Fine-toothed combs

This comb has narrow teeth that are close together. Interestingly, there are varying amounts of spacing for the teeth of fine-toothed combs. While typically close together, the teeth in some combs are somewhat broader but are still regarded as “fine”. Fine-toothed combs are used for styling and cutting straight and/or fine hair.

Medium-toothed combs

As its name suggests, medium-toothed combs are more evenly spaced than fine-toothed combs. Unlike the wide-toothed variety, these combs arrange your hair closer together. For best results, use medium-toothed combs after untangling your hair with a wide-toothed comb. Medium-toothed combs are suitable for everyday use among people with medium or fine hair.

Wide-toothed combs

These combs have thicker, longer, and more widely spaced teeth that are suitable for untangling wet or dry hair and styling curls. Because of its thickness and the space between its teeth, wide-toothed combs are suitable for all hair lengths and textures, even thick, curly hair. Wide-toothed combs, which are sometimes called “rakes”, can also be used as a shower comb since it can be used to apply and spread your hair conditioner, disentangle your locks when wet, and prevent it from breaking in the process.

Teasing/Backcombing combs

Backcombing, otherwise known as teasing or ratting, is a way of styling and adding volume to hair. This is done by repeatedly combing the hair towards the scalp, making the hair tangled. Backcombing combs are specifically used for teasing hair. The method is used in styling hair into elaborate coiffure like dreadlocks and beehives. Take note, however, that you should consult your stylist on how to correctly use a teasing comb because it can seriously damage your hair.

Teasing or backcombing combs come in several variants, with some having teeth of interchanging lengths, while others come with a pick-like prong handle, which is used to part your hair and add lift to it.

Cutting combs

Cutting combs give you the best of both worlds: one half has wide teeth, and the other has fine teeth. While the fine- toothed half is as good as fine-toothed combs go, the other half is still not comparable to a wide-toothed comb. Still, having both fine and wide teeth in one comb helps greatly in smoothing hair and bringing individual strands together. Because of its dual purpose, cutting combs, as its name suggests, are ideal for cutting hair. Cutting combs can also be used for styling wet sets like roller sets (i.e. putting rollers in the hair while its wet).

Tail combs

The “tail” in tail combs is a distinctive feature used for parting and lifting hair while styling. The other side is the comb end, which is used to comb hair. The comb end comes in wide-, fine/wide, and fine-toothed variants. Tail combs are particularly useful for styling wet hair like roller sets because the tail can be used to part hair, then you can easily flip the opposite end to comb each section of parted hair.

Pick combs

These types of combs are narrower in width but have longer, loosely spaced teeth used for lifting, parting, and adding volume to hair. Pick combs are sometimes worn as a hair accessory of some sort.