Okay, so it’s all fine and dandy to be taking care of your hair in all of the right ways during the day, but what on earth should we be doing with it at night?!
After all, at night we are (hopefully) sleeping, which means we are literally unconscious and bad things can happen to our hair! Also, let’s face it, we are spending several hours a day sleeping, so how we care for our hair during this time is very important, and I would argue can make or break our hair care routine.
The main principles to keep in mind for keeping our hair healthy at night are these:
Preventing Tangles
Protecting the hair from Friction
Lock Moisture into Your Hair
Point #1: Sleep with Your Hair in Braids
Braids are a perfect low manipulation style for nighttime, which protects from tangles, excessive friction, but is still comfortable to sleep with, and won't pull on your scalp - unlike sleeping with a bun or something similar.
Point #2: Sleep with a Silk Sleeping Cap (or scarf)
Silk is smooth and slippery, and is the best type of fabric for your hair to be in contact with through the night, unlike cotton. Why not cotton? Cotton is much rougher than silk, and is much more absorbent. This means that cotton will cause more frizz, and also suck the moisture out of your hair. A silk sleeping cap is an easy way of protecting your hair from cotton or other bedding that is usually too rough for your hair. Silk sleeping caps also help to preserve your hair between washes, by minimizing frizz and tangles.
Point #3: Sleep with a Silk Pillowcase
A silk pillowcase is a good backup option to the silk sleep cap, for all of the same reasons. Some people choose to use one or the other, and others choose to use both (I am one of them!). A silk pillowcase is also great for facial skin health as it preserves moisture in your skin and also helps prevents creases on your skin that cotton pillowcases can cause.
Point #4: Lock Moisture in to Hair
This will look different for different hair types. For straight or fine hair, it may be enough to simply sleep with a silk sleeping cap, and this will help lock moisture in your hair. For dryer, longer, or curlier hair types, it is a good idea to do something extra. For me, I regularly use a small amount of jojoba oil on my hair and hair ends while I am detangling and braiding before bed. You can also choose to lightly spritz your hair with a little water, and then use jojoba oil over that to really seal in some moisture. Moisture, especially on hair ends, is so important because it keeps hair soft and supple and less likely to break.
Did you learn something today? Let me know in the comments section if you plan on trying any of these techniques for nighttime hair care!
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