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Mistakes to avoid when brushing your hair

Written by Dr. Julie Pernet Doctor of Pharmacy & Certified Trichologist Updated 13 / 08 / 2026 2 min read

What you must remember

 

Most hair lost during brushing doesn't fall out: it breaks. Brushing from top to bottom, forcing a knot, pressing to "stimulate" or using a brush with missing bristles are the most common mistakes — and the easiest to correct.

  • Most of the hair lost during brushing breaks; it doesn't fall out.
  • Always start at the ends and work your way up strand by strand.
  • Pressing down does not stimulate the scalp: it irritates it
  • A brush with missing attachments creates micro-lesions with each stroke.
Mistakes to avoid when brushing - MakeMyMask

 

Brushing your hair might seem like the most innocuous part of your routine. Yet, it's the one that causes the most mechanical damage, almost always due to the same bad habits. Here are the most common brushing mistakes, what exactly they damage, and how to correct them.

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Brushing errors that break the fiber

Mechanical breakage rarely comes from the brush itself: it comes from the tension exerted on an unprepared fiber. A dry, tangled hair stretches under tension until it breaks, and a fiber that is already porous breaks much sooner.

  • Brush from top to bottom, which gathers all the knots into one bundle.
  • Forcing a knot instead of untying it strand by strand
  • Brushing wet hair without detangling product, when the wet hair fiber is more fragile, is not recommended.


When a patient tells me she's losing a lot of hair when brushing, I always ask to see the brushing motion before talking about hair loss. Nine times out of ten, it's not hair that's falling out: it's hair that's breaking. And breakage can be fixed in a week.
Dr. Julie PernetDoctor of Pharmacy & Certified Trichologist

Brushing mistakes that damage the scalp

The second group of errors concerns not the hair fiber but the skin. Bare bristles, with tips that have fallen off, create micro-lesions with each stroke. Brushing too vigorously, intended to "stimulate," irritates instead of activating. And on a scalp experiencing a flare-up of psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis , brushing over the plaques forcibly dislodges the scales and increases the risk of bleeding.

How to correct brushing mistakes?

Six reflexes are enough to transform the gesture:

  • Always start at the ends, then work your way up strand by strand.
  • Apply a detangling treatment before any session on tangled hair.
  • Easing the pressure: contact is enough, force adds nothing
  • Check the condition of the pins and change brush as soon as a nozzle is missing
  • Clean the brush at the same pace as your hair care routine
  • Stop brushing in areas experiencing an inflammatory flare-up

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After
After

Verified review

"My hair has regained its vitality, and I can now space out my shampoos to 4 days! Before, I had to wash it every 2 days because of itching related to excess sebum. My scalp is visibly healthier, and the results are conclusive."

Rachel D., a customer for 8 months

Discover the solution

The protocol for brushing that no longer breaks

A good technique on poorly prepared hair is still a bad one. Exfoliate your scalp once a week to remove thickened sebum, wash with a pH 5 shampoo to limit swelling and cuticle lift, and apply a treatment to the lengths before each detangling. With this preparation, the brush will glide smoothly instead of gripping.

Anti-Breakage Brush [Th]

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To remember

  • Most of the hair lost during brushing breaks; it doesn't fall out.
  • Always start at the ends and work your way up strand by strand.
  • Pressing down does not stimulate the scalp: it irritates it
  • A brush with missing attachments creates micro-lesions with each stroke.

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F.A.Q

What is the most common mistake when brushing hair?
Start at the roots instead of the ends. This gathers all the knots into a single clump along the lengths, forcing you to pull and causing breakage. Always brush from the ends to the roots, strand by strand.
Is it a mistake to brush your hair when it's wet?
Not in itself, but brushing wet hair without detangling product is a mistake: the wet hair fiber is more fragile and stretches more easily under tension. On the contrary, detangling while the hair is damp and coated is recommended for curly or very tangled hair.
Is it normal to lose a lot of hair when brushing?
Losing fifty to one hundred hairs a day is normal, and brushing concentrates some of it. However, if you find short, broken hairs rather than whole hairs with their bulbs, this is breakage caused by the brushing action, not hair loss.
Do you need to brush hard to stimulate the scalp?
No, that's a common mistake. Excessive pressure irritates the scalp instead of stimulating it, especially with massagers whose tips have worn off. A fingertip massage stimulates microcirculation much more effectively.
How many times a day should you brush your hair?
Twice, morning and evening, is enough. The rule of one hundred brush strokes a day is a myth: excessive brushing wears down the cuticle and makes the hair fiber more porous.

Written by

Dr. Julie Pernet

Doctor of Pharmacy & Certified Trichologist. Doctor of Pharmacy and Trichologist, founder of the DermoPilaire MakeMyMask Laboratory. She develops skincare protocols focused on scalp health, based on microbiome science and pH balance.

Dr. Julie Pernet

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