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Mason Pearson Brush Chart

The general rules are:

- For very fine or thinning hair or a sensitive scalp a soft bristle is recommended.

- For normal to fine hair pure bristle is recommended.

- For normal to thick hair a mixed bristle brush is recommended.

- For extremely thick hair and detangling after shampooing all nylon is recommended.

Hair Length

Hair Type

Very Fine/Thin Fine to Normal Normal to Thick Extremely Thick/

Detangling
Soft Boar Bristle Boar Bristle Boar/Nylon Mix Nylon
Very Short

•  Children’s (cb4)

•  Sensitive Military

• Pocket Bristle (b4)

•  Small Extra Military (b2m)

•  Pocket Mix (bn4)

•  Popular Military (bn1m)

•  Pocket Nylon (n4)

Short to Medium

•  Children’s (cb4)

•  Sensitive (sb3)

•  Pocket Bristle (b4)

•  Handy Bristle (b3)  

•  Pocket Mix (bn4)

•  Handy Mix (bn3)

•  Pocket Nylon (n4)

•  Detangler (n3)

Medium to Long

•  Sensitive (sb3)

•  Handy Bristle (b3)

•  Small Extra Bristle (b2)

•  Handy Mix (bn3)

•  Junior Mix (bn2)

•  Pocket Nylon (n4)

•  Detangler (n3)

Very Long

• Sensitive (sb3)

•  Popular Mix (bn1)

•  Popular Mix (bn1)

• Detangler (n3)

Brush Sizes:

The Popular BN1 is the largest size brush with 8 rings of boar bristle & nylon tufts. The brush is 9 inches long (head length is 5 inches) and 3 1/4 inches wide. The size is the largest of the Mixture brushes.

The Junior (B2, BN2) is a medium size brush with 7 rings of boar bristle or boar & nylon tufts. The brush is 9 inches long (head length is 4 3/4 inches) and 2 3/4 inches wide. The size is the next size down from the popular size brush and is larger than the handy size brush.

The Handy (B3, BN3) is a "handy" size brush with 6 rings of boar bristle or boar & nylon tufts. The brush is 8 1/2 inches long (head length is 4 3/8 inches) and 2 1/2 inches wide. The size is between the junior size brush and the pocket size brush.

The Pocket (B4, BN4, N4) is a smaller "pocket" size brush with 5 rings of either pure boar bristle, boar bristle & nylon tufts or pure nylong. The brush is 6 3/4 inches long (head length is 3 1/2 inches) and 2 inches wide. The size is the next size down from the handy size brush and is the smallest of the handled brushes.