The Style Glossy: Hair Studio

Hair Tools You Need for Flawless Styling

By Yasemin Trollope for The Style Glossy

Options, options, options! When it comes to hairstyling, there's pretty much a tool, contraption or brush available to ensure that mane of yours is always looking its best. Great news if you know what to use when! But if you’ve ever felt confused over the abundance of choices, we've got your hair needs covered. Here, your biggest dilemmas solved.

1. Help! I don't know the difference between a paddle brush and a barrel brush.

Think of it this way: Your paddle brush is smooth and flat and gives your hair that exact same finish. It's great to use if you want perfectly pin-straight hair with little to no curvature on the ends. Your barrel brush, however, is round and offers plenty of sizing options, from thin to fat. In general, the barrel brush gives bounce and movement to your hair. The larger, thicker options are great for getting volume at the roots, as well as larger, more natural curls, while the thinner barrel brushes create a tighter, smaller curl overall.

2. I want to create natural waves in my ends. Do I use a styling iron or curling tong?

Before you use either heat styling tool, it's important to prep your hair with a protection product to ensure you don't damage your ends. Once that's in, go forth and curl away. For a more natural curl, use a curling tong. It's easier to manoeuvre, and due to its naturally round shape, there's no chance of having kinks or lines in your hair. If however, you do find a styling iron easier to twist and yours has rounded edges rather than square ones, you can use that too. If not, use your styling iron for straighter finishes and your tong for curls. And remember, the larger the barrel, the bigger the curl.

3. My ideal hairstyle is a centre part with soft, bouncy ends. What brush do I use?

If you're after Victoria's Secret hair, you'll need a large ceramic paddle brush for this look. First, prep your hair with a heat protection spray before grabbing your hairdryer and brush and parting your hair down the centre. Simply wrap your dry ends around your brush and glide the dryer from your mid-lengths to the ends, before gently gliding it back up again. Hold the brush in place to allow your hair to cool, and then release the section to help hold your style in place for longer. Continue this all the way around your head and spray with hairspray to finish.

4. I love the super-sleek hair look that is popular on the runways. How do I get it?

It's not so much a brush that creates this look. Rather, use a fine-toothed tail comb to help pull your hair back into a wet-looking sleek style. I just wrote about how to get beautiful, slicked-back hair last week, so be sure to check out my blog post.

5. Is there a way to make teasing and backcombing easier?

Love a bit of volume? You'll need a big barrel brush and a wide-toothed comb for teasing and backcombing, as well as a heat protection spray, hair spray and hair masque. It's impossible to tease straight, flat hair, so start by adding volume to your roots with your barrel brush and hair dryer. After applying your heat protection spray, place your brush at the roots, wrap a section of hair around it and pull it out just a little bit. In that space you've just pulled out, between your roots and the brush, use your hair dryer in an upward direction to create more lift. Next, grab 1 centimeter-thick sections of hair and insert your comb, pushing down to create the teased effect. Simply put the comb in, push down and pull out; don't run the comb up and down the hair, as this will undo all your hard work. Continue creating volume with your brush and teasing with your comb until you've reached your desired finish. Keep it in place with a hair spray.

Because heating tools and teasing can stress your hair, be sure to nourish your locks with an overnight hair repair formula a day or two later to take care of any damage. And since the foundation of any gorgeous hairstyle is well-nourished hair that shines, make sure that a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, as well as a weekly hair masque, are part of your beauty arsenal. This way you’ll keep your hair looking healthy, shiny and like you just stepped out of a beautiful commercial.

Yasemin Trollope is the managing editor of The Style Glossy Australia & New Zealand. She is a beauty editor currently studying to be a health coach. Her passion for beauty and health is often explored on her blog, The Happiness Cocktail.