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The hairbrush is an essential grooming tool that everyone owns. We probably don’t realize how important it is to our daily lives or the history behind it that has made it so. This is a brief history of hairbrushes and how they are still relevant today. Contributed by Fuller Brush.
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The Importance of the Hairbrush Through Time
The hairbrush is an essential grooming tool that everyone owns. We probably don’t realize how important it is to our daily lives or the history behind it that has made it so. This is a brief history of hairbrushes and how they are still relevant today:
Ancient Times The hairbrush appears to have evolved from paint brushes made from animal quills used up to 2.5 million years ago. Leaf.tv has found that ancient Egyptian tombs have been found with combs, brushes, and mirrors, meaning the ancient Egyptians and Romans used them to style their hair. Viking men also used combs to care for their long hair. This is perhaps what set the way for our current culture of taking good care of our hair and using products to style it. Spaweek says that many early brushes were made from animal hair and materials such as bone or ivory. Even today, boar bristles are amongst the best brushes on the market and remain popular. To many at these times, brushes were still a luxury item only possessed by the very rich. They would often be given as wedding presents or gifts from a husband to a wife. This may seem a little strange to us today when we can buy a hairbrush from a local store, but even now there are still those who appreciate luxury hair care products as gifts.
18thto 20thCentury Some of the first mass produced hairbrushes that are similar to the modern versions were introduced in 1777 by William Kent. They were based upon the concept used since ancient times and had bristles hand stitched onto the handle, which took as many as 12 people to complete one brush. Kent Brushes are still a popular name brand selling brushes today. Other brands such as Mason Pearson also made developments throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and are also still around today.
Modern Day While some of these early concepts still exist in our brushes today, modern enhancements have shaped and improved them. Many contain nylon bristles, for instance, a substance that wasn’t invented until 1935 and wasn’t sold until 1940 according to Mentalfloss. In the 21st century, modern innovations such as ionic brushes have been improving hair care further. These Hairbrushes are heated electronically to make hair softer and prevent frizz, which has been a lifesaver for many people who have difficulty managing their frizzy hair. It is now also common for us to dry out hair with hair dryers, use unnatural chemicals and products in our hair, and wash our hair more often. These do work to some degree, but many argue that they actually damage our hair by removing essential oils. This is why we have ionic brushes and similar inventions to make our hair easier to manage and looking good.
Conclusion, Sort Of There are some ancient customs that are still useful in hair care and some modern inventions that have solved ages old problems. They have all gone into keeping our hair healthy and looking good.
