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Kent

250 years of tradition

G B Kent & Sons Ltd, manufacturers of brushes since the eighteenth century, is one of the oldest established companies in Great Britain.

Kent Brushes was founded in 1777 by William Kent in the reign of George III. It holds a pre-eminent place in the history of brush making, with an unbroken record of excellence in the quality of production, which has been recognised by the granting of Royal Warrants for nine reigns. The Kent family continued to run the company for six generations until 1932 when the last of the three Kent brothers passed away. Then Mr Eric L.H Cosby, owner of Cosby Brushes Ltd, entered into an association with G.B Kent & Sons. This started a new chapter in Kent's long history, and since then, Kent Brushes has been under the creative and dynamic direction of the Cosby family.

The company headquarters moved from London to a state-of-the-art factory in Apsley, Hertfordshire on the 6th February 1984, and remains there to this day.
The company continues to retain the craftsmanship and unprecedented quality that is Kent’s reputation. Even in today’s fast-moving, mass-produced assembly,  still many of their original brushes are manufactured by hand combining the latest hi-tech manufacturing processes, whilst building on the time-honoured traditional methods. Their comprehensive range now embraces more than 250 different brushes. including styling brushes, radials, ceramics, vents, ionic, paddle, volumising and pure bristle. 

Why pure bristle?

The bristle used in Kent brushes is sourced from the finest bristle merchants in India and China, where quality is guaranteed. Bristle is great at maintaining good hair condition in many ways. Firstly, it keeps the hair clean. When examined through a  microscope, bristle resembles the look of fish scales. These scales pick up dirt, pollution and excess hair products, removing them from the hair. It also smoothes the scales on the hair shaft
Bristle also stimulates both the scalp and the red blood cells that are situated there. This stimulation naturally encourages hair growth. Finally, brushing with bristle encourages sebum (natural oils) to be produced in your scalp. The sebum is released and distributed along the hair shaft, keeping hair healthy, shiny and glossy – thus preventing dull-looking hair as well as frizzy split ends. Natural boar bristle will never damage human hair as they are both made from the same protein. 

Bristle brushes are all hand trimmed in the Kent factory, which means each individual bristle is of slightly different length, creating an uneven surface to the brush. This enables the bristles to penetrate hair perfectly, reaching deep down to the scalp. 

Why the rubber cushion?

Rubber cushions are selected for softness and strength, comfortable for delicate scalps but strong enough to be durable and withstand years of use. Plastic quills have carefully rounded ends to tease their way through tangled hair without pulling or tugging.

Pure bristle or pure bristle with nylon?

Penetron is the name given to Kent brushes that contains a single quill of nylon running through the middle of each individual bristle. This nylon quill is slightly longer than the surrounding bristle, so when the brush is used through the hair, the nylon penetrates the top hair layers and stimulates the hair that is closest to your scalp. If you have long hair with a tendency to tangle or thick curly hair the nylon helps.