Evelyn of NaturallyCurly.com reviews the Denman Brush:
Have you tried the Denman? What was your experience?
Evelyn of NaturallyCurly.com reviews the Denman Brush:
Have you tried the Denman? What was your experience?
© 2023 Curly Nikki.
I LOVE the Denman! Like Peggy H, I also follow the Tightly Curly method (with deep conditioners when possible), and the key to successfully using the Denman (and NOT losing lots of hair in the process and breaking your strands) is to use it with soaking wet hair that's filled with a slippery conditioner (Aussie Moist, TRESemme, Aveeno, etc.). Also, when you use it, go gently and pinch above the section you're coming. It'll help prevent unnecessary stretching and breakage.
This video had me ROFL!!!!!
I won't be going with a denman; I could just hear the snappage!
I use an Denman and never use a wide tooth comb anymore. I follow Teri La Flesh's tightly curly method for conditioning and styling. I find it very easy to comb through and I lose less hair than when I was combing. However, I follow Teri's detangling and styling method from her video (and book) exactly. That makes a big difference in hair lose, speed and ease of use and curl definition. The first time it took me an hour to do my whole head-start to finish. The second time it took me 30 minutes. I use Redkin All Soft shampoo and condition. Pricier than the brands Teri recommends but much better results. The key to combing is that the hair must be slippery. My hair is 11 inches long from crown to slightly below shoulder and 9 inches from nape to below shoulder. I have combination hair with types 3b and 3c throughout my head with 4a around my temple hairline area.
HAHAHAAAA this video rools! The thought of brushing my hair makes me sick to my stomach! BUT…I'm not going to knock it before I try it. I'll report back.
I love my Denman. It gives me great curl definition that I cannot get with a wide tooth comb. I also cringed when she went over her ends. She should have taken her time and worked tangles out instead of ripping them.
I stopped using my D41 as I noticed an increased amount of hole shaped strand splits in my hair over a month period of Denman/con detangling which never had before. I think it is too harsh for my fragile coily 4b hair so it's confined to the cabinet for life.
I LoVe my Denman!!!!! I have an unmodified D4 and I mainly use it to apply product for wash n gos. I never use it just to detangle and if I do, I comb through it first in the shower with a wide tooth comb and loads of conditioner.
Back to the wash n go…without the Denman, my hair would be a hot mess. Basically, I wash and detangle in the shower with the wide tooth comb. Then I separate my hair into sections to apply KCCC and Knot Today. I first rake through Knot Today on a small section with my fingers and then brush through that section with the Denman. It gets my hair really smooth and detangled. Then I rake through KCCC with my fingers. I get perfect clumpy curls. Love it!!! I also use my Denman when I flat iron and it works great.
I love my Denman! I have the D41 with wider spaces between the bristles…its the model I would recommend instead of the one she used in the video. I use it for smoothing sections of damp hair (with leave-in and styler) as I do my twists for a smoother looking twist-out.
i didnt read the comments before i posted but i dont like the denman brush at all! I lose too much hair.
I use a Denman to detangle and I love it. I finger comb first, then detangle with my Denman with wet/condition-saturated hair. I have 4b hair.
I agree with TC. I have used the Denman and a Goody knock-off and I love my Goody knock-off better because the teeth are more widely placed. I have THICK 4A/4B w/a sprinkle of 3C hair and I do a modified Tightly Curly method (I twist after brushing a lot of conditioner through instead of defining every curl). I love my Denman-esque brush SO much more than a wide-tooth comb. And my fingers get stuck, so that's a no-go! Long live my Denman-style brush. My suggestions if you are having trouble are to get a Denman with bristles that are further apart and to use way more leave-in than you think you need (I use HE Dangerously Straight). Happy detangling!
I guess some of it depends on the texture and density of hair. I've used the Denman (and the Goody knock-off) on my 3c/4a hair and my daughter's 3b/c hair with great results. It does encourage shrinkage so I don't use it for wash-and-go's, but for truly detangling, nothing works better for us. With soaking wet hair and conditioner, it glides smoothly through both of our heads and is also great on our damp hair for smoothing sections prior to twisting. I tried modifying it once, and that made it rip out my hair, oddly enough, so I use it as-is. Love it!
I use to use the denman when my hair was a bit shorter but now that it's longer, it tangles more easily and I tend to grab my shower comb. It's great to smooth out the hair before twisting sections but I don't normally go to it for detangling. I've modified it as well. I think I'd prefer to try the larger paddle brush (D83) and see how that goes.
I have never understood why so many people use this denman brush! It looks like it would just rip your hair to shreds so why keep trying it/modifying it?
I have the denman d83 (large paddle brush) and I LOVE IT!!! I MEAN I REALLY REALLY LOVE IT!
I learned about the d83 from the Nappturality site about 6 or 7 years ago and at the time I had about 12 inches of all natural super tangled hair (4b)! Before I heard about the d83 it used to take 3 or 4 separate detangling sessions with inferior wide tooth combs for about an hour to detangle! This brush cut my detangling time to 10 minutes tops and there was barely any hair lost at all (like a quarter sized loose ball). With conditioner loaded, I work the ends a little and then just like magic I'm able to pass the brush from root to tip without any rippin or tearin 🙂
I still have the same brush after all these years and I honestly can't live without it! It has been loaned out to friends when my hair was shorter but as soon as I had enough length to need it, I tracked it down and confiscated it! It is truly a God send!
Try it! Trust me it's great! You can find it on amazon for less than $20. I have referred several friends who were transitioning or all natural and they all love it!
As mentioned earlier, I finger detangle, then use a shower comb, and finally use my modified denman. All of this while I have my conditioner in my hair. I have very few hairs in my brush, and they are actually shed hairs, because I can still see the bulb on them. I've had no problems with this routine.
I use a Deman brush and I like it. I use it after finger combing. I don't yank it through I try to be very gentle with my hair.
Her face is priceless and the video is hilarious!!! But, like someone else said above, don't understand why she didn't go through with the wide tooth comb first. Even if she did it before DC, I thought she would have gone through each twist again before using the Denman. And then, the way she went at those ends?!? I was wincing!!! I have 3a/3b hair, so I can't say that I know what it's like to detangle tight curls, but washing my hair used to be a 2 hour struggle. The three biggest things that helped me were: 1. ALWAYS using a leave-in after the shower routine and combing through the leave-in with a wide tooth comb; 2. Never re-wetting with water alone. That was MAJOR and learned from a Ouidad stylist a few years ago! When I started using Infusium 23 instead of water to rewet/refresh during the week, I didn't get those knots at the nape of my neck anymore. However, I use the kimmaytube's leave-in mixed with filtered water in a spray bottle instead of Infusium now.; 3. Finger comb under a stream of water learned from our very own CurlyNikki. I just discovered this site and this whole new world of internet information on natural hair this year after being natural for about 10 years. I would have never thought to let the water run through my hair after I applied my conditioner as I would have thought it would rinse it out, not make the hair even more slippery. The finger combing first also seems to be helping reduce the amount of hair I'm losing during my detangling session because, as I think has been pointed out, your fingers feel knots more than your comb and you are able to gently work them out whereas you might rip through them without even knowing you hit one if using your comb. Anyway, if I were ever to introduce the Denman brush, it would definitely be after the finger and wide tooth combing and it would be under a stream of water with a daily conditioner layered over my deep conditioner. That's a Ouidad technique that my natural 4a sister told me to try. She suggested that the technique, not Ouidad's expensive tail deep treatment, was what would garner results. And, I must say I agree. I've used her technique with my CD Tui Hair Smoothie and DevaCare One as the "conditioning wash" after 1 hour under heat and a 15 minute cool off and my hair always comes out very moisturized, shiny and tangle free afterwards. I still wanted to try the Ouidad Deep Treatment and got it on sale. I used it once and now it's under the sink because my CD Tui Hair Smoothie worked far better!! I will eventually use the Ouidad, but will add olive oil, castor oil and honey because those really seem to boost the effectiveness of any deep conditioner (I'm using JessiCurl now after having my inner PJ stoked by Nikki. Plus, it's cheaper than CD!!).
Shelli
I think the Denman is so overrated. I had a Goody Ouchless brush and it was amazing! It detangled my hair so well and I used it for scalp massages (it felt like heaven). But it broke and I couldn't find the same brush anywhere so I bought a Denman which ripped my hair out! I've basically wasted £ on a brush I can't use. I'm currently using a shower comb which I'd highly recommend.
I've used it and I still use it occasionally. I mean before I modified it, it seemed like I was ripping alot of my hair out. After I modified it, not so much. Right now I trying to go super easy on the detangling process, my hair doesn't seem to like it much.
I have a denman that I got from Sally's. When I bought it I was just getting into the process of transitioning. My hair was to the middle of my back, so even with 5mths of new growth, it was really difficult to get the brush through my hair. I modified it, and still got the same results, however I attributed that to the fact that my hair was still bone straight at the ends.
Now that I'm completely natural, I think I may pull it out and use it the next time I detangle my hair. Just to see if there's a difference now.
I have 4a/4b hair and i love the denman for detangling. However, i have modified it and i do start by lightly brushing the ends. It doesn't take long at all and i lose very little hair. I found that my wide tooth comb was not thoroughly detangling.
oops! Did I say D40?? I meant D41…that's my model
The Denman is a blowdry brush and I use it as such. I also flat iron with it. I'm too scared to use it to detangle. I'm a whimp. haha!
I love my Denman brush! It detangles well and it clumps my curls 🙂 That's probably because I have the Denman D40 that comes with widely spaced rows made specifically for "afro-textured hair" I believe that's what it said on the box. So there's no need to waste money on a model with extra bristles when you can just get the D40. That brush in the video would
I read somewhere to take a section of the combs out of the brush. I tried that but still seemed pull my hair out. My texture hates that brush and I didn't like the way it clumped my hair together. I will stick to my wide tooth comb.I need to just throw the denman away. sweetenchantments.net
I don't really understand the comments people have about this brush, saying use it for the third round of detangling etc. How many times are people going over their hair to detangle? It seems like an awful lot of work (and potential damage) to go over the hair this many times. Insight on this?
I like my Denman but I only use ut in the shower with water puring down on the section that I am detangling.
i lost my denman 🙁
i think i heard some strands snap while using it once =/…i loved the curls i got, but the shrinkage was crazy…i mainly finger detangle, and if i ever replace the denman, it will probably be with a knock-off goody brush
I love my denman! Never detangle with the denman first. I first detangle with my shower comb and with plenty of conditioner from ends to root….and then the same with the denman. I have thick, coarse hair and still haven't problems with losing any hair.
LMAO at her initial facial expression….glad to see someone with a texture similar to mine try this brush out…I'm still on the fence (but a little more open to the idea)after watching this
Bought a Denman fairly early in my natural journey. Didn't like it in the beginning……at ALL! Went back to the Denman a few months ago with extremely different results. I love it now. I've also noticed that it makes my curls pop a little more.
Regarding her question at the end: Let's assume she only detangles on wash days. If that's the case, is that really a lot of hair??? I wouldn't think so considering that I would easily get that and probably more on a daily basis when I was relaxed.
HILARIOUS VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ripped my hair out. Looked at these brushes for years and thought they'd rip hair out, but got persuaded by the hair forums that it would work. Nope. Absolutely ripped and damaged my hair. Never again. Always trust your instincts 🙂
Umm, is it just me but does pulling the brush through the ends of tangled hair with one or two forceful passes as she is doing make anyone else cringe. I thought most people knew to lightly brush through the ends with feathery strokes until the tangles are out… I have really fine hair and my ends pop off if you look at them wrong, so maybe it is just me.
Anyway, very entertaining review,I'm off to subscribe.
hahaha the question on the end is soo true. She's funny!
this video was HILARIOUS!
in other news, not ever using a Denman brush. no way… no how!
i followed the video you posted to modify my denman as soon as i opened the package. i LOVE it! i detangle w/my fingers first, then use a comb, and follow up w/the denman. it feels like i had never detangled my hair properly before i used it.
I like my Denman a lot. However, I can only use it as the third step. First, I use my fingers to smooth my hair, then I use the FABULOUS shower comb from Sallys. I do a 3-step detangle, because it makes my hair super easy to style. If I ever got aamnesia and used the Denman first, my hair would rip out.
I had the same experience as MommieDearest, and I had modified my brush. I was so sad that I lost so much hair, even with a lot of conditioner with olive oil added to it for extra slip. I just think my hair is too fragile/fine for it. I'll stick with my widetooth comb.
I love my denman but I had to modify it because it was taking a lot of my hair out. The brush I have had 5 rows, so I took out rows 2 and 4 out. Now its perfect!
missdeeplyrooted.blogspot.com
I tried the Denman. I really wanted to like it, but it simply ripped my hair. No matter how small of a section I tried to brush, or how loaded down my hair was with conditioner, the Denman just ripped through it. I'll stick to using my fingers and a wide-tooth comb.