According to a beauty editor, a boar bristle brush is the key to full, shiny, and healthy hair. Shop her product picks from Mason Pearson, Altesse Studio, and more.

A stylist told me it promotes growth, too.

I have good news, bad news, and then good news again. The first bit of good news is that I found an easy-to-use tool that makes the most drastic difference in my hair. The bad news is that it is typically very expensive. The second piece of good news is that thanks to the democratization of the shopping process, there are affordable options. Enough suspense—the product in question is a boar bristle hair brush. 

My hair routine in the above before-and-after photos is the same, save for the boar bristle brush. At night I coat my hair in an oil or serum and tie it up. The next morning I rinse it out, apply a leave-in conditioner, and let it air dry. The photo on the left is the result of doing exactly that. On the right, I have added a step—after applying my products, I brush my hair (making sure to get every strand) with my boar bristle brush. It seems innocuous enough, but I think the proof is in the pudding. 

Belula Boar Bristle Brush

Orig. $30 $25 at Amazon

Boar bristle brushes are notoriously expensive. The most famous one is the $325 Mason Pearson Brush, and I personally use the $260 Altesse Studio one. However, there are more affordable options starting at $23 on Amazon. In fact, this popular Belula brush has no less than 8,400 five-star ratings from users who claim that it “rivals any of the other ultra-expensive competitors.”

Altesse Studio Boar Bristle Brush

$260 at Nordstrom

Worried that I had experienced a $260 placebo effect, I spoke to New York City-based hairstylist and founder of an eponymous salon, Jerome Lordet, who assured me that there are some real benefits. “Boar brush bristles have a similar composition to human hair and are therefore rich in keratin. They promote healthy hair growth and improve its health with each use.” 

Wondering how that’s possible? “Boar bristles gently massage the scalp, increasing its blood flow and detangling the hair from the root, making your hair shiner, and distributing healthy oil from the scalp throughout the strand,” Lordet explained. 

Now that I’ve used a boar bristle brush, I can never go back. When I go more than a week without using one, my hair craves it—not only are my curls less defined and less voluminous, but my strands are generally more dull. And although my Altesse Studio brush is expensive, I consider it a worthwhile investment. It should last a lifetime—and I will probably never use a hot tool because of it.

Emi Jay Mini Boar Bristle Brush

$42 at Emijay.com

Mason Pearson Boar Bristle Brush

$325 at Nordstrom