100 strokes a night

[picsssodreams]

As a child I was always taught to brush my hair 100 times every night. No explanation, it was just part of a pre bed routine like brushing teeth and face washing. I went down the 'one two skip a few ninety nine one hundred' route because what kid wants to be bothered with those kind of shenanigans and have blissfully gone through life brushing and combing as and when needed, but recently I've found that a vigorous brushing before bedtime really has improved my hair. (It's cut,and coloured every 6 weeks so not a total Worzel Gummidge) Has anyone followed this routine since childhood?

Improved it in what way?

Brushing circulates natural oils down the hair shaft so I guess it's beneficial

I imagine it comes from times when people didn't wash their hair much. Brushing it would have dislodged dust and dirt a bit. It redistributed oils from the roots to the ends so your hair wouldn't look so obviously greasy and the ends wouldn't be so frizzy. I saw one of those history programs once where people followed old ways of life. One woman commented that she had always wondered how their hair stayed tidy without styling products, then muttered that after 4 weeks of not washing it her hair stayed in exactly the shape she brushed it into. It probably helped with headlice or other nasties too, the more you brushed it the more of them you'd dislodge from your hair. Scalp massage is good for hair growth and I suppose brushing it has a similar effect on your scalp.

Do you count 100 strokes now then OP? Is it relaxing to do it?

@IndianSummer78 what was the name of that programme please?

Don't do 100 strokes but give it a good 20 or 30 twice daily and it's very relaxing and also makes my hair behave better, if that makes sense. Also a lot less loose hairs on my clothes etc

Meant to be great for scalp circulation and thus delivers more blood flow (and vital nutrients) to the hair root. I do it upside down for a few minutes each day and have seen a lot more hair grow in where it was thinning. Not to mention distributing the oils down the shaft!

This used to be in The Brownie Handbook 🤓

I can remember the accompanying sketch drawing of a smart little girl carrying out this task in her nightdress.

Having someone else brush my hair for 100 strokes would be my idea of heaven.

I brush my hair minimally with a wide-toothed comb. Mine is in great condition and below waist length.

Depends on hair type I suppose, but 100 strokes certainly sounds like it might damage the hair shaft etc. I thought it was an old fashioned notion.

I've no idea, sorry, it was over ten years ago. It involved people being put on an island, living some kind of Olde Worlde lifestyle from before modern things was invented. They dressed a bit like Amish. They were on the island for quite a while, a few months I think.

I never brush, or comb, my hair at all!! (It's curly/wavy)

Brush bristles used to be made of (badger?) hair didn't they. You'd need 100 strokes of a soft brush to get to the inner layer of my hair.

I've begun doing the 100 strokes a day and it really has improved my hair. Softer, less stray hair and brushing it upside down gives it so much volume