Curly hair needs a whole seperate category of products in order to flourish. Mainstream shampoos, conditioners and styling products just don’t cut it for textured hair. The same rule also applies to brushes. Traditional brushes aren’t always the best for curly hair.
Two of the most prominent brands in the curly hair community include Denman and Tangle Teaser. Despite there being other curly hair brushes on the market, YouTube is filled with comparisons of specifically these two brands.
Although these videos can be interesting to watch, it’s important to keep in mind that the Denman brush and Tangle Teaser are designed to achieve two very different goals.
What was the Tangle Teaser designed for?
The Tangle Teaser was designed to help with detangling. Despite popular belief, its main goal was never to be used as a styling brush. The bristles on the Tangle Teaser are strategically positioned in a way to help you detangle faster and with less pulling.
What was the Denman brushes designed for?
The Denman brushes comes in a whole range of different shapes and sizes. The D7 and D9 are typically the most spoken about, so this article will focus on those two brushes. These brushes were designed to help you style your curls. They help to seperate the curls in a way that reduce frizz and allow each curl to pop.
Can you use them interchangeably?
The Tangle Teaser can be used to style your curls. Depending on your hair type and thickness, you might not get as good results you would with the Denman brush.
The Denman brush cannot be used to detangle.
What’s best for you?
The best option for you depends on your goals. If definition is a priority for you, the Denman brush is the way to go. If knots is a struggle, the Tangle Teaser is a better option.
You might want to start with the Tangle Teaser and see if it will work well to style your hair type as well as detangle. Based off your results, you can then assess if you would like to go one step further and get the Denman brush as well.
To sum it up
The Tangle Teaser does a great job at detangling and an alright job at styling (dependent on hair type).
The Denman brush does an amazing job at defining and styling, but generally a poor job at detangling.
Note: this article compares D7 and D9 to the Tangle Teaser. It does not reflect the entire Denman collection.
