglers around.
Hair Tamer “Ergo” Detangling Brush
It's light, simple, and practical. The curvy body looks good and a lot of stylists find the shape more comfortable. Of course the comfort can vary with your particular hand shape and size. The other benefit of the Ergo brush is the huge variety of colors it comes it. This won't do much for hair, but no one will argue who's brush is the pink zebra print.
Hair Tamer Detangling Hair Brush
You'll think this belong in the “cushion” category below, but the real point of this is detangling. It has a traditional oval shape with a rubber-grip body, and it's absolutely fantastic at working through wet and damp hair. The wide space between the nylon bristles keeps the struggle down, and the combination of the cushion and ball tips pump the comfort up. Typically this is what you would use after a trip to the shampoo sink.
Hair Tamer “Kink” Detangling Brush
There isn't much difference from the Kink brush to the Ergo brush in terms of effect on hair. This change is all about you and your hand. Some stylists find that the horse brush style is easier on their wrists and gives them a little more control. Again, this can come down to personal preference, but if you have larger hands, this might be easier than gripping a normal handle.
Hair Tamer No Knot Detangling Hair Brush
The No Knot brings it back to the client's head. The shape is contoured for your typical crown, so each stroke should grip a maximum amount of hair without poking the scalp. This is a little better for general detangling on damp hair thanks to the slightly wider space between bristles, although it's not quite as heavy duty as the cushion Hair Tamer you saw above.
Cushion
Now we come to the cool comfort of the cushion. While the shapes here stay more or less the same, the material varies in important ways. Natural bristles are usually good for combing product through hair and finish off styles. When you still need to shape the hair a little, it helps to have a combination with nylon.
Spornette Deville Round Cushion Salon Brush
It's hard to go wrong with the classic wooden body. It's durable and classy, and the whole thing is comfortable just to look at. It's all boar bristle here, so this brush is a finishing move for thin to medium hair for getting the most out of the product you've put in the hair, along with the natural oils already in there.
Spornette Classic German Porcupine Cushion Brush
Spornette comes back with a wooden handle, although this one doesn't really look as classy as the Deville. But whatever it lacks in class it makes up for in function with the nylon bristle combo. Each tuft of boar hair is equipped with a single, long bristle designed to help the brush slip into the hair. This is what you break out when you've got a really thick head of hair in front of you.
Phillips Oval Cushion Brush with Metal Pins
This Phillips hair brush takes it in a different direction. When detangling, sometimes nylon isn't enough, but when you play with metal you risk poking the client. Fortunately the cushion on this brush negates that effect.
Round Brush
It's drying time again. Maybe. Round brushes can have so many different uses from adding a slight curl to the hair to simply smoothing out the style. While there are a few round brushes that can be used on their own, all these are designed to work with the hair dryer.
Spornette Smooth Operator Salon Brush
It's not just a clever name. This brush really is smooth. A lot of barrel brushes have nylon bristles, but these are crimped. Basically that means they're scrunched up and wavy so they feel softer and aren't quite so damaging to the hair. And thanks to the tourmaline infusion, you're also feeding a little health back into the hair. This is a great brush for light hair that’s a little on the brittle side.
Cricket Ionic Thermal Salon Brush
Here we're back with the nylon bristles, only this time they come with anti-microbial protection, so this round brush is more sanitary. It has other neat things like a tourmaline infusion and static free resin, but the thing you'll really notice is the grip. It feels like you're holding a baby... Okay, maybe not a baby. But something really soft that you won't want to let go of.
Cricket Friction Free Thermal Salon Brush
The big attraction on this brush is the easy style and the shape of the handle. Cricket did a pretty good job of contouring the grip so it's easier to hold. But there's also something to be said for the polymer blend in the barrel, which means the metal and nylon sweeping through hair actually neutralize static. It's handy to have, some pun intended.