Hair Brushes And Combs

Combs are usually used for short hair and brushes for longer hair although there is no hard and fast rule and either can be used. A hairbrush can stimulate circulation in the scalp as well as removing dead loose hair. We lose 100 hairs every day, which does seem a lot but amazingly the scalp is able to replace these at the same rate they are lost to maintain normal volume. The only exception to this is in the case of alopecia or hair loss when the volume cannot be maintained in this way and the hair starts to thin. Androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness) is the most common form of hair loss treatment Melbourne in men. It affects 73% of men and 57% of women aged 80 years or over.

Combs are some of the oldest tools found by archaeologists. They have been found in Persia (Iran) and dated to around 5000BC. Hairbrushes came along much later with the first modern hairbrush patented by Hugh Rock in 1854. Hairbrushes come in a huge range of sizes and styles to suit different hair types and styling needs. For detangling hair a flat brush is generally used, often after the hair is washed or after sleeping. 

There are some specialty brushes available that are designed to be used on wet hair too for after washing or swimming with perfect result. Using a normal brush on wet hair can cause the hair to stretch and break and it can be difficult to detangle. A round brush is one shaped like a long thin barrel. They are used particularly for styling hair and curling styles using a blow dryer. To straighten hair a paddle brush is used. This type of brush is also good for long hair and to reduce the problem of hard to manage, fly-away hair.

Most modern hairbrushes are made of plastic with plastic and/or metal bristles but there are some brushes still made with wooden handles. Rosewood, Beech and Ebony wood are all commonly used to make hairbrushes being nice timbers to handle. Traditional material for the bristles was horsehair or boar bristle which made very soft brushes not so well suited to modern styling demands.

Combs are also commonly made of plastic or metal today but in the past wood, tortoiseshell and ivory were commonly used. The timber used for combs is usually cherry, boxwood or other timbers that are fine grained, easy to handle and can be tooled and polished. Ivory and tortoiseshell combs are now museum pieces and are no longer available to buy due to a ban on the hunting of elephants for ivory and concerns about the sustainability of the hunting of tortoises. Modern combs are available in a range of sizes with different widths of teeth depending on the styling to be done and personal preference.