About Mason Pearson hairbrushes

Mason Pearson hairbrushes are luxury products for people who value old English traditions and the highest quality.

History and background

Mason Pearson, founder-engineer-inventor, went from Yorkshire, Northern England to London in the mid 1860s to work at the British Steam Brush Works, in London's East End, in a partnership later known as Raper Pearson and Gill. The business was in general small-brushmaking. The brushes were made by hand. Mason Pearson invented an automatic brush-boring machine to speed up the whole process of brushmaking in 1885, for which he won a Silver Medal at the International Inventions Exhibition in London in that year. In the same year he invented the "pneumatic" rubber-cushion hairbrush. It took until 1905 to improve his technique, much of which was still required to be done by hand. His widow continued the business on her own for a further 20 years, when the next generation was ready to take its part.

During this period, the decision was made to concentrate on Mason Pearson's rubber-cushion hairbrush. The product design used nowadays is similar to the original 1885 model with the improvements of the fully developed models of the early 1920s. The basic product has not changed since then and some of the model names are still with us: Large Extra, Small Extra, Popular and Junior.

What is different?

• The unique rubber-cushion pad, made by hand using Mason Pearson’s original techniques, allows for effective and efficient brushing. It is kind to use and massages the scalp.

• The cellulose plastic handle is hand-polished and any sharp edges are removed to make the hairbrush more comfortable to hold. This handle was developed from the original wooden design which we continue to make in small quantities.

• We continue to try to improve on the established design: for example, the "Child" brush is in response to a customer’s request. This is designed to enable a child to become accustomed to the activity of brushing. Similar to this, in the materials used, is the "Sensitive", which has been developed for people who have thinning hair or very fine hair. This brush gently stimulates the scalp. The natural extension has been to have a "Sensitive" model for those men who are "thin on top".

• We build our products to last as long as possible. While we cannot make indestructible products, we use the best materials available so that, with a little care, they should give good service.We try to make improvements continuously. We have developed our own special nylon and take particular care in our selection of natural bristles to use the best combination for each brush.