Alive by Ellen Wille
BRUSHES • DO THEY MATTER?
WIG BRUSH TYPE MATTERS - ALWAYS!
There is more to caring for your wig or topper than just brushing...... we do have guides on the care of your wig and topper based upon hair type, and you can read these within the blogs section.
DOES BRUSHING MATTER?
So the topic of "HOW" to brush is always a really interesting one. I, myself, never had advice on this from anyone when entering the world of alternative hair. As a result, I trashed many wigs and blamed the wig quality when I was oblivious to the fact - it was my mishandling - absolutely unintentional, but something like a brush or a care product - these things matter immensely.
It was only in reading the manufacturer guidance online that I realised this really does matter! When we think about it, it does make sense..... but it is not always something that would just jump in to our mind. After all, can we not treat it as we would our biological hair? Sadly, no - this is one area we MUST really pay attention to the differences.
YOU HAVE MADE AN INVESTMENT
You have spent money on your new hair, and it is not cheap - you have invested in the product that you feel is going to help you feel most like you.
Care of your item matters, as using the wrong brush - this can result in you causing shedding and balding of your beautiful new topper or wig, and this is absolutely devastating and heart breaking.
So let us get started on what we recommend and what our educational training has taught us.
PLEASE NOTE: YOUR WIG MANUFACTURER GUIDANCE IS ALWAYS TO BE FOLLOWED AHEAD OF ANY SELLER ADVICE OR INSTRUCTION. PLEASE ALWAYS FOLLOW MANUFACTURER GUIDANCE
HOW TO BRUSH YOUR ALTERNATIVE HAIR
This is so important. You must NEVER drag any brush or comb through the hair..... you must start from the bottom in small sections around 1-2 inches and brush down then move up another inch or so.
We recommend you "finger comb" first - use your hands to gently run through the wig or topper / hair piece and gently detangle. Never pull, never cause tension as this can result in balding.
So that method of how to do the brushing / combing..... great! Wait - what do we use?
A BRUSH FOR EACH HAIR TYPE
• HEAT FRIENDLY SYNTHETIC & STANDARD SYNTHETIC
The heat friendly fibres are some of the most delicate, fine fragile. We recommend (as advised by manufacturers and factories) that you ONLYever use a wide tooth comb created specifically for your alternative hair. These are not the same as wide tooth combs that we would see in a standard hair salon for those with biological hair.
NEVER use any form of brush on your heat friendly topper or wig - it WILLcause the fibres to fray, and it causes far too much tension on the roots which will cause the wig and topper to bald or shed - this means that you are likely to have a hair piece that has the appearance of thinning and bald spots.
BUY WIDE TOOTH COMB FOR YOUR WIG OR TOPPER HERE
Standard synthetic hair we would also advise only using the wide tooth comb, as manufacturers and factories would also advise. this will help maintain longevity of your new hair piece.
• HUMAN HAIR BRUSHES
Human hair care is very different from that of synthetic hair.
We have guides on the care of human hair for you HERE but in regard to brushes, it is also important to use the correct brush type. A wide tooth comb for alternative hair is also appropriate for your human hair wig or topper, and is ideal to carry in your hand bag with you for "on the go."
The paddle brush shown here is by Jon Renau and is one of our favourites for brushing throughout the day. I (Michelle) carry this in my hand bag on the days that I wear human hair alongside my wide tooth comb. These are gentle, and the soft malleable bristles are gentle and will not pull on a knot. They will not tug on your hair, as they are not rigid and firm.... they are also safe if they touch gentle cap base materials..... this is so important to us all...... safety and maintaining the integrity of our hair and our topper and wig caps / bases is imperative! We love the Jon Renau Paddle Brush on all human hair systems. You can BUY THE JON RENAU PADDLE BRUSH HERE.
As well as brushing and maininting the smooth untangled look to your wig throughout the day...... human hair does require to be styled, and for this we would look for something that has more coarse but safe bristles that work in tangent with your hair, and not pull tug or work against the hair.We would recommend the Jon Renau Boar Bristle brush for styling your human hair wig.When drying and styling the hair, it will be pinned to a secure canvas cork block head, and this brush is perfect........ it has some plastic rounded bristles intermingled with the boar bristles, and allows for beautiful blow drying without damage. Unlike biological hair that can withstand high levels of heat, your wig or topper should not be styled using a heat retaining brush - please avoid these ceramic and metallic brushes that we would use in a salon for biological hair. We want our wigs to last as long as is practicably possible!You can BUY THE BOAR BRISTLE BRUSH HERE***********************************BRUSHES YOU SHOULD AVOID AT ALL COSTS
There are so many brushes available that do have a purpose, and can be used under some circumstances, but as a whole - we would advise you AVOID these........ these are the wire wig brushes that everyone tends to buy as a first brush (believe me, I have done this too, and learned in my own errors).......
WIRE WIG BRUSHES:
- pull on the hair and cause balding / shedding
- can pierce the topper or wig cap and cause tears in the lace or fragile base materials
- cause friction and frizz to heat friendly and synthetic fibres
- can tear the human hair items
- the most common complaint from everyone using these - "MY TOPPER AND WIG IS GOING BALD"
We have chosen NOT to stock these on our site, and although they have purposes that we will not discuss, the risk outweighs the benefit in our mind........ and longevity is what we want you to have.
Sadly, the best made topper and wig on the planet will be obliterated by using this type of brush and you will see so much hair loss to your new hair. We do not want this for you and this is why you will not find these on our site.
It is IMPERATIVE that you always follow manufacturer guidance. We advise that you never use any wire wig brush. It is however up to yourself what you do and do not do with your items....... but please note that if you use something that causes damage, this is absolutely NOT a manufacturing flaw...... but it is sadly just inappropriate handling of the product.
The culprits you want to avoid are below:
I hope that has been helpful guys.
It is not meant to be a total "YOU MUST DO THIS" but rather a little guide to help you, and to stop you making some of the mistakes that I have made in my own early wig journey.
Have a lovely day,
Big Hugs,
MiMo
