This best-kept beauty secret will cost a pretty penny.
The key to lush locks isn’t necessarily a deep conditioner or all the serums money can buy.
According to the hair gurus of TikTok, it’s a boar bristle brush. Really.
The catch? It will set you back hundreds of dollars.
The Mason Pearson boar bristle brush has piqued interest online as curious users dare to splurge more than $450 on the hair tool to see if it’s worth the investment.
TikTokkers have lauded the brush as their new “obsession,” insisting that it is, unfortunately for the wallet, “worth the hype.”
New York City influencer Brigette Pheloung, better known by her screen name Acquired Style, tested the costly hairbrush earlier this year, admitting that the beauty aid, which she claimed cost her $300, was the “best” she’s ever used despite critics’ sticker shock.
“It’s definitely not necessary but I was curious as to why it costs this much money for a brush! Ngl it’s the best brush I have used,” she wrote in the comments of her TikTok video.
But some people were not as convinced.
“In what world is a brush worth $300,” decried one viewer.
“300 is absurd for a brush,” snarked another.
“What makes it so expensive? What is it made out of that makes it superior to a normal brush? Just curious,” inquired someone else.
A representative for Mason Pearson told the Daily Mail that the brand sources boar bristles from “a couple of trusted, long-standing suppliers in India.”
“In Northern India, the black-haired domestic pigs run around freely in the villages, in the same way as we see chickens, geese and goats elsewhere in the world,” they explained.
“These are reared for food as the main alternative to beef, which is forbidden for consumption by the majority of the population.”
Some social media commenters additionally questioned whether the product is “cruelty-free.”
The spokesperson explained that the acquisition of the bristles is merely “a byproduct of the food chain,” assuring customers that “no pigs are harmed for the purpose of bristle collection.”
Boar bristle is hailed by some experts as the holy grail for hair with its ability to smooth and detangle tresses with ease.
The brush, celebrity hairstylist Kee Taylor told Vogue, “is less damaging because you do not need to use as much force to smooth hair out” as well as evenly distribute oils from the scalp throughout the strands.
“Nylon bristles work for detangling the hair, and boar bristles smooth the hair,” she explained. “These pair nicely together to get your hair soft and detangled using just one tool.”
For those unable to fork over hundreds for a Mason Pearson hairbrush, the next best thing might be the La Bonne Brasse boar bristle brush, which costs anywhere between $168 and $248 and has been referred to as “the Chanel of brushes.”
“I cannot stop brushing my hair,” influencer Cassidy Meyer gushed in the comments section of her TikTok video.
Creator Ambar Driscoll also offered a solid thumbs-up to the “so beautiful” product in a review video.
“This makes me enjoy brushing my hair,” she gushed, calling it “a joy to use.”
“I think it was worth every single penny,” she declared.
