Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Evolution of the Hair Brush


As long as people have had hair, they have needed some way to tame tangles and most importantly, show off their personal style. Hair brushes have been around for thousands of years, but changed dramatically in the mid 20th century with the introduction of space age plastic, flexible rubber, synthetic fibers and ionic ceramic composites. What started out as a very basic implement and industry in the 1700's, the hair brush has morphed into a highly specialized grooming and styling tool. One example of just how the hair brush has evolved is the Spornette International Hair Brush Company. 


The Walter Sporn Beauty Company was the first to design a manufacturing process that would implant nylon bristles into a plastic hair brush handle. Up to this time hair brushes were made with wooden or bone handles with bore bristles was a labor intense time consuming costly process. His timing could not have been better as plastics technology was coming of age and at the same time signaled the modern era of professional American beauty products.

In 1950 Walter Sporn introduced his ultra modern (5 and 7 row) plastic handle nylon bristle brush to the professional beauty supply distributors who like beauty salons of the time were still in their infancy. Drawing on his early merchandising experience he also introduced beauty salons to "retailing" with an attractive point-of-purchase retail hair brush display. As a result salon sales went from selling individual brushes to dozens—literally overnight. Over the next 20 years Walter went on to introduce the “Little Wonder” a styling brush designed for back brushing and teasing and high quality cushion based brushes all at affordable price points.






By the 1970’s Walter’s son, Alan Sporn fresh out of college joined the company and expanded the sales to include the over sea’s markets and soon after changed the company name to Spornette International. Like his father, Alan had an eye for all things new and foresaw the "blow dry styling" trend and designed a line of thermal styling brushes to meet the demand. Under Alan’s direction Spornette over the years has created a number of 21st century styling brushes, combs, rollers and round brushes infused with ionic ceramic materials that emitting negative ions (good stuff) that improve the condition of hair while styling. Many companies have now adapted this new technology. Today Spornette International is considered the America's beauty industry’s standard for professional hair brushes and styling tools throughout the world.






A feather example of 21st century styling brush technology at its best is the professional Flexie Styling Brush, the worlds most versatile hair brush. This high-tech styling wonder incorporates three of the most popular hair styling brushes in one: Paddle brush, Shaping brush and Round brush.



Made of a durable heat resistant soft flexible rubber composite that easy on the hair and scalp and ideal for today's hair styling. The secret lies in its "flexible living hinge" which allows it to fold and bend in both directions "open and closed" and spring back to its original Paddle Brush shape. It includes a built-in-styling comb and air flow diffuser net to hold and dry hair in place. What's more, its the only hair brush that includes a built-in "retainer latch" designed to hold it closed and keeps it clean when not in use, making ideal for travel. 



Just look at all you can do with the Flexie Brush: (blow dry, defuse, shape for volume, de-tangle wet and dry hair, roll hair over or under, straighten unruly waves, scrunch  to encourage curl,  crimp, wave, tease and comb. This styling beauty does it all and why the Flexie Styling Brush is called the world's most versatile hair brush.



If you’re thinking about trading in your old fashion hair brush you’ll no doubt be confronted with a wide range of brushes and prices. While the top of the line salon styling brushes are geared toward repeated use by professionals, they can be beneficial for "personal use" as they will no doubt last longer and give you professional results.