The Denman brush* is like the Holy Grail to many women with coily/kinky*/curly hair. It’s the tool that gets the job done, the curls defined or the product evenly distributed.
It’s the magic wand, the frizz destroyer, the…OK, let me calm down a moment. It’s a brush for goodness sake!! A darned brush that most naturals either have in their bathroom or, at the least, heard of.
Put it this way: If there was a kit to be given out to every new natural, it would be front and center with a spray bottle, bobby pins*, carrier oil, essential oils* and a satin bonnet*. Yea, it’s that revered by naturals!
What is it?
The Denman traditional styling brush D3 is a 7-row medium brush. Features an anti-static rubber pad with close-set nylon pins that provide maximum grip and control during blow drying.
There are slight variations (Denman has one brush with 5 rows of pins and another with 9 rows of pins) but the D3 is the most popular and the only one any natural I personally know has.
It’s sold at most beauty supply stores but there are many knock-offs and I’ve heard they work just as well as the real thing. Despite its overwhelming popularity, there are many naturals who have a love/hate relationship with the brush for two reasons:
- It can yank the heck out of your hair and you could end up with tons of broken pieces in the brush.
- It creates a lot of frizz.
I’m one of the many who has a love/hate relationship with it. I haven’t used mine in a year and it sits in my bathroom closet collecting dust and being neglected. I didn’t like how it handled my hair, it gripped a little too much for my taste so I stopped using it so I went cold-turkey.
I know many still love it and since it’s still so popular I wasn’t too surprised when I came across this video by AGrlCanMAC about altering it and making it gentler to natural hair.
To modify your Denman brush*, essentially all you have to do is remove a few rows (every other one) and doing this reduces the density of the bristles making it easier to detangle your natural hair with.
Aha! That’s all I had to do? Well, AGrlCanMAC did this with a knock-off brand and mentioned that she thought it would be slightly harder to dismantle a real Denman brush.
Well, worry not Naturals because I’m here to dispel that notion. I did exactly what she prescribed with my real Denman brush with relative ease and using the same process.
i have fine hair and i hate it! even with taking out a couple rows it still takes my hair out
AMEN TO THAT !! I have fine soft delicate hair, too. I tried 2 styles of those things & modified both of them by removing rows & teeth. NO WAY JOSE. I named them THE SHREDDER & THE RIPPER & put them away. May as well use my John Deere lawnmower or a weed whacker !! I really don’t need one because my 4ab hair is easy to detangle with a Magic Star Rake wide tooth comb,Tangle Teezer, or Ouidad Double Detangler & for curl definition KinkyCurly & Knot Today are the bomb.com
My kinks love it!
Love love love it! Takes out the kinks but never my hair.
That’s perfect.
best!
Love it!! Makes my curls turn out pretty
The Absolute best for Natural HAIR!
Well worth the $15 dollars.
Love it…Love it…Love it!!!
Never had one I detangle with three things only…. 1st my hands for natural styling( twisting, washing, detangling) 2nd my conair vented brush only for detangling if needed… 3rd i purchased a brown small detangling tool from sallys for $1… my mom recommended i believe from naturalme4c on yt I use this only when doing the chase method during flat ironing which I do every 8-12weeks 😉
Where can I buy one? I have looked at Sally, Wal-Mart and Walgreen.
I’ve heard great things the knock offs so that may be a viable option.
I have a knock off and it works great for my curls.
I swear by it!
Sally has a knock off version but still works just as well…normally on the very bottom shelf of the combs and brushes.
Love it!
I tried it once. No bueno. A few years went by and I revisited it. Still no bueno.
Have you tried taking a few rows of pins out?
Love my Denman! No complaints except the bristles tend to slide out when brushing wet hair.
I found one better.
I went to Sally’s & paid about about $20. Later I found a Denman brush for $4 at a local hair store. Smh
Don’t you just hate that?
@ Mwila Kamombo-Williams I bought mine at Sally, they might have ran out?
I really like mine I use it to put my hair in a ponytail!
Where I get it at I love to try
I like it but I hate the shrinkage
Love it for my daughters high shrinkage coily hair
I love mine!
I only use my fingers.
I like using it on my daughter thick wavy mans! Works for me!!
Love this brush
Haven’t used it yet
Haven’t found one yet, are paddle brushes the same as these?
I have one love it! !!!
Love it on relaxed hair
I hate it !! it pulls out my hair I rather use a wide tooth comb
❤
I did
never had one before
Love it. It goes through my curls like butter lol
I love my denman.!!
Tackles my knots like no other.
I don’t care for it. I use wide tooth combs and finger detangling
lol i have being using this brush for yrs and had no idea i could remove the teeths
There is a Denman brush with less row now! I saw it at Sally’s beauty supply.
Good to know and thanks for sharing the news!
Loooovvveeee it! It works miracles!!!
It gets the hair really soft and straight. It works wonders on all hair types but Especially long thick hair!
best thing i buy for me hair
i bought 3 of these bad boys, 1 for home. 1 for the car, 1 for my lace units.
Love it!!! Helps to detangle my hair when I’m in the shower.
Where can I find one? I’ve been looking everywhere for this brush.
Sally’s Beauty Supply have them if it’s in an area near you.
It works so great on my daughter’s hair for detangling.
Love it.
I use a knockoff and like it; great curl definition. I just can’t pay $10+ for a brush….
Lol I feel like that’s was a given. I’ve been doing that for ages
I DON’T even own a brush, I just use my finger’s! Afraid of the pulling it will do!
Love it. As long as I do what I am suppose to do and keep my hair moisturize my hair loves it. When my ends are tangling a lot that is a sign I am doing something wrong not the Denman brush.
Love it my favorite hair tool.
they’re ok but, I love kent combs seamless and durable.
A must have!
Love! Great for curly or wavy hair to define definition!
I LOVE THIS BRUSH!! I can detangle with ease and define my girls
*Curls
I love the way it defines my curls. You have to use a lot of conditioner to glide the brush through your hair.
They have them at Walmart now too that’s where I got mine for about 5 dollars
Never used it
Love it and when its missing my daughter has it.
Owned it. . Love it.
I’ve tried it. It is not my friend.
Damaging if ur hair isn’t covered in a silky product.
Love it when I want by curls to clump together
Love it. Got mines from sallys
Sometimes I would remove a row or two to create a bigger gap to be more gentle on my hair
I love it. No modifications needed.
Own one. Loved it. Just remember rubber and oil don’t mix. Had to stop using oil on my hair and buy another one. Love it!
I got one and tried it out…didn’t do much for my hair…maybe when it gets a bit more length its effects will be better seen.
I use it after my girls hair is completely deranged
Finally got my Denman brush after 15 months of being natural!!!! That ish cray..,,
It’s awesome cos you can slide off N wash when u get product build up
Love love love never used anything but them
This is a must have for my hair. This is the only brush I use for my hair to comb out the tangles
Nice
I’ve done this and it’s so much better.
Very interesting, will definitely try it out