Feel like you’ve finally mastered styling techniques for curly hair?
Only now you find those big, bouncy curls just last one day due to all the tossing and turning you do while you sleep?
Frustrating doesn’t begin to describe how you feel.
It can maddening beyond words.
You struggled to learn about clumping, how to use hair gel, and how to diffuse your curly hair without frizz all to bring the best out of your curls. Only to now wake up to frizzy rat’s nest each morning!
Arghhhhhh!
So if you’d prefer to wake up to endless good hair days instead keep reading.
We’ll be revealing valuable tips and ideas to help make those endless good hair days happen. All without you having to watch every Youtube tutorial on sleeping with curls.
Ready to explore how to rock flawless next day curls by protecting them properly at bedtime?
How To Protect Curly Hair When Sleeping
There are several ways curly girls protect their curls at night. We’re going to quickly explore five of them to help your curly hair live to look amazing another day.
Even though not all may be new to you they do help keep those coils from reeking of bed head in the AM.
Just remember the better job you do at protection at night the easier your morning routine will be.
Anyway here’s what you find below.
Quick Section Navigation
- Sleeping With Wet Curly Hair
- Easy Fix: Braiding Curly Hair At Night
- Pineappling Hair At Night
- How To Sleep With Short Curly Hair
- How To Refresh Day Two Curls In The Morning
Sleeping With Wet Curly Hair
Let me just point out up front that sleeping with wet curls isn’t always the best idea. Curls are most fragile when wet. Making them vulnerable to breakage and frizz.
Not to mention depending on the season it can be downright freezing!
Obviously some may not have a choice. Or simply prefer to wash their hair at night.
Now for those wondering if you might be able to plop overnight this method for plopping at night is for you.
There are really two parts to this video and here are the timestamps:
0:45 Plopping Process
5:00 Post Plopping Styling And Diffusing
Key Takeaway Wet Plop: Tie the bulk of your towel or tee in the front just below your hairline. That way you don’t smush any important face framing curls.
Certainly not for everyone as some will find plopped hair uncomfortable to sleep in. But her curls turned out great.
Others may be worried about what is happening to their packed-like-sardines curls as they sleep the night away.
So to add extra protection you may prefer to sleep in silk or satin scarf as demonstrated in this next video.
How To Keep Wet Curls Overnight With A Scarf
Here’s how to wrap curly hair at night so it isn’t ruined. While this application is for wet hair a scarf routine should help preserve dry curls too.
What she does it plop her hair when she first gets out of the shower. For maybe 15-20 minutes to absorb as much water as she can into the micro fiber towel or an old tee shirt.
This way her curls are approaching kinda damp dry before being wrapped in the satin scarf for the night.
Key Takeaway Wet Curls Satin Scarf: You want a super-sized scarf so you can tie it loosely. Curls don’t like to be confined. This gives them the freedom to clump as they would naturally as they dry.
That will make more sense when you watch the video and see how much room the curls have to slide around in.
So those are two ways to sleep with wet hair and still wake up to great curls in the morning.
Easy Fix: Braiding Curly Hair At Night
This is an easy way to avoid spending so much quality time with your curls in the morning.
Doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just your basic two strand braid will do. Or a little something to stabilize the curl pattern through the night.
Then too plaits keep your curls from grinding against the pillow case or your jammies while you’re catching some Zs.
Grinding isn’t good.
All that friction is a curl definition and pattern destroyer.
Not to mention is can stir up just all sorts of frizz.
So just braids things up at bedtime before you turn out the lights.
Then in the morning release the braid.
Minimal fuss at bedtime.
Next to no muss the next morning.
What’s not to like?
If girls with straight hair use braids to add some bend to their strands overnight just think what they can do for hair that’s already curly!
Pineappling Hair At Night
I’m sure you’ve heard of pineappling, right?
Ever tried it?
It’s simple. Gather all your hair into a high pony at the top of your head towards the front.
Secure loosely with a super soft satin scrunchie.
Now it’s best if you can pull it off without having to loop the scrunchie around your hair no more than once. You want the tension to be as loose as possible to avoid waking up to dents.
Tip: Never ever use an elastic hair tie. That can result in a big ole annoying crease not to mention unwanted breakage.
For added protection you can sleep with a satin or silk bonnet, scarf or satin lined beanie.
And it’s never a bad idea to sleep with satin pillowcase too.
In the morning carefully remove the scrunchie. Shake. Shake. Shake your hair out.
Done right this technique preserves your curls. Plus it prevents frizz and tangles while you sleep.
Even better you avoid crushed curls that lack for definition from spending the night with the weight of your head smushing them into the pillow.
Of course there’s more to pineappling curly hair. Our recently updated article on how to pineapple curly hair can help get you up to speed. I’m betting you’ll love the way this makes next day curls practically effortless.
Just click the link to read it on my site.
Tip: Not getting the help you need from your sleep bonnet when pineappling? Try this. Put it on with your head upside down. Start at the forehead and work your way back tucking the sides in as you go.
Most do it the opposite way. And that can work. Just not for everyone.
The curls you save from being squashed, stretched out or flattened might be your own.
How To Sleep With Short Curly Hair
First you need amazing short curls you want to preserve overnight. Well, Doh!
But seriously. If you’re always on the lookout for more ways to make your curls look curly-fabulous why not do this? Check out our collection of articles covering all aspects of how to take care of naturally curly hair. We’re constantly adding new ideas.
Okay so the first thing you really need are tiny jaw clips like these.
They’re cheap.
Easy to lose.
But they do the job.
She uses five each night for her shoulder length hair.
Now there’s nothing precise about this method. It’s messy. Not unlike when pineappling your hair.
Step 1) Starting at one ear, pull that section of hair up and clip it right to the top of your head.
Tip: It’s important for sleep comfort to keep the clips on the very top of your head. That way you’re not trying to sleep on a piece of hard plastic at night.
Step 2) Repeat for the hair around the other ear
Step 3) Next roughly grab up a section of half the hair in the back and again clip that on the top of your head.
Do note she’s not taking all the hair in the back but starting maybe halfway up her head back there.
Otherwise the hair from the bottom around the nape of the neck can end up all stretched out and curl-less. So she just leaves that down on purpose.
The lower section is what she focuses her refreshing efforts on the next morning.
Plus she sleeps on a silk pillow case which minimizes the friction. So no worries about waking to gnarly rats nest there. But it still might not be delightful if you know what I mean.
Tip: If you nothing else from this get that satin or silk pillow cases are non-negotiable. Your hair glides across them practically friction free. And without robbing your curls of any moisture they likely need badly.
Step 4) Grab the rest of the hair in the back and clip.
Step 5) Gather up whatever’s left out anywhere and clip that to the tippy top of your head.
Tip: You want to insert the clips in a way to keep your curls lifted off your scalp. This results in an astonishing amount of volume at the roots. Helping you to avoid flat roots.
And we both know lack of root volume is the natural tendency of your curly hair. Especially second day hair. It just wants to lay there flat and lifeless. When you want all the volume you can get. This helps with that.
The nice thing is this is all very secure. It generally doesn’t come undone overnight. In fact done right it hardly moves at all.
Now the next morning is when you see all the benefits of sleeping with curly hair the right way. That is a quick and easy refresh routine at most.
Oh and if you’d love to know more about medusa clipping curly hair we’ve got an article that covers that inside and out. It’s full of all sorts of tips and tricks to make this technique just about fool proof.
How To Refresh Day Two Curls In The Morning After Sleeping On Them
Some lucky curlies refresh their second day hair by doing nothing more than putting it up in a pineapple and jumping in the shower. Letting the stream work it’s magic.
If that sounds little risky others use refresh routines that are fairly simple like this one:
- Start with a light finger combing to banish any overnight tangles
- Give the curls a spritz of water dampen reactivate water activated curly girl styling products
- Apply a leave in conditioner or oil
- Do a little finger coiling of any unruly strands not with the program
- Let it air dry from there
Others like to spice things up with a refreshing product like highly rated Jessicurl, Awe Inspiraling Spray. You know? To help things along?
Makes refreshing pretty hassle free. Spray it on and stand back as bouncy nicely defined curls make their grand re-entrance.
Which reminds me. When next day refreshing nothing beats products that are reactivated with water.
One way to tell if yours do is to check the ingredient list. It’s generally felt that if “aqua” is on the first ingredients that product will respond to a water misting.
One more idea along the same lines as the first only simpler. Some sleep with a loose pineapple. Then in the morning they spritz their hair with water to help reactivate whatever product they used Day 1. Maybe scrunching a bit too. That’s it.
Finally here’s a video demo of a very quick and simple morning refresh routine.
First she sprays diluted conditioner into her hair – to hydrate locks she feels are on the dry side – scrunching a little as she goes. (Scrunching spurs the curls to bounce back.)
Tip: Focus any hydrating product on your ends because we both know those tend to be the most parched.
Then she used a Devacurl product in her refreshing routine to detangle and fight frizz.
But if you’re trying to avoid DevaCurl products something like Rizos Curls Refresh & Detangle Spray may be a good alternative.
She followed that with a DevaCurl volumizing mousse. A good and affordable alternative might be Garnier Fructis Style Curl Construct Creation Mousse. Or Cake Beauty Curl Whipped Curl Defining & Volumizing Mousse.
Either might be worth a look if your next curls wake up stale, and a bit limp and lifeless.
Obviously nobody says you have to use this much product to refresh your curls in the morning. Especially on Day 2 hair. But it is an approach some follow.
Did this open your eyes to a new way of sleeping with curls? Assuming yes, then why not follow us on Pinterest for even more inspiring ideas like this?
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