If you’re a guy who’s never grown your hair out but are thinking about it, one of the things you might not expect is how much time you’ll eventually be spending detangling that mess. That goes double (or even triple) for those of us with curly or wavy hair, because the general rule is to never use a regular old brush, which is very damaging — you should only ever finger-detangle in the shower, and only with conditioner sitting in your hair.

In other words, it’s a chore.

At least, that’s what I thought until I discovered the Tangle Teezer brush. It gets through all the knots and snarls gently and easily, with minimal pulling (read: pain) or shedding. I don’t know why, but something about those short, super flexible bristles lets the brush simply glide through tangles like a knife through butter, without ruining curl definition. It’s like magic.

Unlike the age-old Denman brush — which is a fine tool in its own right, don’t get me wrong — the original Tangle Teezer has no handle to speak of. Instead, it fits directly and ergonomically in your palm.

It comes in a bunch of bright colors you can choose from, or you can just get the plain black one for $12.