The Comb Makes a Comeback: 7 Pretty Reasons to Pick One Up

There are certain elemental tools—the wheel, the drinking cup—that invariably turn up in all corners of civilization. Take the comb: You’ll find carved ivory relics in the Egyptian and European wings of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, while no-frills plastic ones bathe in aquamarine Barbicide at neighborhood salons. Even Ariel, the Disney mermaid, combs her hair with a long-handled model—in other words, a fork. But after years in which “a Wet brush or a Mason Pearson has been the replacement,” as Serge Normant (comb in hand) put it during a recent trim at his Chelsea salon, the utilitarian staple is once again earning pride of place on the vanity table.

In part, we can thank the growing enthusiasm for natural textures (think Frederikke Sofie’s diaphanous blonde lengths and Mica Arganaraz’s untamed shag on the Fall runways)—hair that can temperamentally fluff up with a pass of a brush. To leave those ethereal waves intact, says Normant, “a good, thick comb is the solution.” (His arsenal includes a straight cutting comb as well as a tail comb for updos.)

Today’s design-forward combs also have a shelf appeal of their own. Eternally in Amber, a line of cellulose-acetate hair tools created by Amber Randell, incorporates speckled finishes that call to mind rose quartz or lustrous abalone shells. Acca Kappa’s wood combs fit right in with laid-back interiors strewn with sheepskins and hand-thrown ceramics. And Aerin Lauder’s gold-finished versions speak to an unabashedly glamorous era, when women like her grandmother Estée “always carried around an evening comb, mirror, and lipstick,” she notes.

My own conversion came not long ago when I discovered Yves Durif’s cream-colored wide-tooth comb, inspired by French ivory. I had been finger-detangling my waist-length hair (a boar-bristle brush seemed to give too prim a finish), but, in Goldilocks fashion, the comb proved just right. This handsome lineup might just make a convert out of you, too.

 

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