I Stopped Brushing My Hair

I remember as a teenager brushing (and brushing and brushing) my hair, willing it to be the shiny straight hair from shampoo commercials. Not surprisingly, it didn’t work.

While I have pretty consistently had long hair for most of my life, there were a couple disastrous episodes of short hair thrown in. I spent years dependent on hair dryers and flat irons. And then I had an epiphany in the form of the most amazing haircut of my life when the hairdresser informed me I had wavy hair.

Whaat?!

Yep my hair with lots of body could actually be wavy if I learned to take care of it correctly. Which all lead to me not brushing my hair (mostly).

Even if you don’t have wavy hair, over brushing your hair can damage it. It’s one of those things where apparently less is more.

Instead of brushing most days, I’m using a lot more conditioner. Like, a lot more. I also don’t shampoo it every day. Or every other day. But my shampooing habits are a topic for another day. Gentle shampoo, and lots of conditioner. For me that’s conditioner in the shower and then some extra leave in curl enhancing conditioner when my hair is almost dry.

Letting my hair air dry brings out the curls the best. Sometimes it’s really hard not to mess with it when it’s drying. When it’s damp but almost dry I go back and put in some curling enhancing mousse or gel. Then I style it with my fingers, apply some hairspray, and I’m done.

Now, because I have bangs I do brush and straighten them.

The main brushing my hair gets is before I shampoo it. That’s it!

Want to give not brushing your hair a try? Start with a weekend when you don’t have a lot of social obligations. There is a learning curve to not brushing your hair. And get an awesome haircut. This really was the key for me. Lots of long layers lets my waves/curls do their thing best.