Boar Bristle Brush

A boar bristle brush can be one of the best ways to keep your hair healthy, shiny and full of body without adding any chemicals or other unnatural products to it.

As the name suggests, the bristles of this brush are made from the hair of wild pigs, which is wiry and tough but natural.  Hairbrushes which are made from synthetic substances, which usually means some kind of plastic, don’t absorb any of the hair’s natural oils, and therefore cannot distribute them through the hair.  Boar bristle brushes do assist with the process of distributing the oils, which is what keeps the hair shiny and natural looking.

The bristles of boar bristle brushes are usually quite densely packed, so they are not ideal for anyone with very knotty or thick hair, as the bristles will tend to get caught in the knots.  However, anybody with fine to normal, or even somewhat thick hair, can benefit from their use.  Also, anyone with very curly hair may have trouble with this kind of brush, as the bristles are relatively soft compared to metal or plastic brushes, and they are likely to simple skip over curly hair without brushing it effectively.  Although a boar bristle brush can be used on drier hair, normal to oily hair will benefit the most from its use, as the brush can distribute the oils effectively through the hair and reach the normally dry tips to make them healthy again.

You can buy boar bristle brushes in any number of shapes and sizes, from children’s through to adults, and they come in square, round, oval and cylindrical shapes.  In keeping with their natural feel, the handles are usually made of some kind of wood, although you can also buy them with plastic handles.  The bristles themselves may be white, brown or black, or any combination of these colors.

If you buy a boar bristle brush, you need to be careful to clean it well.  Because of the densely packed bristles and the natural substances which tends to collect more dirt and oil from the hair than regular brushes, you need to make sure the brush is kept clean at all times, otherwise you’ll simply be moving dirt and oil around your head from one brushing to the next.  Applying and rubbing in a little bit of shampoo and rinsing it thoroughly is a good way to clean these brushes, as is running the teeth of a fine comb through the bristles.  Remember to let the brush dry well before using it again, so it doesn’t simply pick up more dirt which will stick to it when wet.

If you really like your boar bristle brush, you may want to consider moving towards a no-shampoo hair treatment program.  Because these brushes are so effective at removing dirt and oil from the hair, some people advocate using them as the primary means of keeping your hair and scalp clean.  While this is not for everyone, it might be something you want to try if you’re feeling adventurous.