10 Best Tools and Accessories for Black Hair

With all of the tools and accessories you can choose from, how do you know which are the best for Black hair? When shopping, look for items that won't pull on your hair or hairline. Avoid metal pieces when you can as well as anything (besides combs) with hard plastic teeth. Here's a rundown of the top ten tools and accessories that will make your hair look fantastic while treating it with the TLC it deserves.

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Wide-Tooth Comb

While a rat-tail comb is useful for creating nice, neat parts in your hair, wide-tooth combs are what Black hair needs for working through tangles. The widely spaced teeth can gently detangle the hair without pulling on it and breaking your tresses. These inexpensive tools are available everywhere, so having a collection of several combs is a good idea.

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Boar Bristle Brush

No matter the texture of your hair, soft, natural bristles are better for working natural oils and products through it. Try to choose boar bristle brushes over hard plastic or nylon bristles. That old myth about 100 brush strokes per night? It doesn't really apply to Black hair. You don't really need to run a brush throughout your entire head every day, especially if your mane is natural. Instead, focus these soft bristles along your hairline when you want it to look sleek.

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Silk or Satin Hair Cover

A satin hair bonnet protects your hair at night. — Courtesy Amazon.com

For nighttime use, a hair cap/bonnet or even a pillowcase in silk or satin will go a long way toward retaining moisture in your hair. Since they're pretty inexpensive, it's worth having two or more caps/covers in your collection, especially if you need to wash one and have another one handy.

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Elastic Hair Accessories

Metal-free hair elastics are great for black hair. — Courtesy Amazon.com

When you pull your hair back into a ponytail or bun, use elastics that have no metal parts that can catch, pull and break off your hair. Again, these are so bargain-friendly and usually come in a pack of 10 or more, that you should always have an elastic or two at hand.

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No-Teeth Headbands

Stretchy headbands are best for black hair. — Courtesy Amazon.com

Leave those hard plastic headbands with "teeth" on the shelf. With such a huge variety of headbands available today, you can find elastic or soft cloth ones that are gentle on your hair. Not only can you wear them to keep sweat off your forehead when working out, you can wear the skinny bands (one or more at a time) to jazz up a short or long 'do.

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Hair Clips

Use them when working on your hair in sections. Plastic clips keep damp or dry hair that you're not currently styling out of the way until you're ready for it. Avoid any with sharp, clingy teeth. Plastic butterfly clips are useful for securing your tresses when you want to wear them up, and with colorful finishes, they're much more stylish than a cotton scrunchie.

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Cheap Plastic Caps

Plastic hair caps are cheap and disposable. — Courtesy Amazon.com

For deep conditioning, use plastic caps to hold in moisture and retain heat to make the most of the treatment. You can pick up a pack of a dozen or more for cheap!

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Snag-Free Rubber Bands

Snag-free bands won't break your hair off. — Courtesy Amazon.com

Regular rubber bands are bad for Black hair. When you need ends secured, try inexpensive snag-free bands instead.They work to secure braids and twists if your texture easily unravels, especially while wet or damp. The best snag-free bands slip off your hair instead of having to be unwound.

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Plastic or Wood Hair Pins/Hair Sticks

Wooden hair sticks are elegant and gentle to the hair. — Courtesy Amazon.com

Once the bulbs on the ends of metal bobby pins come off, throw them away. If you don't want to deal with those, try tortoiseshell, plastic or wooden hair pins or hair sticks instead, which work well for holding up thick and/or long hair. Plus, sticks are very elegant and classy for adding flair to a plain bun or chignon.

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Your Fingers

Hands, great finger detangling tool — Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images

Here's a great tool to use on your hair and best of all, it's free! Before you reach for that comb or brush, use your fingers to gently work through tangles. This is especially helpful for natural hair. By working through your tresses with your fingers before using a comb, you can greatly reduce the amount of breakage you experience.