Now, forgive me if this is horrifying (but hang in there, it has a happy ending): I have been known since adolescence to periodically develop something akin to a dreadlock at the base of my neck, under my hair. This is entirely my own fault (though aggravated by scarves and scarf-like collars), has always ended in tears, and is because I just really dislike brushing my hair. My excuse is that I don't really love the way it looks when it's brushed (the incredibly cool insouciance of femmes like Caroline de Maigret also helps), but this is all probably stemming from my early-childhood hair and the helmet-like bowl cut that would floof out dismally after brushing, like a little mushroom cloud. I have since avoided the practice, and I don't think about it (until the faux-dreads take form, and I wrench them out with a comb, eyes watering). Thankfully, my hair’s straight enough on top that you can never really tell that a clump's taken form unless I show you—like the time I showed Emily, who didn't believe me until she felt it and then only barely managed to conceal her terror. Though, let’s remember she has an undercut, so is unaccustomed to this whole business.

So when hairstylist James Pecis was visiting the Gloffice recently and mentioned the Tangle Teezer, a UK-created detangling gadget—which he described as both having a “silly name and kind of looking like a dog brush,” as well as “amazing...the best for detangling matted hair, after it's been braided all day, or whatever you did to it”—well, I had to try it. And? I am in love: the Tangle Teezer’s gradiated teeth flex de-stress, detangle, and smooth the hair cuticle, meaning no breakage or painful pulling (somewhere, my 10-year-old self is whooping triumphantly). Also, according to press materials, the Teezer is “hair extension and weave friendly!”

Sure, they’re not asattractive as a Mason Pearson (the neon versions are hollow, and intended for wet-brushing in the shower), but they work—the thing glides through my hair like the proverbial 'hot knife through butter.' Tangled, matted faux-dread, be gone! In a matter of mere minutes, no more tangles and certainly no more tears. “Change your hairbrush, not your lifestyle,” says Tangle Teezer inventor Shaun P (it's the quote on the box). Well, don’t mind if I do[n’t]!

—Alessandra Codinha