The history of hair brushes do not have a definite inception date. The one thing that is known is that they were all made from natural materials. Handles were formed from wood, bronze or copper. The bristles could be anything stiff. Animal hairs, such as wild boar or horse, were rigid enough for brushing. Porcupine quills were even stiffer. Shards of sea shells, stones and bone could be sized to untangle a snarl or knot. One theory is that the paint brush used for millions of years was slowly transformed into a hair brush. When someone decided to drill holes in a handle and somehow add bristles that stayed, is still unclear.

Portraits and sculptures of ancient Greeks and Romans showed tidy, braided or styled hair. Unearthing Egyptian tombs revealed hair brushes along with combs and mirrors. Their carvings and paintings on walls and pyramids also showed neatly kept hair or wigs. To this we assumed was due to some style of a hair brush. In ancient times, grooming was necessary to reduce the amount of head lice. Brushing hair or producing wigs to look refined was a luxury only afforded by the prominent people of that time.

As society grew and became more civilized, the need for a hair brush was more for aesthetics, rather than for general grooming, but it still remained in favor for the wealthy. Hair brushes were commonly given to new brides and new mothers. They were a popular gift for a husband to give a wife. An ornately designed set that contained a hair brush, a comb and a mirror were enjoyed.

Eventually the demand for hair brushes increased. William Kent founded the first hair brush manufacturer, Kent Brushes, in 1777 in Great Britain. It took as many as 12 people to complete one hair brush. The bristles were hand stitched. They still remain one of the oldest companies in Great Britain. Another Englishman invented the automatic brush boring machine in 1885. This way more brushes could be manufactured at a faster rate. Mason Pearson also created a pneumatic rubber cushioned brush that same year. This style still remains popular.
 
Hair Brushes in the United States

The United States had their fair share of hair brush innovators. Hugh Rock was the first to patent a hair brush design. He was known to create beautiful gift sets with metal handled brushes with matching combs and mirrors. Quite often they had scalloped edges to add to their beauty. Samuel Firey put in a patent in 1870 for his elastic wire teeth. He combined them with natural bristles to get the best of both worlds. In 1898, a patent for synthetic bristles was presented by Lyda Newman. She also created detachable handles and air chambers for ventilation. These air chambers, known today as vented brushes, still work well for today’s hair blow drying society.

In 1906, Alfred Fuller shared the hair brush by selling door to door. He created a better brush and created his Fuller Brush Company. His goal was to make a long lasting brush that was affordable by all. As his company grew, his products grew to keep up with the modern world.

Modern Hair Brush

Now hair brushes are in every home and thankfully they are not just for the wealthy any longer. Handles are still made by wood, but plastic ones are light weight and less expensive. Nylon bristles, both with and without tiny balls on the end, are manufactured today. Hair brushes can be found in all sizes, shapes and colors today and many at affordable prices. They are available for different uses, for example, everyday brushing, styling and to be used with blow dryers.

The Future of Hair Brushes

Today there are an enormous variety of hair brush types available. There are flat brushes, round, half round, and vented to name just a few as well as brushes made for specific hair types, such as straight, wavy or curly.  Most hair brush companies design a new brush for each of these specific functionalities. For the average person and even professional hair stylists and salon owners this can be a confusing and expensive endeavor. So we came up with a unique idea, create hair brushes that will work great for the maximum number of these different functionalities and hair types in each brush. That is why Brigitte’s Brushes are designed with tips and bristles in the same brush, which allow them to work well with all types of hair including wet, dry, and tangled hair. The history of the hair brush may not be well known, but the future seems crystal clear, check out one of our brushes and experience the future.

This article first appeared on Brigitte's Brushes

The barbershop has been an important institution in the African-American community for generations. But what many don’t know is that up until about the Reconstruction Era, pretty much all barbers in the United States — whether they cut the hair of white men or black men — were African-American, and that barbering provided many black men a good enough living to enter the upper middle class.

In this podcast the interviewer talks to historian Douglas Bristol about his book recounting this lost part of American male history. It’s called Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom.  They discuss the rise of the black barber in slaveholding states in the South, the influence black barbers had in the white community, and how black barbers paved the way for the modern barbershop. They  also discuss the factors that led to the segregation of the barbershop and why it maintained a stronger allegiance among black men compared to their white counterparts.
 
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Fall preview: Athleisure, texture, fringe and hair colour trends
With the huge prevalence of athletic wear, often dubbed “athleisure,” everywhere, more women (and, yes, men too) want hair that encapsulates the fitness lifestyle by being more natural and undone.
 
“Absolutely!” echoes Joey Marchese, Essential Looks Artist for Schwarzkopf Professional and senior stylist at bob + paige salon in Toronto. “The idea is that you’re coming back from the gym or your yoga class, so your hair is not too perfect or too shiny. For fall 2016, it’s all about matte and gritty-looking textures.”
 
According to Marchese, more aggressive, longer pieces of hair and a contrast between long and short will be components of these street-style looks. “There’s a little bit of the mullet coming back. ”The idea here is that hair is super-easy and super-fast to style, and that clients are willing to play more with their natural texture.
 
According to Marchese, “Brightly coloured fringes are also going to be huge this fall, particularly with green and yellow tones for some brightness that contrasts with darker hair. The goal of this fringe is to have a section of your hair that is more “done,” blow-dried and very well cut, while the rest of the hair stays more natural.”
 
And in terms of anti-establishment colour trends, we’re moving away from greyish pastels towards greenish tones. “I’m seeing a lot more of these browns infused with greens on the street where our salon is located,” says Marchese.
 
Ready?  Now it’s your turn to play the street angle!
 
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