Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Beauty
    2. Hair

    The way you're brushing your hair could be ruining it

    According to experts, you're doing it wrong

    Natalie Lukaitis's avatar
    By Natalie Lukaitis
    Published 1 November 2016 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    brushing your hair wrong
    (Image credit: Mood Board/REX/Shutterstock)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    According to experts, you're doing it wrong

    You can douse your hair in the best hair masks available, splurge on the best shampoo and book yourself in for an Olaplex hair treatment on the reg. But, if you're not looking after it the right way, chances are, it won't behave. Especially if you're doing something bad to it on a frequent basis. Like brushing your hair wrong.

    Yes, there is a particular way we should be brushing our hair and most of us aren't doing it right.

    The first mistake is brushing it when it's wet. However, this only applies to straight hair. When your hair is wet, it's in its most vulnerable state. So when you brush it, you stretch the individual hair shafts, which can cause irreversible damage to the ends. This is where The Wet Brush, £11.99, Boots comes into the picture. Their IntelliFlex® bristles bounce back to their original form after each stroke, eliminating all the hair breakage.

    On the other hand, if you have curly hair, you shouldn't brush it when it's dry. Instead, you should use your fingers to comb through.

    You may like
    • selection of the best pre-shampoo treatments tested by Marie Claire UK If Your Hair Still Feels Lacklustre No Matter What You Try, a Pre-Shampoo Treatment Could Be What’s Missing
    • Hair loss, normal hair shedding How Much Hair Loss is Normal—and is the Beauty Industry Capitalising on Our Fears?
    • Heatwave hair loss and seasonal hair shedding Heatwave Hair Shedding Is Real—Here’s How a Dermatologist Recommends Protecting Your Hair and Scalp

    But perhaps the biggest mistake we make is not brushing it often enough. Our hair has a lifespan of approximately 7 years. And we lose around 120 hairs a day. But, if you don't brush your hair enough, these hairs won't loosen out to make way for new hair. The best brushes for this are flat, soft, bristle brushes. Try and wash with a fortifying shampoo, too - find your perfect one here.

    So the next time you question when, where or whether you should brush your hair. Remember these simple rules.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
    Natalie Lukaitis
    Natalie Lukaitis
    Social Links Navigation
    Read more
    selection of the best pre-shampoo treatments tested by Marie Claire UK
    Hair If Your Hair Still Feels Lacklustre No Matter What You Try, a Pre-Shampoo Treatment Could Be What’s Missing
    Hair loss, normal hair shedding
    Hair How Much Hair Loss is Normal—and is the Beauty Industry Capitalising on Our Fears?
     
     
    Heatwave hair loss and seasonal hair shedding
    Hair Heatwave Hair Shedding Is Real—Here’s How a Dermatologist Recommends Protecting Your Hair and Scalp
    best hair repair masks tested by Marie Claire UK
    Hair My Hair Is Dry and Lacklustre After Summer—Of All the Repair Masks I’ve Tried, These Are the Ones I Recommend
     
     
    Latest in Hair
    Grey Blending hair colour trend
    Hair Grey Blending Is Changing the Way We Colour Our Hair—Here’s Everything You Need to Know
    3 Hair devices steaming
    Hair Thermal Brush, Hair Waver, or Flat Iron? Which Wavytalk Styler Is Right for You?
     
     
    Hair Loss & Gut Health
    Hair I Spent Years Trying to Fix My Hair Loss—Until I Started Investigating My Gut Health
    Dandruff vs Dry Scalp
    Hair Flaky Scalps—How to Decode Dandruff From Dryness and the Best Treatments For Both
     
     
    Latest in News
    New Beauty Launches: Burberry Beauty / Mes Beauty / rhute / Jo Loves / Ziip Beauty
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Jennifer Lawrence’s Unexpected Haircare Launch, Burberry’s Exquisite New Perfumes and Jo Loves Sparks Festive Joy
    New Beauty Launches: Amouage, Haus Labs, XERF
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Is XERF Worth the Hype? Plus, Amouage’s New Body Collection & The Beauty Beat Returns
     
     
    Jeans And Jackets
    Shopping Celine Dion, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sarah Pidgeon Swear by This Trophy Jacket-and-Jeans Formula for Instant Fashion Confidence
    Next
    Shopping NEXT’s Autumn/Winter 2026 Collection Has Everything We Love About Getting Dressed in the Colder Months
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.