Is Brush Styling Ruining Your Curls? Pros & Cons + A Safer Method

[@suecrease6795]

This was really helpful. I don’t do much brush styling because it takes too long but also I’m one of those that can’t coordinate my hands and the mirror 😂

[@belindachappell9875]

I really struggle with coordinating via the mirror too 😂

[@johncarvajalarenas9991]

If you have to transition from heat or chemical damage, it only makes sense to also have a transition period coming from mechanical damage (i.e. damage caused by repeated and excessive brushing over years). So if you really want to reach the healthiest version of your hair, you should be as patient as you were when you grew the color and heat damage out. It'll probably look bad at first, but then your actual natural curl pattern will start coming out bc your hair will be healthier since it's not being brush-styled every other day. Everything we do adds up over time, brushing your hair is no exception. Think about the analogy of the ribbon and the scissors. You can only stretch the ribbon so many times until it doesn't spring up any more... same goes to your hair. The constant brushing is essentially mechanically damaging the elasticity of your strands.

[@GenaMarie]

Great explanation!

[@johncarvajalarenas9991]

@@GenaMarie have a couple thoughts you could turn into content! I'll dm you on IG :)

[@rhondajones8678]

I’m new to curly girl method. I’m 62 and have flat ironed my hair for years. Super thick and coarse. I’m also embracing my grays so flat ironing is bad for silver hair. I have been watching these KZbin videos for weeks and I have found so far that brush styling with the tangle teaser brush works great for my hair. When I plopped my hair, I noticed it was extremely frizzy before I brush styled. Thanks so much for your informative videos 😀 👩🏻‍🦱

[@mauryamm2154]

I do brush style because I’m always battling frizz, even with strong hold gel, and it provides such nice ringlets. But I do something more like your speedy brush styling, brush through gel with hair broken into 5 large segments (the top I slice into rows for better direction results), and finish with a little very strong hold gel smoothed on top. For me it’s totally worth the potential damage, which I feel is minimal because I have a lot of elasticity. By the way, I really appreciate your more scientific approach to all things curly hair, keep up the excellent work, Gina!!!❤

[@3_up_moon]

My mom told me when I was in middle school that you have to "train" your hair. So yes, you can train it to take advantage of the natural texture and encourage curls

[@Mb2IseeU]

I have found I don’t have much time for hardly any styling at all. I rarely get time to diffuse my hair. So I usually rake in my product, air dry, and my hair gets put up in a clip for work. I would probably brush style more if I had time. But that’s the season of life I’m in right now.

[@GenaMarie]

Will you stop brush styling, continue, or just reduce it? Let me know below! Don't forget to check ou the blog post where I summarize all my notes: genamarie.co/2023/04/is-brush-styling-ruining-your-curls/

[@simplycurlyde]

Brush styling is a must for my hair, too, especially the top section. I do the faster version, doing larger sections & running a wide tooth comb afterward. I have the exact same Tangle Teezer brush!

[@jessg.829]

Thanks for another great, informative video! I love the Tangle Teezer brush! It's the only brush I've been able to use to have success with brush styling. I recently tried Manes by Mell's brush styling technique and it actually worked pretty well for me!

[@Dramaduck139]

Thanks for this video. I haven't been able to brush style because of the makeup of my hair. If I brush style my hair, even with the Tangle Teezer brush, my hair stretches out. I can use the brush to distribute my product, but I have to make sure to scrunch immediately after. I have been able to use a Denman brush to help brush coil my hair in the front to define my curls around my face though. Even though I can't really apply the info in this video, I still love to watch to learn more information about curly hair. I appreciate that you do the research to find the reason and science behind our curly hair. ❤

[@ElaEG]

I get pretty good results using a Denman brush and brushing with tension, I make sure I detangle really well before brush styling. But last week I was in a hurry and just scrunched in my products the way I used to do before I learned brush styling. I got great results and longevity in my style. I'm not convinced I can duplicate those results though, so I went back to brush styling this week. Will have to experiment.

[@bonkbonkcat]

Really appreciate your videos. Its helpful and informative ❤❤❤ I have curly hair but since i was a child my mom always cut it really short like a boys hair because most people in my area consider curly hair as ugly and messy unsuitable for students etc. So I have no idea how to properly style my hair. now im 23 and i just started taking care of my natural curl, your videos are really helpful❤❤❤❤ thank you once again xoxo

[@Jamesyates2609]

Maybe the stringiness when not brush styling is because you damp style? Soaking wet styling makes it more clumped and gives getter definition. I normally do raking the praying hands and get good curl clumps this way and have 3a/b pattern

[@GenaMarie]

It's because of my ends being so thin in the front area from the past hair loss that's growing out 😕 There simply isn't enough hair there at the bottom to clump well. While it's true that more water = more clumps, I'm still able to damp/wet style without stringiness on the rest of my hair.

[@juanitabridges6808]

Just purchased the tangle teazer comb (black and red) to see if I can get more defined curls without pulling so much with a brush. I plan to use my tangle teezer brush to general detangle and define with the comb. My stylist recently did this to my hair with finger coiling and my curls had so much definition.

[@Yoly60]

Just tried brush styling/coiling and I actually got clumps where I normally get stringy curls. Thank you

[@claireerodriguez3533]

I have tried to brush style my fine wavy hair but i struggle with sectioning my hair and then as i get closer to the top figuring out which sections i already brushed styled and which ones need to be styled!

[@katerwaller]

Love this video, thanks for sharing all of the info! You know it's interesting, I thought my curl pattern would be better (tighter) once I got rid of all of the damage from bleach/color/heat/straightening and in some ways it is better but its not tighter, its just more consistent. When I had color treated hair, I would get a lot of just wavy parts and these really tight barrel curls under at the nape of my neck. I don't get those tight barrels anymore but overall my pattern is more consistent - color made my hair coarser for sure and seem fuller. I think my hair is lighter now, softer and doesn't hold a style as long as it did when it was color treated because it is not coarse, but it's healthier and shinier and holds moisture so much better - it feels better too. I am post-menopausal so I do have to do some proactive things about shedding. I do brush style but with so little tension - basically I do Manes by Mel's ribbon curls with my wet brush applying practically no tension to my hair. It just smoothes and separates it into the size clumps I want. It's really fast. I don't get tons of perfect spirals but that is just not my curl pattern. I am a 2c with ringlets that start about 2-4 inches from my roots.

[@gasparinha]

I have really healthy hair (just not as much as a few years ago), and I only wash it twice a week. For me personally - and I suspect for a lot of people - brush styling twice a week is not hurting anything, as long as my hair is detangled. (I do use larger sections and shake them out, so the hair is under less tension anyway.) When I had mostly straight hair (first 43 years of my life), I could just brush it with my old pink Goody hairbrush, whenever I wanted. If only it were that easy!

[@malloryp8341]

I love brush styling but I have a looser curl pattern than yours (3a with 2c mixed in), and I find that raking with my fingers creates more volume for me. Brush styling helps with canopy frizz but is not as voluminous as it can be when I just rake with fingers.

[@isabelgelinas3946]

My hair is healthy but naturally frizzy and using a brush helps me for smoothing, but I use masks and repair products every week. I appreciate your videos 😊

[@ChantelleDreyer]

Thank you for the lovely video Gena.. It's been very informative 😊🎉❤

[@juliettebreton2907]

I’m really grateful for your videos. I struggled most of my life with my curly hair. Believe it was just ultra frizzy. And moving to Montreal where the water is so hard destroyed my curls. Now I know that i need clarifying shampoo and what type of products to use for my low porosity and fine hair !! Thank you so much :) Quick question, I have 2c-3a curls and find it really hard to have curls without using a brush and everything ( which take so long) it theres a way i can get those curls with sleeping on them ? While wearing a bonnet for example ? Thank you ❤

[@serenebeth]

What do you think about brush styling with a Denman brush on healthy hair? The bristles aren't quite as bendy as Wet brush or Tangle Teaser, but still plastic & do bend. The rounded edge & handle are perfect.... Your videos are always so full of great info. Thanks!

[@GenaMarie]

I don't think the Denman is as damaging as a boar bristle, but I find that it gives slightly more tension compared to the Tangle Teezer. The Deman has a rubber base which creates more tension compared to plastic which is more slippery. The tension gives good definition but could be slightly more damaging. However, if you're taking care of your curls and don't have severe bleach or heat damage, you may be fine.

[@marniegrosz7546]

I want to try brush styling. Thank you for such useful information.

[@deandrajohnson1973]

Yeah my hair is too fine for brush styling. It’s so easy for my hair to get high porosity. Since I’ve gone short I just finger comb and since my hair is finally low porosity I can keep it this way by not manipulating very much.

[@Hannah7Banana]

I use my denman brush, but when I brush style with tension it doesn’t spring up unless I scrunch it, but I still love the results I get afterwards. I also wrap tiny sections around the handle and un wind it which gives nice definition on the top layer. I’m trying to get my hair super healthy but now I’m addicted to brush styling 😭✋🏻

[@GenaMarie]

Haha same!

[@imajenn3006]

Some hair is just naturally higher in porosity too... That could be your case, you have the cuticle, it is just naturally higher in porosity.. unique snowflakes & all that😊

[@GenaMarie]

Yep!

[@debbystragier2154]

Brush styling is annoying for me because my hair sheds very easily and there’s so much hair everywhere. I think it’s most likely because of genetics, pcos and having hard water but trying to solve that is so expensive 😥

[@heatherstrang7298]

My hair is very fine curly and a bit thin , I don't brush style my hair anymore , it definitely did not work for me.

[@sandrabassett9923]

I tried it breaks my hair

[@chrischambers7407]

Do you brush curl before or after applying styling products?

[@cvonsutphen]

*Direction* . Brush styling has definitely taken me a while to perfect. I noticed that when I style towards my face rather than away, I get much better definition.

[@renata6488]

I have the tangle teaser brush and Felicia leatherwood brush in my collection for my brush styling , it’s the only two brushes that don’t pull or tug on my hair

[@tiernytassler3900]

Very informative, thank you so much!

[@mariraafat6529]

Love all of your videos, really really useful. If it is possible i need a daily routine i am working from home I don't need to style every day but a nned a daily healthy routine

[@makeupjunkie723]

When I don’t use brush styling I don’t get as good clumps. Raking is more stringy Praying hands is ok but not as good as the brush. But I’m so good about doing protein treatments bond treatments that hopefully it will be ok

[@cathyjones-hatcher]

I've learned so much from your many videos!- thank you! Have you ever used the Scrunch It Clump brushes ( small vs large)?

[@cathyjones-hatcher]

Still following you! Thank you for being so "easy to understand" and thorough! Have you experimented with SCRUNCHIT BRUSHES yet?

[@irmaradinson2320]

Low density here. I do brush style and then comb and scrunch and check I don't see any cowlicks

[@angiejones4711]

Hi Gena, really love your channel you mentioned that boar brushes can tug on the hair but vegan brushes are softer. I have a Denman D83 boar / nylon it makes great clamps and root lift would his mix still cause breakage I have fine curly hair x

[@ritabrandow1318]

May I ask you a question? I have 2 friends who have natural curly hair. They say they get it permed on bigger rods. Have you heard of that before. I have trouble doing my hair. Will that help or damage it thank you

[@deborahrusses4029]

Do you know about the Bounce Defining Brush/ What is your opinion?

[@BionAvastar3000]

Have you tried steph Mero's methods?

[@ritabrandow1318]

May I ask what is that. I am trying to learn how to do my hair. I really need help. Thank you

[@marksternweis4598]

Duel you dryer you hair

[@laitulip5026]

JESUS IS KING

[@laitulip5026]

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